2018 Grand Finale at the Valley

2018 Grand Finale at the Valley
Date	8-9 December
Race of Champions
Pole position
Fastest lap
Race winner
FIA Formula 4 World Final
Pole position	Ed Howitzer
Fastest lap	Massimo Torelli
Race Winner	Luca Bandini

The 2018 Grand Finale at the Valley was a motorsport event featuring two non-championship finale events. The first saw a return to the circuit racing format for the well known Race of Champions event, whilst the weekend also saw the debut of the FIA Formula 4 World Final format. Practise and qualifying for both events were held on Saturday, while the feature races were on Sunday.

XXIX Race of Champions

25 participants were selected to compete in an event that would crown 2018's Champion of Champions. 20 of these were assigned by invites for placing as series champions, or championship podium finishers amongst the top series in the world. The remaining five slots, referred to as All Star Invites, are high-profile wildcards who did not earn an invitation based on the required criteria, but were voted in by fans for their popularity and ability.

Qualified participants

Category	Series	Pos	No.	Driver
FIA	F1	1st	5	Sebastian Vettel
		2nd	17	Jules Bianchi
		3rd	44	Lewis Hamilton
		5th	13	Salvatore Miccoli
	PC	2nd	6	Asim Adhikari
		3rd	23	Hagane Shizuka
		5th	8	Jordan McKenna
	F2	1st	12	Marvin Kirchhöfer
AutoReject	ARWS	1st	26	Terry Hawkin
		3rd	90	Phillippe Nicolas
		4th	33	Bastiaan van Nieuwenhuijzen
		5th	98	Mark Dagnall
	AR 3.5	1st	60	Nathanael Cameron
TC	IPC	1st	89	Sylvain Fabron
		2nd	18	Sandra Cessler
		4th	99	Adolfo Moretti
	SEAT	1st	27	Manuarii Vahirua
FNippon		2nd	10	Aimée Gauthier
F5000		1st	50	Matt Grove
GBRC		1st	7	Markus-Petteri Pykälistö

All Star Wildcards

Rank	No.	Driver	Notability
1	3	Daniel Ricciardo	2015 Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion
2	26	Thomas De Bock	2017 AutoReject World Series Drivers' Champion
3	73	Daniel Melrose	2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010 Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion
4	4	Jérémy-Étienne Voeckler	1988 Formula 1 World Drivers' Champion
5	36	André Lotterer	2011, 2012 and 2014 Le Mans 24 Hours winner

FIA Formula 4 World Final

2018 Formula 4 World Final
Date	8 December
Venue	Grand Valley Speedway
Length	20 laps (98.8km)
Prize	FIA Rising Star Award
Participants	18
Pole position
Driver	Ed Howitzer
Time	2:09.869
Fastest lap
Driver	Massimo Torelli
Time	2:09.426
Podium finishers
First	Luca Bandini
Second	John-Paul Casciaro
Third	Ed Howitzer

Six drivers from each of the three national F4 series from around the globe were invited to partake in an end-of-year battle royale, in which the winner would be handed the FIA Rising Star Award, as recognition of being the best driver in the lowest rung of single-seaters worldwide. The race was somewhat longer than a standard Formula 4 race at 100 kilometres, to reflect the finality of the event on the season's proceedings.

Eligible participants

Anglo-Irish F4			Italian F4			North American F4
Pos	No.	Driver	Pos	No.	Driver	Pos	No.	Driver
1st	2	Sabrina Mann	1st	3	Paolo Leonetti	2nd	4	Ed Howitzer
2nd	5	John-Paul Casciaro	2nd	6	Massimo Torelli	3rd	7	Alejandro de la Vega
3rd	8	Imani Burrell	3rd	9	Luca Bandini	4th	10	Arienne Sorel
4th	11	Alex Smith	4th	12	Ivan Shvetsov	5th	14	Joey Bennett
5th	15	Collin Daley, Jr	5th	16	Lucas Légeret	6th	17	Mike Jones
6th	18	Will Tregurtha	6th	19	Magda Szervánszky	8th	20	Bill Jones

Qualifying

Pos	No	Driver	Region	Time
1	4	Ed Howitzer	North American F4	2:09.869
2	3	Paolo Leonetti	Italian F4	+0.010
3	9	Luca Bandini	Italian F4	+0.019
4	12	Ivan Shvetsov	Italian F4	+0.048
5	7	Alejandro de la Vega	North American F4	+0.097
6	2	Sabrina Mann	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.145
7	8	Imani Burrell	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.154
8	18	Will Tregurtha	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.317
9	6	Massimo Torelli	Italian F4	+0.339
10	5	John-Paul Casciaro	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.410
11	15	Collin Daley, Jr	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.593
12	10	Arienne Sorel	North American F4	+0.631
13	14	Joey Bennett	North American F4	+0.671
14	11	Alex Smith	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.757
15	16	Lucas Légeret	Italian F4	+0.834
16	19	Magda Szervánszky	Italian F4	+1.083
17	17	Mike Jones	North American F4	+1.174
18	20	Bill Jones	North American F4	+2.329

Race

Third placed qualifier Luca Bandini won the race, with an overtake on the last lap on Sabrina Mann, who shared the joint most laps led with third placed Ed Howitzer. John-Paul Casciaro was the other podium finisher, in 2nd position, whose performance was notable for having the equal most positions gained from their starting position, an honour shared with Alex Smith in 6th position. Conversely, the worst performer was Will Tregurtha, who dropped 7 places from his starting position.

While the Italian series took the crown thanks to the success of Bandini, it was the Anglo-Irish series with the best success rate overall, with half of the top 10 occupied by drivers from the region. Despite having something of a home advantage with Grand Valley Speedway's US location, only two competitors from the North American series - Ed Howitzer and Alejandro de la Vega placed in the Top 10.

Pos	No	Driver	Region	Time
1	9	Luca Bandini	Italian F4	45:54.7065
2	5	John-Paul Casciaro	Anglo-Irish F4	+0.195
3	4	Ed Howitzer	North American F4	+0.336
4	2	Sabrina Mann	Anglo-Irish F4	+1.872
5	3	Paolo Leonetti	Italian F4	+2.562
6	11	Alex Smith	Anglo-Irish F4	+2.734
7	12	Ivan Shvetsov	Italian F4	+4.745
8	8	Imani Burrell	Anglo-Irish F4	+4.888
9	7	Alejandro de la Vega	North American F4	+5.028
10	15	Collin Daley, Jr	Anglo-Irish F4	+5.170
11	14	Joey Bennett	North American F4	+5.310
12	6	Massimo Torelli	Italian F4	+7.591
13	10	Arienne Sorel	North American F4	+8.181
14	16	Lucas Légeret	Italian F4	+8.323
15	18	Will Tregurtha	Anglo-Irish F4	+8.465
16	17	Mike Jones	North American F4	+8.881
17	19	Magda Szervánszky	Italian F4	+9.024
18	20	Bill Jones	North American F4	+9.166