Reno Francot rounded off the opening Red Bull Ring round of the FIA Formula Regional European Championship by taking victory in a dramatic Race 3, which saw the safety car deployed four times. The Dutch driver for CL Motorsport, who had already secured a podium in Saturday’s second race, also moved to the top of the Drivers’ standings, capitalising on the retirement of the polesitter and Race 1 winner Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing). Gabriel Gomez finished seventh for Rodin Motorsport, securing victory in the Rookie class.
Nakamura-Berta held the lead at the start, followed by Francot, who in turn had to defend from Alex Ninovic. Jan Przyrowski’s car stalled on the grid, while Yuki Sano tried to avoid it but made contact with his team-mate Emanuele Olivieri, who was forced to retire. Meanwhile, Kabir Anurag spun at Turn 1 after being hit from behind, prompting the deployment of the safety car.
Racing resumed after just one lap, with Nakamura-Berta dropping to tenth as another safety car was soon deployed, allowing Francot to move into the lead. Ninovic climbed to second, closely followed by Sebastian Wheldon and Salim Hanna, while an intense battle for sixth unfolded between Gomez and Alexandre Munoz.
At the end of lap six, a collision at the entrance to the main straight between Przyrowski and Rahim Alibhai sent both drivers into the barriers, bringing out a third neutralisation. Racing resumed once again with 11:45 remaining, but at Turn 1, another incident – involving Saqer Almaosherji, who rode over the car of Andrea Dupé – triggered yet another safety car period.
With just over five minutes to go, the race restarted once more. Francot remained in control at the front, ahead of Ninovic and Wheldon. Just behind, Rashid Al Dhaheri capitalised on the battle between Gomez and Munoz to move up to sixth, later overtaking Gowda as well.
On the penultimate lap, Nakamura-Berta went off on the uphill stretch after the straight and was forced to stop. Francot, meanwhile, stayed in control to claim victory, crossing the line 1.336s ahead of Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport), who also set the fastest lap, with Wheldon completing the podium for MP Motorsport.
Reno Francot (CL Motorsport, Race 3 winner): "It was a really good race. I got a strong start and tried to get alongside Kean [Nakamura-Berta] into Turn 1 for the lead. He squeezed me to the absolute limit, but we made it through safely. We then had several safety car periods. The first restart was quite good – I managed to stay with Kean until he unfortunately went off on his own, which allowed me to take the lead. I had three strong restarts, managed to pull away from the pack, and from there I just focused on maximising my pace".
Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport, 2nd): "It was a really good weekend. I can’t thank Rodin Motorsport enough for giving me such a fast car. Qualifying P3 and P2 in the two sessions was a real pleasure, and then we managed to bring home three podium finishes. Obviously, we had some penalties that took those away, but in the final race, we still finished P2 on the road, which is really positive.”
Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport, 3rd): "I think the weekend was quite positive, especially considering I changed teams at the last minute and it was my first race with the new team. I think it went really well. We felt like we maximised everything this weekend; unfortunately, Race 2 didn’t go our way, but let’s see what we can do in Zandvoort.”
Gabriel Gomez (Rodin Motorsport, Race 3 Rookie winner): "Looking at how we started the weekend and how we finished it, there was definitely a good improvement. We made steps in the right direction, which is very positive heading into the next round. Qualifying 1 and Races 1 and 2 were quite difficult and not where we wanted to be. But today, qualifying was a bit better, and in the race, we managed to stay consistently inside the top six or seven, so that was encouraging. Of course, we want more – it’s still not where we aim to be – but considering how we started the weekend as a rookie, I think we made the right progress. Now we just need to keep working to fight at the front".
The next round of the FIA Formula Regional European Championship will be held on the weekend of 22–24 May, when the series wich races the new Tatuus T-326 cars, will head to Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
* Race 3 results are provisional.