The young talents gained valuable experience in the weekend’s round of the Formula 4 championship at Sturup Raceway, where Julius Dinesen and Victor Nielsen experienced a wide range of emotions.
After a strong practice day leading up to the weekend, it was a confident Julius Dinesen who set the fastest time in qualifying, securing his and the team’s second pole position out of two possible. Victor faced issues with gear shifting and had to settle for the seventh-fastest lap time.
And then came the victory. The race itself was not particularly thrilling, but Julius got a good start and built a solid lead over his nearest competitors. He maintained the lead all the way to the finish line, while Victor crossed the line in sixth place, still dealing with a car that had its own shifting issues.
A few hours of work on the car Saturday afternoon and evening resolved Victor’s car problems, and in the second heat, he was back at full speed. Both he and Julius were battling to advance through the field when a moment of inattention led to a collision between the two teammates. Julius ended up off the track, while Victor fell back to seventh place.
Mistakes happen, and after a conversation and handshake between the two teammates, the focus returned to what mattered: the final heat of the weekend. On used tires, Julius managed to keep up with two very fast competitors, and although he wasn’t able to catch or overtake them, he was pleased with the good points earned for the championship:
-It’s been a bit of a tough and mixed weekend. Pole position and a victory are incredibly exciting, but I would have liked to avoid going off in the second heat. I’ve learned a lot this weekend; I need to be a bit more patient and not just attack right away, as that doesn’t always yield the results I hope for. There are some differences from karting to formula cars that I need to adjust to, says Julius, who is pleased to be leading the championship.
Victor Nielsen also struggled with well-worn tires in the final heat, and with another seventh-place finish, he aims for a comeback when racing at Jyllandsringen in two weeks:
-We struggled quite a bit with the car not shifting gears, and it wasn’t fully resolved until this morning. That kind of thing can happen, but it wasn’t optimal. The tires were also done by the end, so I feel like I was allowed to fight a bit for it, says the speedy northerner, who looks forward to tackling Jyllandsringen:
-We haven’t done many laps of testing there, so it will be interesting to see how the competitive landscape looks. I hope to learn the track quickly so I can move further up the field.
