Kean Nakamura-Berta leaves Paul Ricard leading the FIA Formula Regional European Championship for the first time this season after a brilliant weekend at Circuit Paul Ricard, claiming victory in Race 1 and third in Race 2 to move 13 points clear at the top of the standings. It was PREMA's most significant weekend of the season so far, with Tomass Stolcermanis also showing strong pace across both races and Salim Hanna fighting hard despite difficult circumstances.
The weekend began encouragingly from the very first session. Nakamura-Berta topped Free Practice 1 more than three tenths clear of teammate Hanna, with Stolcermanis also featuring strongly as the team demonstrated their familiarity with a circuit they had tested during pre-season.
That confidence was justified on Saturday morning as Nakamura-Berta claimed his fifth pole position of the season in Qualifying 1, topping Group A with a 1:57.824. Hanna qualified fifth in Group A, giving him a strong starting position for Race 1.
Despite Wheldon snatching the lead of Race 1 at Turn 1 off the start, Nakamura-Berta reclaimed the top spot on lap three and controlled the race from the front on a sweltering afternoon to win by over four seconds from Olivieri. It was his third victory of the season and enough to move him to the top of the championship standings.
Hanna had started well and was running fifth before contact with Ninovic sent him into a spin at the end of lap two, dropping him to the back of the field. He recovered to seventeenth. Stolcermanis also had a difficult Race 1, receiving a ten-second time penalty for his part in a collision that left him classified fourteenth.
Race 2 saw Wheldon take victory for MP Motorsport, with Nakamura-Berta delivering another measured and composed performance to finish third and consolidate his championship lead. Hanna ran in the top six in the early stages before finishing twelfth, while Stolcermanis came home eleventh.
With two rounds remaining, Imola and Hockenheim in September, Kean holds a 13-point advantage over joint second-placed Al Dhaheri and Wheldon, with Olivieri a further seven points back.
#51 Kean Nakamura-Berta
"Overall this has been the strongest weekend we've had. We took pole on Saturday morning, then converted that pole into a win, which was very good and useful for taking the championship lead back again."
"On Sunday we struggled a little bit more, but we maximised things in the race. We finished P4 on track after what was quite a chaotic race but then ended up P3 due to a driver getting a jumpstart."
"A very positive weekend, we took the most points we could I believe. The team did an excellent job as always, and it was a nice way to end the first half of the championship and head into the summer."
"Big thanks to the team, and let's keep going like this."
Qualifying 1: P1 Grp A
Qualifying 2: P3 Grp A
Starting position Race 1: P1 Race 1: P1
Starting position Race 2: P5 Race 2: P3
#60 Tomass Stolcermanis
"Paul Ricard is my least favourite track in the calendar, but somehow this week we got around it, and I even enjoyed it."
"It was a very hot weekend with the biggest tyre degradation so far, which had to be managed. We didn't maximise our potential in both qualifying sessions, which put us on the back foot in the races."
"Both races went in general very positive, we had good pace and were able to fight through the field, which had been a weakness for us before."
Qualifying 1: P6 Grp B
Qualifying 2: P7 Grp B
Starting position Race 1: P12 Race 1: P14
Starting position Race 2: P14 Race 2: P11
#88 Salim Hanna
"Race 1, I started P9, and I was P6 by the end of lap 2, but in the last corner I got taken out by someone, and I finished P17."
"Then in Q2 I qualified P4 in the group. For the race I started P7 and was P6 by lap four or five, but I had an issue, and then I had no pace really. I was missing quite a lot down the straight, and I couldn't keep up with the guys in front."
"We move forward for Imola and Hockenheim. Imola is a track I know very well, and I have a good feeling about it."
Qualifying 1: P5 Grp A
Qualifying 2: P4 Grp A
Starting position Race 1: P9 Race 1: P17
Starting position Race 2: P7 Race 2: P12