Adam Wrenkler Wins Race 2 to Split Klaipėda Championship Honours

Adam Wrenkler took his first UIM F4 World Championship race victory in the Grand Prix of Lithuania 2 on Sunday afternoon, leading from pole position to split the Klaipėda weekend honours with Saturday’s winner Ardis Slakteris. The Swede’s win, for Team Black Pharaoh, came in a race disrupted by two yellow flag restarts and a chaotic first turn that drew penalties for five drivers.

William Leithe-Martinsen finished second, 6.951 seconds behind, recovering from his disqualification in Race 1 to take a composed podium. France’s Jean Baptiste Thomas was third, completing a strong weekend after fifth place on Saturday.

Slakteris, who won Race 1 from pole on Saturday, crossed the line in a position that earned him a penalty under UIM Circuit Rule 307.02 for a start lane infringement at the first turn. He was classified sixth, taking 10 points to add to his Saturday haul of 20.

Wrenkler had set the tone through qualifying, taking pole with a Q3 best of 50.533 seconds at 103.66 km/h. In the race, Leithe-Martinsen made a strong launch from the front row but Wrenkler held the pole line advantage and controlled proceedings from there.

Wrenkler said after taking the chequered flag on the Danė River:

“William had a good start but I got the benefit of the pole position line and then I controlled the race from there. It was tough with two restarts but yeah, I’m happy. It was pretty rough too, so that was intense.”

On what the win means after several seasons in the class:

“It means a lot. We’ve been working super hard the last couple of years and to get a result like this is super happy. And especially with Black Pharaoh as well.”

Wrenkler raced at the 24 Heures Motonautiques de Normandie at Poses in May as part of the Monsnauteam S3 endurance crew alongside Benjamin Berti, Hilmer Wiberg and Maverick Grolet. Berti, who finished fourth in Sunday’s race, was his team-mate at Poses five weeks ago.

Leithe-Martinsen described a race he had to manage as much as race:

“It was a chaotic race with two yellow flags and I also had a small incident so I’m quite happy with P2. I was focusing on catching Adam, but he was really fast and Oliver was pushing hard from behind. On the restart I had to defend and we had an incident.”

Looking ahead, the Norwegian has the UIM Formula European Championship at Aluksne, Latvia on 3-5 July in his sights before Viverone:

“First the European Championship — we have to defend that one — and then we have Viverone, so we’re going for two wins over there.”

The first turn incident had wider consequences. Oliver Martin, who had qualified third and ran competitively through the race, was disqualified under Rule 307.02 for a start lane infringement judged to have caused an incident. Sultan Alfalahi was disqualified separately under Rule 313.02 for destroying a turn buoy. Wilhelm Sundberg did not start for the second consecutive race.

Ismat Moani retired after five laps. Paulius Stainys, who had finished second for the home crowd on Saturday, completed only 18 laps and was penalised, finishing 14th after a troubled Sunday that had begun with a disrupted free practice session.

Championship Standings After Round 1

Slakteris and Wrenkler are level on 30 points at the top of the 2026 UIM F4 World Championship, with Slakteris ahead on countback by virtue of his Race 1 victory. Thomas is third on 26 points. Rounds 3 and 4 take place at Viverone, Italy on 7-9 August, where the championship will be decided.

Qualifying Results

Qualifying 3 – Grid positions 1-6

Qualifying 2 – Grid positions 7-14

Qualifying 1 – Grid positions 15-18

Race Result – Grand Prix of Lithuania 2

DSQ: Oliver Martin disqualified under UIM Circuit Rule 307.02 (start lane infringement causing incident). Sultan Alfalahi disqualified under Rule 313.02 (buoy destruction). DNF: Ismat Moani. DNS: Wilhelm Sundberg. Position penalties under Rule 307.02 applied to Attila Horvath, Ardis Slakteris, Laura Lakovica and Paulius Stainys.