Tuukka Taponen had a perfect start to the weekend, claiming his third consecutive victory in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine during the first race at Mugello. This record, previously held only by the 2021 champion Gregoire Saucy, has now been matched by the Finnish driver, who also achieved his third consecutive pole position on the Tuscan hills.
The R-ace GP driver displayed an unbeatable pace, bringing him significantly closer to series leader Rafael Camara (also a Ferrari Driver Academy driver), now just 31 points ahead. Brando Badoer (Van Amersfoort Racing) also had a noteworthy performance, maintaining second place from start to finish and setting the fastest lap of the race. Although Badoer could not challenge Taponen’s dominance, he successfully fended off a fierce battle from his teammates Ivan Domingues and Pedro Clerot for the final podium spot. Domingues ultimately prevailed, climbing from fifth to secure the bronze medal and the rookie classification victory.
Clerot finished fourth, ahead of Camara (Prema Racing) in fifth. The Brazilian ace had a slightly challenging race, being overtaken by Domingues at the restart following the sole neutralization, which was necessary due to Giovanni Maschio‘s (RPM) car being stranded in the gravel at the first corner with a damaged suspension after contact with Nicola Lacorte (Trident Motorsport). Michael Belov, another driver from the Italian team, performed well, finishing sixth ahead of a determined James Wharton (Prema Racing), who climbed from eleventh to seventh. Rounding out the top ten were Nikita Bedrin (MP Motorsport), Noah Strømested (RPM), who returned to the points after a tough weekend in Hungary, and Ugo Ugochukwu (Prema Racing).
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine will fire up the engines again tomorrow morning at 8:30 AM for the second qualifying session, which will determine the starting grid for the final race of the fifth weekend of the season. As usual, the official session will be broadcast live on the championship’s official YouTube channel.