There will be over 30 cars on track at the weekend at Misano Adriatico for the start of the Italian Formula 4 championship. The long wait is over and after pre-season testing, everything is ready for this year’s series, which in the past, featured other Ferrari Driver Academy (FDA) alumni like Marcus Armstrong and Enzo Fittipaldi. This year, Dino Beganovic flies the FDA flag, the 16 year old Swede making his single-seater debut after a great showing in karts.
Pre-season. His pre-season testing with the Prema team went well, as he gradually got to grips with the car and a completely new environment. The last test was held at Monza when Beganovic did well in qualifying simulations and over long runs, but this weekend is what matters.
Special weekend. “Beganovic will have a very busy weekend”, confirmed the FDA’s technical head, Marco Matassa. “Starting in single-seaters is always a special moment for a driver and it will stay with him forever. Dino has done a good job in pre-season testing, but now it’s time to see how he copes with a much more complex weekend on the mental front, with over 30 cars on track. We’ll see what the clock says, but the indications from the past tests, when he was always a front runner, are cause for optimism.”
Seven rounds. The Italian Formula 4 championship provides youngsters coming from karts, a great opportunity to gain in experience, thanks also to the fact there are three races per weekend. The 2020 series has seven rounds and ends in December at Vallelunga and even though it has got off to a late start, it still provides youngsters in the category with an interesting package.