Ferrari Driver Academy junior ends wild weekend with fastest lap
Strong inherent pace went largely unrewarded for Dino Beganovic on a frantic weekend of racing in the Formula 4 Italian Championship at Monza, although the Ferrari Driver Academy junior did ultimately signal his true potential with fastest lap at the famous Grand Prix track.
Beganovic started off well by going third fastest in both of Friday’s free practice sessions, but ran into typical Monza-esque troubles in qualifying where a lack of critical slipstreaming combined with unfortunate red-flag interruptions to leave the Swede out of position on the grid for the weekend’s trio of races.
“I had a promising start in practice, but unfortunately qualifying was very disappointing and really unfortunate,” says Dino Beganovic. “I barely got a single proper lap in, still warming my tyres in between the red and yellow flags, and that left us on the back foot in all of the races.”
Left with the task of charging back up through the field, the Prema Powerteam rookie duly delivered, hauling himself from 14th to fourth – and into podium contention – in Race 1 only to ultimately make contact with a rival driver and damage his front wing. In doing so, Beganovic dropped back down the order to 17th.
Race 2 followed much of the same storyline, Beganovic once again making early progress from the midfield into the top ten. Following a safety car restart, however, he was tagged from behind at Prima Variante, spinning and finishing 15th.
In Sunday’s concluding Race 3, Beganovic then found himself squeezed off the track at the start, falling to 25th. Not one to surrender, he would stage a considerable fightback over the remainder of the race as he clawed his way back up to seventh – setting the fastest lap in the process.
“It’s been a crazy, challenging, positive and disappointing weekend all at once, which I’ve come to understand is pretty much the ordinary thing at Monza,” says Dino Beganovic. “The racing has been amazing with all the slipstreaming that goes on here. It is something else! The pace was there, as evidenced by fastest lap and the recovery from 25th to P7 in the final race. That, plus all the race craft lessons learned, is what I will take from this special weekend.”
The F4 Italian Championship is back on track at Imola – where Dino Beganovic scored a maiden pole position earlier this year – on 21-22 November.
RESULTS
Formula 4 Italian Championship
Round 5 – Monza (top five)
RACE 1 (download full results)
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1: Francesco Pizzi (ITA), Van Amersfoort Racing
2: Andrea Rosso (ITA), Cram Motorsport
3: Filip Ugran (ROU), Jenzer Motorsport
4: Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA), Iron Lynx
5: Sebastian Montoya (BRA), Prema Powerteam
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17: Dino Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
RACE 2 (download full results)
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1: Francesco Pizzi (ITA), Van Amersfoort Racing
2: Gabriele Minì (ITA), Prema Powerteam
3: Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA), Prema Powerteam
4: Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA), Iron Lynx
5: Santiago Ramos (MEX), Jenzer Motorsport
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15: Dino Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
RACE 3 (download full results)
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1: Pietro Delli Guanti (ITA), BVM Technorace
2: Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA), Prema Powerteam
3: Leonardo Fornaroli (ITA), Iron Lynx
4: Francesco Pizzi (ITA), Van Amersfoort Racing
5: Santiago Ramos (MEX), Jenzer Motorsport
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7: Dino Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Formula 4 Italian Championship
