Lucca Allen led from pole position to snatch his second win this weekend with a convincing drive in Race 4 of the FIA Formula 4 SEA Championship – fuelled by Petron – at the Buriram International Circuit today. 

With two earlier victories in Sepang last month, the Irish driver has now amassed four victories from three rounds, making him the best performer so far this season.

It was a clean and incident-free start for Allen who turned in a commanding performance as he held off his rival, Elias Seppanen from Finland. Despite the immense pressure from Seppanen, Allen kept his composure and remained consistent throughout to eventually finish with 0.447s gap at the end. Allen took the chequered flag in 20 minutes 44.854s while Seppanen was timed at 20:45.301s.

A delighted Allen said having a good start today helped his cause. “I had a quality start and managed had a bit of a gap at the start. I was consistent but he really kept the pressure on me. It was a relief when I crossed the finish. Overall, it was a really good weekend, had a few points in the bag and so I’m going home happy.”

For Seppanen, today’s second placing was his third podium out of four races this week. In the first race on Friday, he missed out on the medals when he finished fourth.

“I was fast at the start but Lucca manage to build up a gap. I managed to catch him but it wasn’t close enough to overtake. I think I was the fastest the whole weekend, just wasn’t lucky with the penalty. I’m in a good position for the next race,” Seppanen added.

The action was fast and furious today, not only between the top two drivers but also back in the battle for the third spot where Race 1 and 3 winner Shihab Al Habsi of Oman had to give his all to secure his place on the podium.

Starting fourth, Shihab found himself pushed back to fifth after two laps but he quickly recovered, edged past Malaysian Alister Yoong on the third lap and charged past Australian Josh Smith on the fifth lap to claim third placing. 

Smith, the Race 2 runner-up, pressed hard to re-claim his third placing but Shihab defended well to make it to the podium for the third time this week. Shihab completed the 12-lap race in a time of 20:50.278s, just 2.074s ahead of smith.

Malaysian Muizz Musyaffa tried to chase down Smith and in the process posted the fastest lap of 1 minute 43.377s but had to settle for fifth spot. 

Debutants, Yash Aradhya of India and Thai driver Folky Wongsechareon, concluded their final race in 6th and 7th respectively while Sneha Sharma was placed 8th. 

MEANWHILE, in yesterday evening’s Race 3, Shihab won despite starting third behind Sneha Sharma and Folky. Shihab fought hard and snatched an early which he fully exploited to complete the race in 21:00.731s. 

Seppanen and Allen impressed yet again and settled for the remaining podium positions. Seppanen, from ninth in the start grid, worked his way up to end second 2.472s behind Shihab. Allen settled for third while Muizz was fourth.

Round 4 of the FIA Formula 4 SEA Championship – fuelled by Petron – will be staged again at this circuit from June 14 to 16.

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 4 RESULTS (Today)

POS NAME TIME
1 Lucca Allen (IRL) 20 minutes 44.854secs
2 Elias Seppanen (FIN) (R) 20:45.301
3 Shihab Al Habsi (OMA) 20:50.278
4 Josh Smith (AUS) 20:52.352
5 Muizz Musyaffa (MAS) 20:52.591
6 Yash Aradhya (IND) 21:06.172
7 Folky Wongsechareon (THA) 21:15.544
8 Sneha Sharma (IND) 21:38.831
9 Alister Yoong (MAS)                         22:28.445
Malthe Jakobsen (DNK) NC

 

 

RACE 3 RESULTS (Saturday)

POS NAME TIME
1 Shihab Al Habsi (OMA) 21 minutes 00.731secs
2 Elias Seppanen (FIN) (R) 21:03.203
3 Lucca Allen (IRL) 21:03.861
4 Muizz Musyaffa (MAS) 21:04.501
5 Josh Smith (AUS) 21:12.845
6 Malthe Jakobsen (DNK) 21:13.130
7 Folky Wongsechareon (THA) 21:24.077
8 Yash Aradhya (IND) 21:25.588
9 Alister Yoong (MAS)                         21:38.431
10 Sneha Sharma (IND) 22:16.205

 

RACE 2 RESULTS (Saturday)

POS NAME TIME
1 Lucca Allen (IRL) 21:01.903
2 Josh Smith (AUS) 21:05.581
3 Elias Seppanen (FIN) (R) 21:08.845
4 Yash Aradhya (IND) 21:27.661
5 Shihab Al Habsi (OMA) 21:33.107
6 Alister Yoong (MAS)                         21:39.945
7 Muizz Musyaffa (MAS) 21:40.303
8 Sneha Sharma (IND) 23:06.492
9 Folky Wongsechareon (THA) 21:41.545
Malthe Jakobsen (DNK) DNF

 

RACE 1 RESULTS (Friday)

POS NAME TIME
1 Shihab Al Habsi (OMA) 21:37.371
2 Muizz Musyaffa (MAS) 21:38.375
3 Malthe Jakobsen (DNK) 21:44.861
4 Elias Seppanen (FIN) (R) 22:05.025
5 Lucca Allen (IRL) 22:06.302
6 Josh Smith (AUS) 22:06.748
7 Alister Yoong (MAS)                         22:07.958
8 Folky Wongsechareon (THA) 22:08.545
9 Yash Aradhya (IND) 22:46.678
10 Sneha Sharma (IND) 22:50.964

 

LIST OF WINNERS (Rounds 1 to 3)

RACE DATE VENUE DRIVER
1 Apr 6 Sepang Hadrian David (FRA)
2 Apr 6 Sepang Emil Skaras (SWE)
3 Apr 7 Sepang Hadrian David (FRA)
4 Apr 7 Sepang Hadrian David (FRA)
1 Apr 20 Sepang Lucca Allen (IRL)
2 Apr 20 Sepang Elias Seppanen (FIN)
3 Apr 21 Sepang Lucca Allen (IRL)
4 Apr 21 Sepang Josh Smith (AUS)
1 May 10 Buriram Shihab Al Habsi (OMA)
2 May 11 Buriram Lucca Allen (IRL)
3 May 11 Buriram Shihab Al Habsi (OMA)
4 May 12 Buriram Lucca Allen (IRL)

 

2019 RACE CALENDAR

ROUND DATE COUNTRY CIRCUIT RACES
1 Apr 5-7 Malaysia Sepang 1 to 4
2 Apr 19-21 Malaysia Sepang 5 to 8
3 May 10-12 Thailand Buriram 9 to 12
4 June 7-9 Thailand Buriram 13 to 16
5 July 12-14 India Madras 17 to 20
6 July 19-21 India Madras 21 to 24
7 Aug 23-25 Malaysia Sepang 25 to 28
8 Sept 27-29 Malaysia Sepang 29 to 32
9 Nov 15-17 Philippines Clark 33 to 36
10 Nov 22-24 Philippines Clark 37 to 40

 

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