FRECA: Enzo Deligny hits a home run in Race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps
Race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps delivered spectacular action from start to finish in a tightly contested and, at times, tense battle packed with contacts and twists. Emerging victorious was Enzo Deligny, the Frenchman representing R-ace GP. It was a flawless performance for the driver, who claimed his first win in the championship co-organized by Alpine and ACI Sport. Combined with yesterday’s third-place finish, Deligny leaves Spa with the weekend’s biggest haul, 40 points.
Deligny snatched the lead at the start, overtaking polesitter Rashid Al Dhaheri. He then had to defend it from Al Dhaheri’s comeback, and later on was caught in a fierce duel with Hiyu Yamakoshi of Van Amersfoort Racing. The Japanese driver even briefly led the race, coming out ahead from a three-way battle with Deligny and Al Dhaheri, before eventually finishing second. Completing the podium was fellow Japanese driver Taito Kato. The ART Grand Prix talent, also part of the Honda Racing School program, secured third place with a decisive move on compatriot Jin Nakamura, in the closing stages of the race.
Nakamura initially crossed the line in fourth but was handed a five-second penalty after the race, dropping him down the order. The R-ace GP driver was penalized by the Stewards following the incident that ended the race for Rashid Al Dhaheri of Prema Racing. The Emirati, who had led the early laps from pole, was running third when contact occurred with Nakamura.
As a result, fourth place went to Kanato Le of ART Grand Prix, who had shown strong pace throughout the race and was a constant presence just outside podium contention. Fifth went to Dion Gowda, from Van Amersfoort Racing, who claimed his second rookie win of the weekend after battling hard in the pack.
Matteo De Palo of Trident finished sixth in Race 2, maintaining his lead in the championship after the second round. Starting from the eighth row following a difficult qualifying session, the Italian staged a stunning comeback drive to score valuable points. He now sits on 66 points, 11 ahead of Frenchman Evan Giltaire of ART Grand Prix.
Following his penalty, Nakamura was classified seventh, just ahead of Giovanni Maschio. The RPM driver secured his best result to date in the series with eighth place. Rounding out the points-scoring positions were Nikita Bedrin of Sainteloc Racing, involved in a fierce battle with Maschio during the race, and Jack Beeton of Prema Racing.
It was a challenging and eventful final race at Spa-Francorchamps, as thrilling and complex as it was entertaining for those watching from the sidelines. The Alpine A110 Safety Car was deployed twice, forcing Deligny to manage two race restarts. The first came on the opening lap following a crash that eliminated Freddie Slater, Doriane Pin (both Prema Racing) and Michael Belov (CL Motorsport). The second intervention was triggered later in the race when Edouard Borgna of G4 Racing retired after a collision with Tim Gerhards of Sainteloc Racing. Gerhards was handed a four-place grid penalty for the next race as a result.
Enzo Deligny: “It was a great weekend for me. We knew this track, I like it a lot, and the team is very strong here. A podium yesterday and a win today are great results. The race was crazy: there were so many little touches, little lock-ups here and there, everyone was fighting so much. It was a bit chaotic, but it was fun.”
Hiyu Yamakoshi: “It was an amazing Safety Car restart. I overtook two cars, I had a good pace. I pushed as much as I could, but in the end, Enzo had more pace than me. P2 is much, much better than what we did in Misano last round. I’m really happy with this result! It’s just the start of the season, we have eight more rounds to keep moving forward and get on top of the podium!”
Taito Kato: “It was a really amazing race. I started from P7 and finished P3. We were struggling a lot at the start of the weekend, but the team worked really hard, and my engineer gave me a great setup. It was an amazing feeling to finish on the podium. I think we can improve the setup even more, and my driving is getting better and better. I’m looking forward to Zandvoort!”
Dion Gowda: “The race was just incredible. Three-wide going into Turn 5, it was very fun out there. I managed to gain a couple of places on the last lap and finish P6. A solid performance; obviously we wanted more. We’ll build on this momentum, the team has done a good job this weekend. Next race is our home race at Zandvoort, I’m looking forward to that. I think we’ll be fast!”