Aiva Anagnostiadis made her debut in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship at Jerez, finishing all three races and achieving a best result of 23rd in race three, as she continues to build confidence and gain valuable experience in F4.
Aiva Anagnostiadis made a successful debut in the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship at Jerez. The young Australian racer built up her confidence throughout the weekend as she continued to bank vital knowledge driving for Cram Motorsport.
Anagnostiadis finished all three races without incident and achieved a best result of 23rd position in race three.
Following her European single seater debut last weekend in the Formula Winter Series at Portimao, Anagnostiadis remained with Cram Motorsport for the opening round of the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship. By racing in both series while working with the same team, Anagnostiadis’ aim was to develop her racecraft and build up her experience in a consistent environment.
In the opening round of the Formula Winter Series, Anagnostiadis raced in changeable conditions and achieved a best result of 20th in race one. Making her first appearance at the technical Jerez circuit, the young racer was aiming to build upon her performances and bank vital knowledge throughout the event.
On-track action got underway on Friday with a pair of two-hour test sessions for the drivers to get up to speed. Anagnostiadis completed a total of 81 laps at Jerez, setting the 33rd quickest time in each session. The Cram Motorsport driver improved by over a second throughout the day and was therefore looking to make further progress in Saturday morning’s first qualifying session.
For the first qualifying session on Saturday morning, Anagnostiadis had to draw upon her wet weather experience from Portimao following an overnight change in conditions. As the Cram Motorsport driver acclimatised to conditions, she gained in confidence and her quickest time of the session came on her final lap. Improving upon her position from Friday’s dry running, Aiva’s fastest time placed her in 30th position.
Due to a number of drivers not setting a requisite time within the pole position lap, these racers were lined up based on practice times for race one of the weekend. As a result, Anagnostiadis started the contest from 32nd position on the grid with the track now fully dry. After a delayed start due to Alexander Jacoby stopping out on track, the drivers returned to the pit lane before the race got underway behind the safety car.
Anagnostiadis was already up to 30th position and despite losing one position on the first racing flag lap, the Cram Motorsport driver was into her rhythm. Running directly behind Christian Garduno, Aiva was then able to capitalise on an off-track moment from Emma Felbermayr to move back inside the top-30. After a good battle with the Rodin Motorsport driver, Felbermayr pulled clear with Anagnostiadis holding in close proximity with her fellow female driver.
A series of personal best laps, including her fastest time on lap nine, saw Aiva coming within two tenths of a second away from her testing benchmark. After Gino Trappa slowed with a technical issue and Jacoby found the barriers on lap 10, Anagnostiadis was into 29th position. Jacoby’s incident brought out the safety car and the race was scheduled to restart for two laps. However, a multi-car incident on the restart saw the red flag displayed with Anagnostiadis classified in 29th position.
The second race of the weekend took place on Saturday afternoon and was a sprint contest of just 20 minutes in length. Anagnostiadis started from 32nd on the grid and despite a stall off the line, she completed lap one in 29th position. Although Aiva was slightly cut adrift of the field, she was lapping competitively and shortly moved into 28th after Christopher El Feghali pitted for a new front wing.
It was a quiet middle portion of the race for Anagnostiadis but after setting a personal best time on lap eight, she was maintaining a stable gap to the drivers ahead. Anagnostiadis also passed Jean Paul Karras with the Greek racer retiring to the pits just past the halfway stage. Maintaining her consistency to the checkered flag, Aiva completed the sprint race at Jerez in 27th position.
Sunday’s action began with the second qualifying session which was held in dry conditions. After a red flag period early in the session for Aurelia Nobels, 12 minutes remained for the drivers to set a fast lap time. Anagnostiadis improved steadily in the closing stages to set the 29th fastest time with a 1:47.312.
For the final race at Jerez, Anagnostiadis lined up from 29th on the grid, however the start was delayed multiple times for a range of incidents. After Aiva herself spun on one of the formation laps, she began the contest from the pit lane and this enabled her to avoid a number of opening-lap crashes. With the cars of both Lia Block and Christopher El Feghali requiring recovery after separate incidents, the safety car was deployed.
Anagnostiadis initially ran in 28th position, before moving into 27th when the race resumed. Green flag conditions lasted for less than half a lap before Niklas Schaufler and Santino Panetta found the gravel trap. On lap seven, the racing got back underway with Aiva holding in 27th position. The following lap she moved up to 26th after Filippo Fiorentino retired from the race.
During the second half of the race, a period of uninterrupted running allowed Anagnostiadis to run her fastest race lap of the event. A chaotic final lap saw a number of incidents occur ahead with the Cram Motorsport driver able to gain three positions to take the checkered flag in 23rd position, her best result of the weekend.
It was a positive end to the event for Anagnostiadis who enjoyed her most successful race to complete her debut in the series. By competing in both the Formula Winter Series and the Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship, Aiva is gaining valuable experience to enable her to make sustained progress.
Anagnostiadis will be back in action in the Formula Winter Series next weekend as the drivers tackle the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia.
Comments