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The Rainbow Team Association, led by
Fabrizio Bocca, former racer and 1992 Circuit F1 World Champion, organised the
twelfth edition of the Viverone Water Festival last weekend, a regular venue on
the UIM calendar.
This time around, Lake Viverone in
northern Italy hosted the second and final Round of the Circuit F4 World
Championship and the Circuit F2 European Championship, the latter being decided
over a single event. Both titles were won by Swedish drivers, respectively Adam
Wrenkler and Hilmer Wiberg.
The second and final Round of the F4
World Championship was contested over two races, each preceded by a qualifying
session divided into Q1, Q2 and Q3. A line-up of eighteen F4 drivers made the
trip to Italy for the 12th Viverone Water Festival. With eleven different
nations represented and drivers from both Europe and the Middle East, the event
had a truly international flavour, once again highlighting the dynamism of the
F4 category.
Joint leader of the Championship
going into Viverone alongside Latvian Ardis Slakteris, Swedish driver Adam
Wrenkler from Black Pharaoh Team started the weekend on a high, taking first
place in the Q3 qualifying session and securing pole position for the opening
race. Wrenkler confirmed his pace by winning Race 1, which allowed him to take
the Championship lead ahead of Race 2. Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Thomas finished
second, with Hungarian Attila Horvath third.
On Sunday, the second qualifying
session for the F4 class saw Finnish driver Oliver Martin and Hungarian Attila
Horvath showing strong pace, with the latter posting the fastest time in Q3 to
secure pole position. Wrenkler remained solid, taking third place in Q3, while
Jean-Baptiste Thomas once again confirmed that he had found an ideal set-up,
qualifying second.
Horvath went on to win Race 2,
finishing strong his 2026 season, while Adam Wrenkler's second place was enough
to secure his first-ever Circuit F4 World Championship title.
Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Thomas
collected his third consecutive runner-up finish in the Drivers' Championship,
while Latvian Ardis Slakteris did enough to secure third place in the final
standings.
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A strong line-up of fifteen Formula
2 boats took to the waters of Lake Viverone, with several notable changes
compared with the fleet that had competed in the previous World Championship
rounds.
Tullio Abbate from Italy and Bimba
Sjöholm from Sweden both returned to F2 competition, while Romain Nedelec, a
French driver based in Spain, made his F2 debut after years of racing Endurance
Catamarans in F4 hulls. Belgian driver Buby Bertels, a multiple World Champion
in the Pleasure Navigation discipline, made his debut in a Circuit title event
after previously competing in international races and training at his home base
in Belgium.
Compared with the World Championship
format, the F2 European Championship is decided over four heats at a single
event, with the worst result from the four heats discarded from the overall
Drivers' Championship classification. On Saturday, the F2 drivers competed in
Heat 1, which was won by Swedish driver Hilmer Wiberg ahead of his sister
Mathilda and Norwegian Andrè Solvang.
On Sunday, the exact same scenario
and podium were repeated in Heats 2 and 3, resulting in a mathematical
Championship victory for Hilmer Wiberg even before the start of Heat 4, which
was won by Lithuanian Edgaras Riabko. With 400 points, Riabko snatched third
place in the overall Championship standings from Solvang, who nevertheless
enjoyed a solid weekend, finishing fourth overall.
Photos: F4 Powerboat Series, Chris Davies
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