Joanne Ciconte makes Spanish F4 debut at Jerez

Young Australian Joanne Ciconte made her debut in the Spanish Formula 4 Championship at Jerez, showing progress over the weekend and is ready to build on her experience for future races.

Photo credits: Fotocar13

Joanne Ciconte made her debut in the highly competitive Spanish Formula 4 Championship at Jerez, joining the DXR by Drivex team for the sixth round of the season. The Australian driver showed solid progress throughout the event, with a best finish of P28.

Ciconte, 15, is in her first year of single-seater competition and has made significant strides in her first European races. She debuted in a Formula 4 car earlier this year in the Australian Formula Open round at Sandown International Raceway, where she impressively finished second in all three races, before advancing to the newly-relaunched Australian F4 Championship.

Racing with the Formula Race Academy team at The Bend, Ciconte achieved three top-ten finishes, including two seventh-place results as her best performances. She continued her development season in the Tatuus T421 car by moving to Europe, where she joined AS Motorsport for the FIA F4 CEZ (Central European Zone) round at Brno.

Ciconte, who was one of the finalists in the last edition of the FIA Girls On Track - Rising Stars selection, had a breakthrough weekend in the Czech Republic, finishing fourth overall and as the top rookie in her first F4 CEZ race. She added more points to her tally with an eighth-place finish and another top-five result.

Taking on the challenge of the ultra-competitive Spanish F4 series, Ciconte faced a 36-car field featuring some of Europe’s strongest F4 drivers at a circuit she had to learn during the pre-event test. Despite the tough conditions, she made consistent progress with the Drivex team, finishing 30th fastest in the official practice and steadily closing the gap to more experienced drivers.

As the only female driver on the grid at Jerez—following appearances by Nerea Marti and Lia Block earlier in the season—Ciconte tackled her first Spanish F4 qualifying session on Saturday morning. She clocked a 1:45.0 lap time in Q1, finishing in 32nd position, just under two seconds from pole position, in her first-ever qualifying in the series.

Joanne faced her first-ever Spanish F4 race with determination, lining up in P32 on the grid. The race began with a chaotic start as the large field jostled for position. Ciconte navigated the hectic opening corners, briefly moving up to P30 before settling back into P32 as she found her rhythm.

On the second lap, she dropped to P33 but quickly fought back, taking advantage of a few incidents ahead to regain P31. Ciconte then engaged in a close battle with Fernandez, successfully overtaking him on lap 3 to move up to P30.

She continued her charge by battling several other drivers, including Campos and Jacoby, showing improved racecraft. She improved her sector times consistently, and continued to battle for positions throughout the race; unfortunately, her solid drive came to a halt on lap 11 when she went off into the gravel at Turn 1 following contact with Jacoby when running in 27th place. The incident, which ultimately brought out the safety car, ended her first race.

"Qualifying was tough for me but I tried my best and finished P32", she commented. "Race 1 was going great! I made it up to P27 and was prepared for more progress. Unfortunately, I was involved in a crash with an opponent that led me not to finish the race."

Photo credits: Fotocar13

Sunday morning's Qualifying 2 saw Ciconte aiming to bounce back after her Saturday setback. The session was delayed due to foggy conditions, adding another challenge for the young Australian driver.

Nevertheless Ciconte found significant time in the final laps of the session, shaving off nearly a second from her initial runs to clock a 1:45.709, which placed her in P34.

"Qualifying 2 was tough", she wrote. "It was a cold and foggy morning and the track and car was a new feeling. On the positive side it was something that I got to learn!"

In Race 2, however, Ciconte would have to start from the back of the pack following a penalty for the Race 1 incident. Joanne had a good launch off the line, immediately gaining a position as Campos stalled at the start. She capitalized on friction ahead to move up to P33 and then engaged in a battle with Dobrzanski, briefly losing the position before fighting back.

Ciconte stayed focused, taking advantage of others’ mistakes ahead and steadily improving her lap times to maintain her spot in the mid-pack. When Macedo encountered issues and retired, Ciconte climbed to P32 and later gained more positions as Gomez and Tye dropped back. She ultimately finished in P28, closing the gap to the cars ahead in the final laps, showcasing another step forward in a difficult and highly competitive field.

Starting from P34 for the final contest of the weekend, Ciconte faced a challenging race to round out the sixth round of Spanish F4. The event began with a dramatic crash at the start involving several cars on the main straight, including Rivera, Cantu, and Restrepo, leading to an immediate red flag when a stalled car was collected at speed. Ciconte had luckily avoiding the wreckage, which allowed her to restart behind the safety car in P31 when the race resumed.

As the green flag waved again, Ciconte survived another hectic first lap and set her sights on Campos just ahead. She pushed hard to close the gap, eventually moving ahead of Fernandez on lap 3 to move up the order.

Running some of her best laps of the weekend, Ciconte kept her pace strong in the low 1:45s, consistently matching the times of the cars in front as she stayed close to the pack.

Unfortunately, with only a few laps to go, Joanne made a small error, putting her off-track and into the gravel trap, bringing out another safety car.

"It was super unfortunate that it happened", Ciconte commented. "But I’m extremely grateful that I participated Round 6 at Jerez because I learnt so many things that helps me gain more and more experience. Overall I was happy with my pace and performance that was under my control. Can’t wait for Barcelona!"

Despite the setbacks, the weekend at Jerez provided her with invaluable experience that she will take forward to the next round in Barcelona, on 8-10 November.