Dominant Taponen takes second victory of the season at the Hungaroring
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine delivered an exciting and thrilling show for the large crowd that gathered today at the Hungaroring circuit, the exceptional stage for the fourth round of the season promoted by ACI Sport and Alpine Racing.
After the heavy rain that mixed things up during the morning’s qualifying session, the sun returned for the first race of the weekend, where Tuukka Taponen (R-ace GP) celebrated his second victory of the season. The Finnish driver, fresh off his first pole position achieved this morning, maintained a strong pace and remained in control of the race from start to finish without making any mistakes.
Behind the Ferrari Driver Academy driver, a heated duel ignited for the honor of the second place between his teammate Zachary David and Brando Badoer (Van Amersfoort Racing). The former, who also achieved his best qualifying of the season today by starting alongside Taponen, marked the front row with the colors of R-ace GP and crossed the finish line in second place. It was only after the engines were turned off that the first penalty arrived, adding five seconds to David’s race time for a maneuver that pushed Badoer off the track at turn 9 while trying to maintain his position. Additionally, the R-ace GP driver received another five-second penalty for moving before the start signal of the race, decisions that cost him a drop to seventh position. Thus, securing second place, just as in the second race at Zandvoort, was Badoer, who confirmed his excellent form at this stage of the championship. The door opened for the third step of the podium for Rafael Camara (Prema Racing), who, thanks to this result, managed to consolidate his lead in the overall standings. The Brazilian also had a good race, climbing from the eighth position after a series of thrilling duels like the one with Evan Giltaire (ART Grand Prix), who ultimately finished fifth and received the maximum points in the rookie standings, which he leads. This result came into the hands of the Frenchman following two more penalties received by the Red Bull Junior Team’s Enzo Deligny. R-ace GP’s driver staged a nice comeback, climbing from seventh to fourth, a position he held until the final moments of the race, where, after a tense phase, he slipped to sixth at the checkered flag. The French driver also received two five-second penalties, the first while battling with Camara and the second with Alessandro Giusti (ART Grand Prix). Thus, the fourth position went to the Williams Academy driver Giusti, who brought home important points.
James Wharton (Prema Racing) also did well, obtaining the sixth position following changes in the race standings, while Ugo Ugochukwu (Prema Racing), Ruiqi Liu (Trident), and Ivan Domingues (Van Amersfoort Racing) completed the top 10.
As the engines cooled the Sainteloc Racing team faced disqualification for a breach of the technical regulation on three of its cars. In light of these developments, Sainteloc Racing has announced its intention to appeal the disqualification decision of Enzo Peugeot’s car. As a result, the final standings are subject to the outcome of the appeal by the French team.
Tuukka Taponen – R-ace GP
“In this race, I had to aim for a good start, and that’s what I managed to do. I controlled the speed while keeping the cars behind me at bay. I didn’t overdo it, avoiding pushing to the limit and keeping the tires under control in the parts of the track where the temperatures were rising. Now we need to aim for another good qualifying session, trying to start at the front and have another good start in a circuit like this where overtaking is difficult.”