F.4 – Mugello on the podium for Joao Vieira
The selective circuit of Mugello (Tuscany, Italy) has highlighted all the technical qualities of Joao Vieira who, at the third round of the Italian F.4 Championship Powered by Abarth, won his first podium.
The third place is the icing on the cake of a good weekend which has blown away the disappointment of fifteen days ago at Imola, scoring an excellent hat-trick with three finishes in the points-zone in as many races, for a total of 32 points.
After conquering the third row in the two rounds of Qualifying on Saturday morning, respectively with the fifth and sixth fastest time, the 16-year-old Brazilian driver from Gurupi scored points in the first two races, thanks to an excellent fifth place in Race-1 and a seventh place in the sprint race. The greatest satisfaction came right at the last race with an attacking attitude, that from the fourteenth position led him to conquer the third step of the podium (which means also the first podium of the season). “I’m really happy both for the first podium and for the weekend. Since the first times on the track, in the tests of the past weeks, I’ve liked it very much, because it’s very fast and technical. Therefore very suitable to my style of driving. I must also thank all the staff of Antonelli Motorsport – they are really very good – as well as the trainers of the Driver Program Center. This podium has to be just the beginning”, Joao Vieira comments.
“I’m really satisfied. During the test, I was immediately impressed and this podium is the confirmation of the good technical and speed qualities of Joao. The Mugello is a challenging track and he was very good at not making any mistakes. In Race-3, despite a non-perfect start, he recovered several positions until he conquered of the podium. A result that boosts the morale for the second half of the season”, the manager Giovanni Minardi comments.
Thanks to these precious results, Joao incredibly improves his position in the overall ranking, entering fiercely into the Top-Eight with 33 points.