The team secured its strongest Formula 4 results of the season so far despite facing multiple setbacks and challenges throughout the weekend.
The third round of Formula 4 Spanish Championship season took place on June 19–21 at MotorLand Aragón. GRS entered the event with a revised driver line-up. Alongside Alfons Miettinen, who has been with the team since the start of the season, was Ryusho Nakazato, the Japanese driver making his European motorsport debut as part of a three-round Formula 4 Spanish Championship programme. Pablo Riccobono was unfortunately ruled out of the event due to a wrist injury, with Belgian driver Yani Stevenheydens stepping in as his replacement.
Track action got underway on Tuesday with two consecutive days of Official Collective Testing. These sessions, together with Friday’s running, allowed the team to fine-tune the car set-ups and prepare the drivers for a demanding race weekend at a circuit where close competition, track limits and extreme temperatures all played a decisive role.
Saturday marked the beginning of competitive action. The first qualifying session made things difficult for GRS. Nakazato was forced to start Race 1 from the pit lane after exceeding track limits during qualifying. Miettinen showed encouraging pace to qualify P29, while Stevenheydens secured P23 despite being just one second away from Pole Position.
In Race 1, Stevenheydens made an excellent start and quickly found himself battling for a place inside the top ten. The Belgian looked set to score points until contact from another car on the final lap dropped him back, eventually crossing the finish line in 18th place. Miettinen delivered one of his strongest performances of the season, climbing to P22, while Nakazato finished P30 after a challenging debut.
Race 2 took place later that afternoon and was the shortest race of the weekend. Once again, Yani gained several positions before losing pace in the closing stages, eventually finishing P17. Alfons also fought his way forward to P25, while Ryusho was forced to retire due to a technical issue.
Sunday began with the second qualifying session. In another extremely competitive session, Stevenheydens set a lap time just half a second away from pole position, yet it was only enough for 18th on the grid. Miettinen endured a difficult session and qualified P31, while Nakazato suffered further technical issues that prevented him from setting a representative lap time, forcing him to start Race 3 from the back of the grid.
The final race of the weekend featured constant on-track action, with Stevenheydens once again fighting for the points. The Belgian gained several positions in a highly competitive midfield battle and crossed the finish line in P11, before a track limits penalty dropped him to P15 in the final classification. Behind him, both GRS drivers produced strong recovery drives. Nakazato completed his weekend with a clean race to finish P25, while Miettinen came home in P26.
That concludes a challenging weekend in Alcañiz. The team fought with everything it had against the numerous setbacks encountered throughout the event and, although the reward ultimately slipped away, we came closer than ever before. That only strengthens our determination to keep pushing forward. Congratulations to our drivers and every member of the team for their outstanding dedication throughout the weekend.
The Formula 4 Spanish Championship now enters a two-month summer break. The series will return on August 22–23 at the Circuito de Madrid–Jarama, where GRS hopes to welcome Pablo Riccobono back to the cockpit.
