95,000 fans saw the City Showrun on Thursday as an appetiser in the centre of Assen and another three days of great racing on the TT Circuit. The championship remains wide open after round 4 in the Netherlands.
In addition to Formula 1 star David Coulthard, BOSS GP driver Ingo Gerstl (AUT, Team Top Speed) attracted a lot of attention when he accelerated his Toro Rosso STR1 next to the canal and then skilfully performed a few pirouettes. Gerstl’s team-mate Erich Zech attracted similar attention when he drove his roaring 1997 Ferrari Formula 1 around the 4.555-kilometre track during the demo runs.
F1
It was also Gerstl who won both races in the F1 class and set the lap record on the legendary MotoGP circuit with a lap time of 1:16.791 in qualifying. Ulf Ehninger (GER, ESBA Racing) finished second twice, which was enough to keep him at the top of the standings. The Benetton driver goes into the race in Mugello with a 44-point lead, which is also the last chance for the Formula 1 cars to score points this year. Due to the track licence, only the OPEN, FORMULA and SUPER LIGHTS classes are eligible to start at the grand finale in Misano.
FORMULA
After Juju Noda (MM International) not only secured her first pole position at the Red Bull Ring, but also won a BOSS GP race for the first time, the 17-year-old Japanese driver followed this up with another pole position in Assen. However, Noda found herself behind her team-mate on the way to turn 1. It was then a close call with Marco Ghiotto (ITA, Scuderia Palladio), who squeezed past Noda on the inside of turn 1. While Noda lost places at the start, Michael Fischer (AUT, Red Rosa Racing by LRT) made up positions at the back of the field. After a technical failure in qualifying, he made up 13 places in the race compared to the starting grid and ultimately finished fourth in the FORMULA classification.
While Colombo controlled the pace at the front and took his fifth win of the season, newcomer Max Cuccarese (ITA, MM International) surprised everyone with a confident drive and second place in his very first race in a GP2 car. The youngest driver in the field confirmed this performance on Sunday with another podium finish (3rd). Marco Ghiotto scored the same number of points as Cuccarese with 3rd and 2nd place.
Noda made a much better start in the second race, enabling her to defend her lead over Colombo. As the two MM drivers in their GP2 Dallara looked set for another duel this season, Colombo retired. As this happened in the first half of the race, the defending champion was only awarded half points instead of full points. The third retirement of the season was another setback for the fast Italian in the battle for the championship title. Marco Ghiotto remains in the lead. The 2019-2021 champion is scoring points with consistency and is now 22 points ahead of his compatriot Colombo.
Martin Kindler (SUI) also left Assen with a smile on his face. The Swiss returnee to the series not only qualified for Q1 (top five in free practice), but also delivered two strong results with 6th and 5th place. Andreas Fiedler (GER) was able to put the problems of the last races behind him and scored twice with 7th and 6th places, while Walter Steding (GER, Scuderia Palladio) was able to regain his old form in the races after a mixed training session and finished 8th twice in the fiercely contested FORMULA class. After an accident in the first race, Phil Stratford’s (Scuderia Palladio) team was able to repair the car for the second race and the American finished the second race in 7th place.
SUPER LIGHTS
Stephan Glaser (SUI, Jo Zeller Racing) was once again unbeatable for his rivals. With wins number 5 and 6 this season, the BOSS GP rookie extended his lead in the championship to 34 points. While race 1 in this class was a smooth affair, race 2 was particularly remarkable. Firstly, Glaser parked his car at the side of the track on the last lap. Second-placed Stefan Scho (GER) was unable to capitalise on this, however, as he also stopped with technical problems on the final lap. Henry Clausnitzer (GER, WF Racing) was already two laps down after going off track into the gravel on lap 1 and was also unable to capitalise on this. This meant that the order on the podium on Saturday and Sunday was Glaser ahead of Scho and Clausnitzer. In addition to Stephan Glaser and Henry Clausnitzer, a third driver, Stefan Eisinger-Sewald (AUT, Red Rose Racing), is still in contention for the championship title despite a challenging weekend for him.
Races 9 and 10 of the season will take place on 12 and 13 October 2024 in Mugello. All four classes of the BOSS GP Racing Series can be seen and heard for the last time all together this season as part of the PNK Racing Weekend.
Pictures: Angelo Poletto/BOSS GP