RICHARD VERSCHOOR CROWNED 2016 SMP F4 NEZ CHAMPION
The sixth and penultimate round of the 2016 SMP F4 NEZ Championship certified by FIA kicked off today in Anderstorp Sweden. The Grade 2 circuit, which used to host F1, is a new addition to the Series.
The weather was very mixed as rain poured down in the morning, to stop right before the driver hit the track for the Free Practice 1 and 2.
Qualification 1
Wet conditions striked back just before the qualification got underway. Drivers got almost three laps done, when Nikita Volegov spun out, and the red flag was waved, stopping the qualification, to allow the Marshalls to retrive the car.
Jarno Opmeer had his gaze focused straight ahead like missile homing in on a target, and took P1 on the very last lap of the fifteen minutes session with a fastest lap of 1.42.527. Roope Markkanen was trading P1 with his fellow countrymen Tuomas Haapalainen and Juho Valtanen during the whole session and was the sole driver to get an additional lap and snatched P2. And Richard Verschoor who was P1 on his last lap, dropped to P3 as his two challengers improved after him.
Finally Haapalainen took P4, with Valtanen P5. A poor performance from Russian Alexander Vartanyan who finished P8 and will have to defend from Tujula who is right behind him in the overall classification.
Race 1
The rain stopped by the time the fourteen drivers head to their starting position and the sun was even shining as the lights went off, giving the start of the 25 minutes + 1 lap Race.
Jarno Opmeer had a good start and stayed in lead but Roope Markkanen had an even better one and was already side-by-side with the Dutch driver into T1. By defending his position too harshly, Opmeer pushed out Roope Markkanen, causing a collision. Both cars rejoined the track, but in P6 for Markkanen and P9 for Opmeer who threw away all his chances to come back in closer to Verschoor today.
That mistake paved the way for Verschoor who took a lead, with Fnnish duo Haapalainen and Valtanen right in his tail. By the end ot Lap 1, Tzortzis and Lloveras collided, forcing both drivers to retire and Safety Car to make its appearance on track.
After 3 laps, the Safety Car came in and the race could resume with a neat start from Richard Verschoor who took a comfortable gap to Haapalainen threat.
Behind him, the fight was raging as Jarno Opmeer started a crusade to the maximum points, taking down the drivers one by one, passing young Alexander Vartanyan for P5 on Lap 6. But Nikita Sitnikov was the one to stop his ascent.
As the chequered flag was waved, Richard Verschoor took another victory, the eighth one in a row for the young Red Bull Junior driver whos drifting away a bit more from his main challenger Jarno Opmeer.
Tuomas Haapalainen scored an impressive second place, and managed to keep Juho Valtanen behind him who is completing the podium.
Sunday morning was starting with the second qualifying of the weekend which had to be delayed due to a lack of visibility with the thick Swedish fog enveloping the circuit. One hour later, the fourteen cars could hit the track for the fifteen minutes session determining Race 3 starting position.
Qualification 2
The clock only had time to tick down to 10 minutes before Nikita Sitnikov hit the barrier in his second warm-up lap and destroyed his car. The driver came out unhurt from the shock, but could not finish the session.
As the action resumed, Vartanyan set the fastest time on his flying lap in 1.33,200 followed by Roope Markkanen and Juho Valtanen. However, times improved from all sides and Opmeer lit up purples, going 0.015? faster than fifteen years old Richard Verschoor to take his second position of the weekend. Roope Markkanen, Alexander Vartanyan and Rasmus Markkanen completed the top 5.
Race 2
The sun was shining by the time the fourteen drivers head to Race 2, in the starting position of Race 1 final classification. As the lights went off, the drivers went cleanly into T1 with Verschoor kept the lead in front of Tuomas Haapalainen and Juho Valtanen. But the fight went on few seconds later as Nikita Volegov, Roope Markkanen and Tuomas Tujula spun out in T2, losing their positions, but rejoining the race. Unfortunately Tuomas Tujula was forced to retire three laps after with too much damages on his Tatuus F4 car. Alexander Vartanyan was also force to retire, because of an electrical failure.
Jarno Opmeer who started in P11, took his opponents down one by one and made his way up to P4 and started a battle with Juho Valtanen for the podium. However the Finn defended his position hard, fighting for the previous points and Jarno Opmeer finally made a mistake allowing Juho Valtanen to cross the finish line P3. The young Dutchs mistake took him down to P5 behind Nikita Sitnikov.
Richard Verschoor took another light to flag victory, the ninth one in a row for the young Red Bull Junior Driver this season, while Tuomas Haapalainen and Juho Valtanen came completing the podium.
After the race, Jarno Opmeer got penalized with a 10 seconds penalty, dropping him to P9, and hardening his work for the championship.
Race 3
A wonderful sun greeted the last race of the weekend in Anderstorp. And that was the scene for the chaotic start as Jarno Opmeer starting from Pole Position stalled on the grid, giving Richard Verschoor the opportunity to continue his winning streak and championship victory.
In P2, Roope Markkanen was trying to contain Alexander Vartanyan who was pushing hard, in between both Racing Twins as Rasmus was in P4. As Roope dropped, Jarno became a threat to Rasmus Markkanen, both driver were fighting, allowing Alexander Vartanyan to take some advantage. But Jarno Opmeer got the upper hand on the young Finn and set his eyes on Vartanyan gearbox and started to cut the Russian driver lead lap by lap.
And the drama continued for Opmeer as in the second last corner of the track, in the very last lap of the race, when it was clear that he could not overtake Vartanyan anymore nor was he under the threat of Rasmus Markkanen, the Dutch went off and hit the wall. He came out unhurt, but ended all his chances in the championship.
Richard Verschoor won his tenth race in a row and score his third hat-trick this year with a gap over 8 seconds to Alexander Vartanyan who crossed the Finnish line P2 and Rasmus Markkanen completed the podium.
Richard Verschoor was therefore crowned 2016 SMP F4 NEZ Champion, with one round to go. An amazing performance from the young Dutch wholl head to the last round in Ahvenisto with much less pressure on his young shoulders.
I am very happy and I would thank everyone who has been supporting, helping me and believing in me this season. From my mechanic to my driver coach and of course Red Bull Racing. The beginning of the season was not easy, but I managed to keep my head straight and eventually it paid off. See you in Ahvenisto! Richard Verschoor
The last round of the 2016 season will be held next week in Ahvenisto, Finland!
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