Jasin Ferati Newsletter No. 10 / 2020 (October 16)
Found the speed again but injured
The Monza adventure didn't bring luck to Jasin Ferati. The Winterthur Formula 4 driver injured his back during an evasive maneuver in qualifying and was unable to take part in the Italian championship races.
An old vertebral fracture prevented the 17-year-old Winterthur racing driver on the Monza Grand Prix track from confirming the improvement shown in training. After an apparently harmless incident, Ferati ended up in hospital and was not on the starting line-up. "It's bitter. I had planned so much and now something like this,” he quarreled. "Somehow I'm still satisfied, because there are also positive insights. The training results show that I've found the speed again to be in the top group. It is now a matter of building on that at the next event in Imola.”
Since he hadn't been particularly fast during the summer test days on the track, which was new to him, Ferati had been in the dark about how the race weekend would go. After an analysis of the disappointing performance in Mugello, however, he changed a lot in terms of attitude and was therefore in good spirits. "I found myself right away on the dry slope, ended up 16th in the first practice session and felt that there was still a lot more to come," he said happily. “In the second practice session I was sixth out of 30 participants and that was a real highlight. With only four tenths of a second behind Francesco Pizzi, the fastest of the day, I managed P8 in the third practice session and everything was okay in the fourth session too with position 9.”
On Friday, first the conditions changed and then the mood. “We had to use rain tires on the wet and cold track. Even with these extreme weather conditions, I managed to make it into the top 10. In the final practice session, before the first chicane, I overtook a slow competitor and unfortunately braked a bit too late. The right front wheel locked and so I crashed into my teammate Francesco Braschi's car in the chicane. That was the end of both of us prematurely, ”he was annoyed.
The Jenzer mechanics had to put in an extra shift to get the cars ready for qualifying on Saturday morning. “It was chaotic in the first section because of yellow and red flags,” recalls Ferati. “I was still ninth with 30 seconds to go, but I wasn't able to improve on the second fast lap and I lost a lot of positions as a result. Starting position 18 was a disappointment after the good practice sessions. But it got worse. In the In the equally hectic second qualifying, I had to dodge some competitors in the chicane. My car took off at the front and rebounded violently onto the curbs. I injured my back and couldn't drive any further because of the pain."
Ferati was transferred to the medical center and later to a hospital in Monza for X-rays. “What I saw there was a shock. That's why I was very happy to be able to return to Switzerland on the same day.” According to intensive examinations at the Zurich Schulthess Clinic, an older, untreated vertebral fracture was Ferati's real problem on impact. With the hoped-for healing process, he should complete the training in a week be able to resume and be there in Imola in mid-November.
Monza: 1st race: 1st Francesco Pizzi (It) 32:18.947. 2nd Andrea Rosso (It) 1,723 behind. 3. Filip Ugran (Rum) 1,763. - 2nd race: 1st Pizzi 32:18.658. 2. Gabriele Mini (It) 0.456. 3. Gabriel Bortoleto (Br) 1.184. – Race 3: 1st Pietro Delli Guanti (It) 32:12.321. 2. Bortoleto 0.4666. 3.Leonardo Fornaroli (It), 0.651. – did not start: Jasin Ferati (Sz).
Overall classification: 1. Mini 215 points. 2. Pizzi 179. 3. Rosso 139. 4. Bortoleto 125. 5. Ugran 120. 6. Dino Beganovic (Sd) 110. – Further 27. Ferati 0. – Rookie standings: 1. Mini 246. 2. Pizzi 216 3rd Rosso 163rd – Further: 20th Ferati 6th – Team standings: 1st Prema Powerteam 422nd 2nd Van Amersfoort Racing 350th 4th Jenzer Motorsport 156th 4th Cram Motorsport 140th 5th Bhaitech 76th
Next races: 18-22 November in Imola.