- Tim Gerhards has recorded a ninth and a tenth place in the two long races, respectively, in the French event to open his personal points account.
- Lenny Ried (12th in race 1) and Rehan Hakim (20th in race 2) also achieved their best individual results this year.
- “I trust that this event will mark a turning point for the team, which has performed perfectly both in the field of driving and in mechanics and engineering,” says Jaime Serrano, CEO of Monlau Motul.
- “Tim Gerhards has had a very solid weekend, backed by two great classifications, an aspect that we must continue to refine with his teammates Ried and Hakim. But everyone’s progress has been important in the event,” explains David Simón, Team Manager of the team .
The Monlau Motul Technical School drivers scored their first points in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship at the third event of the season, held at the Paul Ricard circuit in France. Tim Gerhards’ P9 and P10 in races 1 and 3 of the weekend, the longest, should mark a turning point for the team, which continues to grow race by race and is getting closer to the championship leaders in both the race and qualifying. Positive performances for the other two drivers, Lenny Ried and Rehan Hakim, who also recorded their best individual results: 12th and 20th, respectively.
Second international commitment for the Monlau Motul drivers of the Spanish Formula 4, this time at Paul Ricard, a track located in the south of France. The 5.842-metre variant, one of the longest on the French track, forced the three representatives of the team and the entire engineering staff to fine-tune the set-up of the cars, keeping in mind the usual equality of the Spanish championship.
The moment of truth came with the first qualifying session, whose two best laps would determine the grids for races 1 and 2. Tim Gerhards made a big leap forward from his free practice result, clocking a 2:05.916 that gave him 12th place on the grid for the first round, his best qualifying of the year, and which he combined with a 17th time for the second. Greater difficulties for his teammates, Lenny Ried, who chained two P25s, and Rehan Hakim, P30 in both cases.
In the afternoon, Gerhards did his homework and showed his skills in the first race, scheduled for 30 minutes plus one lap, and which, for the first time this year, was not focused on a comeback. The young Dutchman did not leave the top 12 until he climbed to 10th place on the sixth lap, a position he would not relinquish until the chequered flag and which would later become 9th due to a penalty for another driver. Lenny Ried was very close, moving from 25th to 12th place in the final to record his best result in F4, while Rehan Hakim crossed the finish line in 25th.
Sunday’s session started as usual with the second qualifying session, in which Gerhards managed to maintain his good record from the meeting, and qualified 10th (2:06.198) for the third session, just three tenths off pole position . Lenny Ried, on the other hand, was unable to find the optimum moment for his tyres and had to settle for 27th (2:07.060), while Hakim repeated the 30th position of the previous day (2:07.257).
In the short race, scheduled for 25 minutes plus one lap, Rehan Hakim recorded his best result of the weekend, climbing from 30th to 20th place, ahead of his teammate Lenny Ried (26th). Tim Gerhards, on the other hand, was involved in a collision and had to retire.
The team of mechanics sent by Monlau Motul to Paul Ricard then did an excellent job, repairing Gerhards’ car to leave it spotless for the second round of the programme, which the Dutchman faced with serious chances of scoring points. And, said and done, Tim Gerhards achieved another brilliant result (P10) to pocket the third point of the weekend after a solid race in which, once again, he was always among the best during the 30 minutes plus one development lap. His teammates at Monlau Motul crossed the flag in 20th (Lenny Ried) and 30th place (Rehan Hakim).
At the end of the third event of the season, David Simón , team manager of Monlau Motul Technical School, assessed the three drivers individually: “Tim Gerhards has had a very solid weekend, scoring twice and fighting with the leading group for the first time this year. His progress has been very important, and now he will have to work hard to not lose this good line at Motorland. Work will also be key, especially in qualifying, for his teammate Lenny Ried, who has a very good race pace, but is penalised by starting from positions that force him to take a lot of risks. We must think together to allow him to make a leap forward in the time trials. Finally, Rehan continues to progress with the car and this weekend he has taken another step, as shown by his 20th position in the second race.”
Jaime Serrano , CEO of Monlau Motul, added: “We have reached the points in the drivers’ category and qualified within the top 10 for the first time this year. I trust that this event will mark a turning point for the team. I would also like to highlight the good work of the team of engineers and mechanics, as well as the help of Álvaro Barba as coach throughout the weekend.”
The Spanish F4 will not stop for the holidays, and will hold its fourth qualifying round at the Motorland Aragón circuit on July 27 and 28.
