The seventh round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine came to a close at the Red Bull Ring. Starting from pole and leading all the way to the chequered flag, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Brazilian driver, Pedro Clerot, powered to his second victory of the season. Clerot was caught in a lively scrap with Enzo Deligny at the start, but once clear of the early battles, he pushed hard and built a gap of over 2.7 seconds at the finish.
Pedro Clerot: “I’m over the moon. I’m very happy to finally put a really good Sunday together. It reminds me a little of Zandvoort. We were unbelievably quick right from the start. Once I got clear of Enzo, I could open a gap and had a very good pace. In the middle of the race I was managing, then pushed again at the end. We’ve been strong all weekend. These are very good points for the championship, and I’m happy to bring this win to the team, they deserve it. The next tracks are good for us and suit me as a driver. I had very good results there last year, so I’m really looking forward to them. Hopefully, we can bring some more wins.”
R-ace GP’s French driver Enzo Deligny finished the weekend in second place, scoring a double podium after his P3 in Race 1 behind Saintéloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin. The Race 1 result, however, remains provisional pending additional technical checks this week on the car classified second. Deligny and Clerot were also wheel-to-wheel in a fierce fight at the start of Race 2.
Enzo Deligny: “The start was interesting. I felt I had a good run on him, and at the exit of Turn 3, I tried to switch back. Unfortunately, I lost some momentum as I was pushed onto the grass. We did a good job afterwards, but he was faster than us. P2 is still a good result. Red Bull Ring is always a track where a lot can happen, so to leave with two podiums is definitely positive.”
R-ace GP completed a double podium thanks to Japanese driver Jin Nakamura, who secured third place on lap one in a thrilling three-way fight with Prema Racing’s Rashid Al Dhaheri and ART Grand Prix’s Evan Giltaire.
Jin Nakamura: “I’m happy with this result. It’s my first podium of the season. Yesterday I wasn’t too happy, even though I had a lot of battles starting from P28. Today was not easy, but it was a fantastic weekend.”
Freddie Slater back on top
Fourth across the line was Freddie Slater, who benefited from a five-second penalty given to Giltaire for a false start. The Frenchman had been running strongly in fourth but dropped to seventh once the penalty was applied. Thanks to this, Slater returned to the top of the drivers’ standings after losing the lead to Matteo De Palo following Race 1.
For De Palo, with Trident, Race 2 was compromised by a difficult qualifying that left him starting further down the order. At the start, he was forced onto the grass by Akshay Bohra and eventually had to retire shortly after. Bohra, who finished twelfth for R-ace GP, was handed a five-place grid penalty for the next round. Heading to Barcelona, Slater is back in the lead but with an even slimmer margin: just three points clear of De Palo, 198 to 195.
The top 10 of Race 2
Rashid Al Dhaheri, who also set the fastest lap of the race in 1:26.931, finished fifth ahead of his Prema Racing teammate Jack Beeton. With his penalty applied, Evan Giltaire dropped to seventh, losing his chance to fight for the podium. He was followed by Saintéloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin in eighth and Trident’s Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi in ninth.
Rounding out the top ten was RPM’s Dutch driver Reno Francot, who also claimed the podium as top rookie in Race 2.
Reno Francot: “On Thursday, it was my first ever time in a FRECA car, so of course, this is a very good experience. The race was quite good, we already knew from qualifying that the pace was there with P4 in the group. Then we had some clutch issues at the start, I couldn’t put it into gear, which forced me to a slow start, losing positions. I stayed behind and tried to make some moves, but unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. P10 and top rookie is something to be proud of.”
Next up
The next round of the season will be in Barcelona on the weekend of 21 September. The championship will then move on to Hockenheim on 5 October before concluding at the Temple of Speed in Monza on 26 October.
Go to the results page.
Go to the standings page.