Allen stages magnificent comeback to dominate Race 2

Irish driver Lucca Allen, who missed a podium finish in yesterday’s opening race after being handed a penalty, staged a magnificent comeback to dominate Race 2 of the FIA Formula 4 SEA Championship – fuelled by Petron – at the Buriram International Circuit.

Today marks Allen’s third win of the season after two victories in the previous round.

Starting in ninth spot on the starting grid today, Allen turned in a remarkable performance, storming past seven drivers to move into second on the first lap, just behind Malaysia’s Alister Yoong. Allen was hot on Alister’s heels and quickly found his way past to wrest the lead.

Allen began to pull away and rapidly opened up a comfortable gap, which at the end was over four-seconds. He finished off the race in 21 minutes 01.903 seconds.

“I’m happy with the win after starting from 9^th today. I knew it was going to be a tough race but I had a good start at the 1^st and 2^nd corners to make a nice move into 2^ndposition. After taking over the lead, I just tried to stay smooth, secure good times and breakaway,” Allen said.

There was a mighty battle taking place behind Allen between Aussie Josh Smith and Alister. There was no shortage of action as Smith battled his way through from eight spot at the start of the race. But he was soon up in third where he was caught in a close fight with Alister. He waited for his chance and had two wheels on the grass as he charged past Alister on the sixth lap.

With time running out and with little possibility of catching up with Allen, Smith eased off and finished 4.078 seconds behind.  “Unfortunately, (yesterday) after finishing 3^rd, I had 30-second penalty for exceeding track limits.”

“Alister is a great friend but there are no friends on the track. He was defending his position which you are entitled to and was hard for me to get past. He is good racer and I’m lucky to get pass without damage,” said Smith.  

Rookie driver Seppanen rounded off the podium in third with a time of 21:08.845 secs. His performances thus far is an indication of his ability and will likely give the leading contenders a tough time in the remaining two races today and tomorrow.

First-time F4 SEA driver, Yash Aradhya from India had a good run today to finish fourth in 21:27.661 seconds while local ace, Folky Wongsechareon, was tenth overall. Yash and Folky are fresh faces and competing in the F4 SEA Championship for the first time this season.

Meanwhile, in Race 1 yesterday, Shihab Al Habsi from Oman was crowned the winner after three drivers ahead of him were handed down 30-second penalties. Malaysia’s Muizz Musyaffa was second with Dane Malthe Jakobsen in third position.

Shihab, whose best performance so far this season was a third placing in the previous round in Sepang, maintained his composure despite intense pressure from his rivals to finally claim his first title of the season.

This year’s FIA F4 SEA Championship is a world record-breaking season featuring 40 races, starting from Round 1 in Sepang and finishing off in Clark, Philippines in November.

RACE 2 RESULTS

RACE 1 RESULTS (Yesterday)

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