Andrea Rosso’s two-second post-race penalty handed Israel’s Ido Cohen victory in Formula 4 Cup’s Qualifying Race at Vallelunga this morning.
Italy's Rosso crossed the line first after winning a highly entertaining encounter at Vallelunga but was subsequently adjudged to have overtaken Cohen under yellow flags. He retains his place on the Main Race front row, albeit now behind his Italian F4 Championship rival.
Rosso started second and slipped to third before working his way to the front and finally passing long-time leader Niklas Kruetten on the penultimate lap.
An early Safety Car period to recover Kuwait and Japan ensured the pack remained bunched at the restart. Kruetten’s excellent getaway had initially helped him jump from third to first, a position he retained at the restart despite the top-six initially running nose-to-tail.
Rosso, meanwhile, had slipped to third behind Cohen, who also inherited pole from Pavel Bulantsev. The Italian was happy to follow his Israeli rival until the final five minutes when a late lunge looked to have paid off.
He was soon on to the tail of Kruetten whose mirrors were full of the home favourite’s KCMG-built 01 chassis. That was until Rosso set up a fantastic passing move by holding his position around the outside of Campagnano and taking the natural inside line under Kruetten into Soratte.
The loss of momentum also helped Cohen take second from the compromised German, who just held off Hungary’s Laszlo Toth on the final lap.
William Alatalo (Finland) relieved his Scandinavian counterpart Malthe Jakobsen (Denmark) of fifth late in the race, while Nicolas Baert (Belgium) and Luis Leeds (Australia) completed the top-eight.
Further back, Russia’s provisional pole sitter Bulantsev – who was demoted to fourth post-qualifying after setting his fastest time under red flag conditions – battled back to finish ninth after dropping to 14th at the start.
France rounded out the top-10.
These positions will now form the grid for tomorrow’s Main Race, which will decide the winners of this year’s Formula 4 Cup gold, silver and bronze medals.