zra Never Looked Back: Monza Win on Return as Azran Takes the Championship Lead | ISL News

Ezra Never Looked Back: Monza Win on Return as Azran Takes the Championship Lead

Season 1 · Round 4 · Italian Grand Prix · Autodromo Nazionale Monza · 6 September 2026 · Dry

Monza is a circuit that rewards a clean getaway and punishes hesitation. Shaul Ezra had missed two rounds to injury. He took pole in the closing moments of qualifying, converted it with a sharp start and a controlled opening lap, and from there the dry Italian Grand Prix became a procession at the front: he led every lap and took his first win of ISL Season 1. Two starts this year, two poles, a second at Spa and a win here.

The other headline did not need him to look in the mirrors. Youssef Shaheen, winner of the first two rounds and second at Zandvoort, sat this one out. Eden Azran finished second — and, with Shaheen's zero, moved to the top of the drivers' championship for the first time this season.

Behind Ezra, the race had a second story that ran almost to the flag: a long, clean fight for second between Azran and Amir Ehud, broken three laps from the end by Ehud's spin, then nearly rewritten again as Kelly Aiche arrived to within 0.058s of the final podium step.

First, Zandvoort — Where Shaheen's Perfect Start Ended

Round 3 at Zandvoort on 22 August never got its own recap, and it deserved one. That was the night the opening script broke.

Shaheen started from pole and led until the first round of stops — the familiar shape of a driver who had won twice already. Zandvoort refused to stay still. Mixed conditions, dry to rain and back to rain, turned strategy into the whole race. Azran, second on the grid, read it better: two stops against Shaheen's three, the call that mattered, and his first win of the season — and of ISL. Shaheen still came home second and took fastest lap, but for the first time this year somebody else took the flag. Two from two was over.

The supporting cast told its own story. Kelly Aiche scored his first ISL podium in third, a reset after fifth at Spa and eighth in Hungary. Idan Turjeman was fourth for a second straight race, Harel Ben Harosh fifth for a second straight race, Dan Radia sixth for a second straight race — three drivers quietly stacking high points before Monza asked a different question.

Further back, Dvir Badash drove to a season-best seventh. Zakai Ehud scored in eighth after a rough Hungary. Omer Cohen was Driver of the Day, climbing from 13th to ninth for his first ISL points. Gadi Roz, a DNS at Spa, finished tenth and opened his account. Assaf Ben Lulu and Tal Cohen added points from the tail, and Uri Ron retired. Ezra was still injured; Ehud, after the technical retirement in Hungary, was not on the grid.

After Zandvoort, Shaheen still led the championship. The gap had narrowed. The lead was his. Monza, and his absence, changed that too.

Monza — Pole at the Death, Then Lights-to-Flag

Four-time PSGiL champion Ezra already owned a dry-Monza habit from the old league: two Main wins on this asphalt. ISL's first visit looked like the same driver on the same circuit. Pole arrived at the last minute of the session. The start and lap one did the rest. One stop, dry track, every lap in front, 6.791 seconds in hand at the line. It was not a chase. It was management.

For a grid that had watched him lose two rounds to injury while Azran and Shaheen built their tallies, the message was blunt. When Ezra is in the car, he is still a favourite — especially here.

Second Place Was a Race of Its Own — Then 58 Thousandths

Ezra managed. Azran and Ehud fought. The duel for second ran the distance: close, clean, and intense, the kind of wheel-to-wheel that makes a midfield grid lean forward. Azran had just won his first ISL race. Ehud had led in Hungary on debut before a disconnect ended his night. Both had something to prove, and neither gave the other a cheap exit.

Three laps from the flag, Ehud spun. Second became third — his first ISL podium, and another evening that will feel like it offered more. He had started third, raced for second, and still had to survive a photo finish for the step he kept.

Aiche, from fifth on the grid, was the man in that photo. They were split by 0.058 seconds: Ehud third, Aiche fourth. For Aiche it is a second straight night in the lead group after the Zandvoort podium, and further evidence that Hungary's eighth was the outlier, not the trend. Fourth at Spa, eighth at the Hungaroring, third at Zandvoort, fourth here — the last two rounds have turned him into a regular at the sharp end.

Azran's 20 points extend a run that now defines the season: fourth, third, first, second. Four races, four finishes inside the top four, no retirements. The Zandvoort win was not a weather fluke. It was the next step on a climb that started with a quiet fourth at Spa.

