- Tim Gerhards takes 6th place (3rd among rookies ) in the last race of the weekend at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and achieves his best personal and team result of the year.
- The young American Hudson Schwartz is surprising in his debut, coming close to the points on three occasions in his debut in the most competitive national F4 competition in Europe.
- “In a weekend marked, once again, by the qualifying rounds, which were not in line with our good race pace, we ended the event showing a good performance and adding some golden points in the last round,” said David Simón, Team Manager of the team.
- “I would like to thank all the team members for their efforts and, in particular, the trust of the drivers’ families. For our part, we are already in pre-season mode to prepare thoroughly for 2025,” concludes Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
Monlau Motul Technical School ended its participation in the 2024 edition of the Spanish F4, which celebrated its farewell and closing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, on a high note. The three Monlau Motul drivers showed great race pace throughout the weekend, a statement that Tim Gerhards transformed on Sunday into a brilliant sixth place, the best personal and team record of the entire year. The second highlight of the event was the positive debut of the very young American Hudson Schwartz, who remained engaged in the battle to get into the points in the three scoring events and left the Catalan track with a 12th and two 13th places.
The home race was coming up, the best balm to close a far from easy campaign. After a season full of learning and growth for all the members of Monlau Motul Technical School, and in particular for the three drivers, it was time to show muscle and talent in the always selective turns of an entire F1 track, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. Before the start of the meeting, much of the attention was focused on the #74 Monlau Motul car, which would be driven by an American of only 15 years old and who arrived with the label of eighth place in the US F2000 classification, a competition that he has combined with occasional appearances in Europe with Van Amersfoort Racing. He would be flanked by the two usual drivers, Lenny Ried and Tim Gerhards.
After the free practice sessions, the sensations could not have been better, given the second place achieved by Gerhards in the cumulative. However, qualifying, a real Achilles’ heel for the Monlau Motul Technical School riders in 2024, ended up dampening optimism slightly. Hudson Schwartz surprised the paddock by taking 11th and 10th places in his two fastest laps of the session, the best of which was 1:42.474, the fastest of the entire team in the cumulative total of the weekend. Tim Gerhards, for his part, had to settle for 17th and 18th places, and Lenny Ried qualified in 22nd and 21st positions.
In the first race of the programme, held in the afternoon, Gerhards put on his usual comeback suit and climbed to cross the finish line just outside the points, 11th. Hudson Schwartz also had a great debut, experiencing the rigours of the extreme competitiveness of the category first-hand and taking the chequered flag in 13th place. The one who paid the heaviest price was Tim Gerhards, forced to retire after a collision with a rival when he was fighting to move up the ranks.
The final Sunday of the season dawned with some fog and a cold, slightly slower track than the previous day, making Q2 difficult. In this session, which ordered the last grid of the weekend, Gerhards set the best time among the Monlau Motul drivers, 1:43.106, qualifying 13th. Less than a tenth behind were his teammates Lenny Ried (16th) and Hudson Schwartz (18th).
The second competitive round lived up to its status as a short race, and barely had any time under the green flag, with three safety car appearances in a row. The final balance for Monlau Motul Technical School was quite similar to that of the previous afternoon, with Hudson Schwartz repeating in 13th place and Tim Gerhards recovering to finish just behind his teammate. Lenny Ried was 23rd after being forced to make an unscheduled stop to replace the front wing on his car.
With just one race left, the Monlau Motul riders showed their mettle and pride on Sunday afternoon, which proved to be more than productive, at least for two of them. Tim Gerhards achieved his best individual result in Spanish F4 and also that of Monlau Motul Technical School in this difficult 2024 by crossing the finish line in sixth place, with an added reward since it meant third place among the rookies. He was closely followed by Hudson Schwartz, 12th, again within the noble class of the competition. Lenny Ried, for his part, collected a new retirement due to an accident.
David Simón , team manager of Monlau Motul Technical School, analysed the last meeting of 2024 in these terms: “We say goodbye to the season showing good performance and adding some golden points and a rookie podium. Once again, it was a weekend conditioned by the classifications, because if we had achieved a better record in this chapter, our race pace would undoubtedly have allowed us to be higher up.” In his rider-by-rider analysis, Simón added: “Tim Gerhards had three very good performances, always close to the points until that final touch in the form of a sixth place. Lenny, on the other hand, was unlucky, and his three races were always marked by incidents. I would describe Hudson Schwartz’s debut as surprising. Despite his youth and limited experience, he showed that he has a lot of talent and great potential. Finally, I would like to thank all the engineers and mechanics, both staff and students, who have worked perfectly and full of enthusiasm all year.”
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul, put his personal closing to the course:“The home race is always a special moment and a time to meet up with families, friends, sponsors and also many students, who accompanied us all weekend in the pits. This accompaniment always makes you feel an extra responsibility, but at the same time it gives you a charge of energy, and the results confirm this. I would like to thank all the team members for their efforts and, in particular, the trust of the drivers’ families throughout the year. I am sure that they will continue to grow and we will soon see them in higher categories doing very well. For our part, we are already starting to get into pre-season mode to prepare carefully for 2025.”
With the sixth place achieved by Tim Gerhards, the Dutchman concludes as the best Monlau Motul Technical School driver of 2024 in 20th position in Spanish F4, with 11 points. The 8 points added this past weekend place the Barcelona team in 11th place in the team championship.
