The FIA Formula Regional European Championship heads to Le Castellet this weekend (17-19 July) for the sixth of its eight scheduled rounds, which also marks the final event before the summer break.
 

With an impressive tally of eight different race winners and seven different pole-sitters so far this season, the championship arrives at a circuit where reigning champion Freddie Slater – now one of the front-runners in the FIA Formula 3 Championship – completed a clean sweep of both races last year, and where current FIA Formula One World Championship leader Andrea Kimi Antonelli claimed the third of his five victories in the category in 2023.

At Circuit Paul Ricard, the series featuring the second-generation Tatuus T-326 cars enters a crucial stage of the season, with the top four drivers covered by just 35 points and Rashid Al Dhaheri leading the standings after securing his third victory of the year at the Hungaroring two weeks ago.
 

The Emirati R-ace GP driver and Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior Programme member holds a 21-point advantage over PREMA Racing's Kean Nakamura-Berta and a 30-point lead over MP Motorsport's Sebastian Wheldon, both of whom have claimed two victories apiece this season. Just behind them is R-ace GP team-mate Emanuele Olivieri, who claimed victory on home soil at Monza and has emerged as one of the championship's most consistent performers, while also leading the Rookie standings.

Still firmly in the title fight is Reno Francot, who trails Olivieri by 32 points. The Dutch CL Motorsport driver claimed victory in the opening round at the Red Bull Ring but has failed to reach the podium in each of the last three events. Behind him is the other PREMA Racing driver, Salim Hanna, who followed up an impressive Monza weekend, where he finished third and second, with a difficult trip to Budapest that yielded no points from either race.
 

Also building momentum is R-ace GP's Yuki Sano, who claimed pole position and victory in Race 1 at the Hungaroring. Trident Motorsport's Maksimilian Popov and ART Grand Prix Rookie Alexandre Munoz also celebrated one victory apiece, having shared the wins in the two Spa races.

Weekend Schedule

Action at Circuit Paul Ricard gets underway on Friday with two 50-minute Free Practice sessions, scheduled at 11:38 and 16:46 CEST. Qualifying 1 begins on Saturday at 09:00 CEST, with the drivers split into Group A and Group B. Race 1, run over 30 minutes plus one lap, is scheduled to start at 12:55 CEST. Sunday’s programme opens with Qualifying 2 at 09:05 CEST ahead of Race 2, which is due to get underway at 16:20 CEST.