Opmeer Fastest in Practice, Verschoor Fastest in Qualifying

The first sessions of the season have been completed as the 2016 F4 NEZ drivers finished the Free Practice and Qualifying. Only a few drivers have driven at Sochi Autodrom before, though they include Alexander Maslennikov, Alexey Korneev and Nikita Sitnikov who are all second year drivers.

A clear blue sky was the background of this first outing of the season with an air temperature of 16 degrees and track temperature of 32 degrees.

“The atmosphere when you arrive in the pitlane is impressive. We are in the Formula One Pitlane, it is just amazing to start with the big teams so close”, commented Xavier Lloveras. The first practice of the season was topped by Dutchman Jarno Opmeer in 2:11.225, followed by Finn Roope Markkanen and Dutchman Richard Verschoor.

“It’s a pretty easy track as many corners are the same, I enjoyed a lot driving on Sochi Autodrom. I have pushed really hard to know my limits, and I’m happy to be the fastest of this Free Practice. I will try to do the same in Quali”, commented Opmeer.

The qualifying session took place in the afternoon with twenty drivers fighting for thirty minutes for the two fastest laps which would decide the grid for Saturday and Sunday’s races.

And it was another Dutchman, Richard Verschoor, who nailed the two first pole position of the season. The KNAF Talent First driver completed a perfect lap in 2:10.978, 3 tenths faster than Niko Kari last year in Sochi.

Russian drivers Nikita Sitnikov and Alex Korneev finished the session in P5 and P6 only a few thousandths of a second ahead of Tuomas Tujula in P7.

Finnish driver Roope Markkanen was impressive in his first ever qualifying, securing a second row position on the Race 1 Grid tomorrow. The young Finn will start P3 on Sunday, just in front of fellow countryman Juho Valtanen. Meanwhile his twin, Rasmus, qualified P9 for Race 1 and P8 in Race 2, he will start right behind Russian Alex Vartanyan tomorrow. It was a tough session for the Spanish driver Xavier Lloveras, who will start P16 tomorrow and P15 on Sunday. The first qualifying session is now done, now full focus on the Race tomorrow.

“Quali was good, I tried to search for a good gap to have a clean lap and then I just tried to push as hard as I could and changed my driving style according to my engineer’s advices; it was the right move! I’m really happy to be the first pole-sitter of the season in the SMP F4 NEZ Championship certified by FIA. Now onto the race tomorrow!”, commented Richard Verschoor.

Jarno Opmeer who finished second commented: “Fantastic qualifying for me, I knew that I had the pace thanks to this morning result, but I have to admit that I’m happy to have done the same in qualifying. I was maybe a bit too careful at the beginning of the session, and when I started to have more confidence, my Hankook tires went off. I am happy as well for Richard Verschoor and Juho Valtanen. It will be a tough race”.

Juho Valtanen, who finished third commented: “First five laps were not as I expected because a car was in front of me and I did some mistakes, it took me time to leave a gap to have a clear lap. Then I continuously improved during the last three laps, which led me to end the session P3. Very good job from Verschoor and Opmeer”.

 

Sochi, Free Practice

1^st, No. 16, Jarno Opmeer, NED, 2:11.225

2^nd, No. 65, Roope Markkanen, FIN, 2:11.542

3^rd, No. 22, Richard Verschoor, NED, 2:12.169

4^th, No. 14, Juho Valtanen, FIN, 2:12.185

5^th, No. 4, Tuomas Tujula, FIN, 2:12.398

6^th, No. 1, Aleksey Korneev, RUS, 2:12.774

7^th, No. 5, Nikita Sitnikov, RUS, 2:12.809

8^th, No. 3, Henri Kauppi, FIN, 2:12.929

9^th, No. 36, Danny Kroes, NED, 2:13.055

10^th, No. 41, Alexander Vartanyan, RUS, 2:13.056

11^th, No. 11, Gleb Zotov, RUS, 2:13.098

12^th, No. 10, Zakhar Slutskii, RUS, 2:13.363

13^th, No. 64, Rasmus Markkanen, FIN, 2:13.383

14^th, No. 25, Artem Slutskii, RUS, 2:13.749

15^th, No. 21, Xavier Lloveras, ESP, 2:13.843

16^th, No. 15, Artem Petrov, RUS, 2:13.861

17^th, No. 32, Roman Lebedev, RUS, 2:14.356

18^th, No. 77, Alexsander Maslennikov, RUS, 2:15.532

19^th, No. 40, Vladimir Tziortzis, RUS, 2:16.014

 

No Time Set

No. 50, Tuomas Haapalainen, FIN

 

Sochi, Qualifying Results

1^st, No. 22, Richard Verschoor, NED, 2:10.978

2^nd, No. 16, Jarno Opmeer, NED, 2:11.188

3^rd, No. 14, Juho Valtanen, FIN, 2:11.260

4^th, No. 65, Roope Markkanen, FIN, 2:11.385

5^th, No. 5, Nikita Sitnikov, RUS, 2:11.743

6^th, No. 1, Aleksey Korneev, RUS, 2:11.950

7^th, No. 4, Tuomas Tujula, FIN, 2:12.042

8^th, No. 41, Alexander Vartanyan, RUS, 2:12.285

9^th, No. 64, Rasmus Markkanen, FIN, 2:12.381

10^th, No. 36, Danny Kroes, NED, 2:12.411

11^th, No. 3, Henri Kauppi, FIN, 2:12.573

12^th, No. 11, Gleb Zotov, RUS, 2:12.738

13^th, No. 50, Tuomas Haapalainen, FIN, 2:12.817

14^th, No. 15, Artem Petrov, RUS, 2:12.836

15^th, No. 25, Artem Slutskii, RUS, 2:12.892

16^th, No. 21, Xavier Lloveras, ESP, 2:12.948

17^th, No. 10, Zakhar Slutskii, RUS, 2:13.088

18^th, No. 32, Roman Lebedev, RUS, 2:13.582

19^th, No. 77, Alexsander Maslennikov, RUS, 2:14.071

20^th, No. 40, Vladimir Tziortzis, RUS, 2:19.746