Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine: spotlight on the penultimate round of the season in Barcelona
The countdown marks less than three days to the start of the penultimate round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, which will be back in action this weekend at the Barcelona track.
In Spain all eyes will be on the race for the 2022 title, Prema Racing driver Dino Beganovic being the favourite as this year he boasts four victories, five second places and two bronze medals which allowed him to earn 253 points. Behind the Swedish driver, the young ART Grand Prix standard bearer Gabriele Minì and the Estonian driver Paul Aron are ready to put on a show. They are only 23 points behind, the Italian driver being at 199 and the other Prema team driver at 176. In addition to still aspiring to the leadership of the continental series, the latter announced last week that he will take part in the Formula 3 Championship next year, always at the wheel of the Vicenza-based team’s car.
Also to be monitored is the young R-ace GP driver Hadrien David, who this season managed to sign three victories contextual to three pole positions, including the last one obtained on the final round of the previous trip to the Red Bull Ring. Equally eagerly awaited will be the duel for the top 5 between Kas Haverkort (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Gabriel Bortoleto (R-ace GP) with the former winning the first rounds at the Hungaroring and the Austrian track, while the latter stood out in the second race at Spa Francorchamps, besides having also announced his promotion to F3 for 2023.
All eyes are also on local drivers Mari Boya (MP Motorsport) and Lorenzo Fluxa (R-ace GP), who occupy eighth and thirteenth places respectively in the overall standings, while Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident Motorsport), Johsua Dufek (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Sebastian Montoya (Prema Racing), positions nine to eleven in the overall standings, are ready to fight for the top places of the rookie group.
The event will get into full swing starting on Friday morning for the collective tests scheduled at 9.00 and in the afternoon at 14.07. On Saturday, the green light will go off in the pit lane for the first qualifying session at 9.00 and the first race will be held at 13.05. On Sunday, the second official session will be at 9.40 and the final round at 16.10pm.