This weekend (19/20 August) sees the final 2 rounds of the 2017 UIM F4 World Championship take place in the picturesque location of Kupiskis, Lithuania which will also feature the F2 European Championship as an added bonus for race fans.
The organisers are ready to welcome the top teams from 8 nations that will be attending the event who are all hoping to give their strongest performances of the season and secure as many points as they can for their final placings in the overall standings.
As championships go, it doesn’t get much closer than the current F4 World Championship points table heading into this weekend’s grand finale following an exciting 2017 so far with many highs and some lows experienced by the competitors. Gold, Silver & Bronze medals are all still to be decided and we can expect some great entertainment as the top contenders go head to head.
Current reigning F4 Champion Juho-Matti Manninen of Finland who was struggling to find form in round 4 of the Championship in the UK and will be hoping that he has fixed his engine problems and has enough speed to fend off the challenge from Latvia’s Nikita Lijcs who is currently on top form and will be a force to be reckoned with this weekend.
All eyes will also be on the battle for Bronze as Sweden’s Morgan Jernfast goes all-out to try and retain his current position but he will have strong competition from Finland’s Kalle Viippo & Tuukka Lehtonen and the UK’s Ben Jelf who are all eager to try and snatch the medal position from him.
Lithuania will be strongly represented by local Competitors Paulius Stainys & Virgilijus Gerdrimas. Following on from his best results of the season at rounds 3 & 4 championship, Paulius will be aiming for glory in front of home crowds and both he and Virgilijus will be hoping for podium finishes.
Joining the championship for the first time this year, France’s former World Endurance & National champion Quentin Daily has been practicing hard and is ready to make his mark on the championship and could possibly be the wild-card entry that disrupts the points table.
Another welcome return to the championship will be from Finland’s Alexander Lindholm who missed rounds 3 & 4 but will be back in Lithuania using a boat that is built by his own team that is proving to be competitive. Unusually, his team also make their own propellers so he will be hoping to use this advantage to have the edge over his closest rivals.
With a full programme of Free Practice, 3 x Qualifying Sessions and a Grand Prix Race scheduled for each day of the event, it will be huge demand on the crew’s competing but will be a great spectacle for the spectators and race fans.
Who will be victorious is anyone’s guess, but we can’t wait for the action to unfold over what promises to be an epic weekend of racing!
