From high to low: car woes make for a disappointing start to the Italian F4 championship

After the highs of the Red Bull Ring, the first round of the Italian championship at Misano proved to be frustrating and disappointing. Pre-event testing two weeks earlier were beset with mechanical issues so the team arrived for the race weekend less prepared than usual. Bart’s car continued to be problematic throughout the weekend, but he did the best with what he had to work with.

Bart qualified 8th in his group and 15th overall. Not a complete disaster, but given his consistent top three positions on the time sheets during testing at Misano back in March, this was not reflective of his true potential.

Bart started P11 in his heats and made very good starts in each, making up places. Thereafter the Misano circuit is notoriously difficult for overtaking. In heat one, Bart finished 9th and heat two, tenth.

Bart lined up 15th for the final. Again he got a good start and battled hard to ultimately finish tenth, placing him 16th in the championship standings. Clearly not the start he wanted, but the focus now moves to resolving the car issues ahead of Round 2 at Vallelunga.