Through the Field — Climbs, Fastest Lap, and a McLaren Off-Night

Zakai Ehud was the climber of the pack behind the fight for second: ninth on the grid to a season-best fifth, even after a small in-race time penalty. Spa ninth, Hungary 12th, Zandvoort eighth, Monza fifth — the line is pointing up, and 12 points here drop him into the real midfield fight rather than the edges of it.
Ricardo Pericao was named Driver of the Day. First start since Spa, tenth on the grid, sixth at the flag — four places gained, and a reminder that two races this season have meant two visits to the points.
Idan Turjeman took fastest lap but finished seventh after a two-stop race from fourth on the grid. It is his first result this season outside the top four (third, fourth, fourth, seventh). He is still scoring; the early-title rhythm has cooled.
Harel Ben Harosh slipped to eighth from seventh. After sixth-fifth-fifth, this was his first night outside the top five — still a point in every race, still one of the most reliable cars on the grid, still waiting for a podium that has not arrived.
Tal Cohen brought the second Aston Martin home ninth from eighth. Points in three of four rounds, including that first score in Hungary. While his teammate leads the championship, the other car is doing the unglamorous work that constructors titles are built on.
Dan Radia had McLaren's hardest night of the season: sixth on the grid, tenth at the flag, after a heavy in-race time penalty. Until Monza he had been sixth or seventh every time out. The scoring streak lives; the run of strong finishes does not.
Assaf Ben Lulu classified 11th, a lap down, and kept a three-race points sequence (tenth, 11th, 11th). Present, not loud.
Gadi Roz finished 12th for a second points finish of the season, after tenth at Zandvoort. From a DNS on opening night to two classified scores — slow progress, but progress.
Dvir Badash retired from 13th, a step backwards from the season-best seventh at Zandvoort. Ferrari classified nobody: Guy Rapke missed a second straight round.

Absence still has a shape in this championship. Nitzan Alon remains eighth on 26 points from two races, carried by that Hungary second. Omer Cohen, Zandvoort's Driver of the Day, did not return. And Shaheen — two wins and a second from three starts — is second in the standings without having to lose a lap at Monza.

Classification — Italian Grand Prix (Provisional)

Pos	Driver	Team	Grid	Pts	Notes
1	Shaul Ezra	Red Bull	1	24	Win, pole, led every lap
2	Eden Azran	Aston Martin	2	20	—
3	Amir Ehud	Mercedes	3	17	Maiden ISL podium
4	Kelly Aiche	Racing Bulls	5	14	0.058s from P3
5	Zakai Ehud	Williams	9	12	+4, season-best
6	Ricardo Pericao	Audi	10	10	Driver of the Day, +4
7	Idan Turjeman	Williams	4	8	Fastest lap
8	Harel Ben Harosh	Alpine	7	6	—
9	Tal Cohen	Aston Martin	8	4	—
10	Dan Radia	McLaren	6	3	−4
11	Assaf Ben Lulu	Mercedes	11	2	—
12	Gadi Roz	Racing Bulls	12	1	—
—	Dvir Badash	Ferrari	13	0	DNF

Championship Picture — After Round 4

Four rounds, two changes at the front. Zandvoort cost Shaheen the race; Monza, with Shaheen away, cost him the lead. Azran sits on 75 points, seven clear of Shaheen (68). Turjeman is third on 53, Aiche fourth on 49 after back-to-back lead-group finishes, and Ezra — two races only — is already fifth on 44. His points-per-start is among the highest on the grid. If the injury is behind him, the title fight has a third serious name in it.

The reliable scorers fill the next band: Ben Harosh sixth on 40 from four scoring nights, Radia seventh on 31, Alon still eighth without a start since Hungary. Zakai Ehud jumps to ninth on 23 after his fifth, and Amir Ehud enters the top ten on the back of the podium.

The drop race still sits in the background — best 12 of 13 count. Shaheen now has a clear zero from Monza that he can later discard. Azran has four live scores and a discard still waiting for a bad night. That is a quiet advantage for the new leader, as long as the top-four finishes keep coming.

Pos	Driver	Points	Races
1	Eden Azran	75	4
2	Youssef Shaheen	68	3
3	Idan Turjeman	53	4
4	Kelly Aiche	49	4
5	Shaul Ezra	44	2
6	Harel Ben Harosh	40	4
7	Dan Radia	31	4
8	Nitzan Alon	26	2
9	Zakai Ehud	23	4
10	Amir Ehud	17	2
11	Dvir Badash	12	4
12	Ricardo Pericao	11	2
13	Guy Rapke	11	2
14	Tal Cohen	9	4
15	Assaf Ben Lulu	7	4
16	Omer Cohen	4	2
17	Gadi Roz	4	4
18	Tamir Ziv	0	2
19	Uri Ron	0	2

Constructors — McLaren Still Lead, Aston Martin Close the Gap

Without Shaheen, McLaren leaned on Radia alone and scored three points. They still lead on 99, but Aston Martin have eaten a large piece of the gap: 84 points, 15 behind, after a 24-point night from Azran and Cohen. Williams sit third on 76, hauled by Turjeman and Zakai together. Racing Bulls are fourth (53) on Aiche's run, and Red Bull jump to fifth (44) from a single Ezra evening.

The pattern is the same as it was after Hungary, only louder: two scoring cars survive an absence. One-car teams — McLaren without Shaheen, Cadillac without Alon, Ferrari without Rapke — feel every empty garage.

Round 5 is Melbourne on 19 September. Azran leads for the first time. Ezra has won on his return. Shaheen will have to answer.

See you on the grid.