The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine weekend in Imola ended with Gabriele Minì’s victory in Race 2.
The young driver of the team ART Grand Prix did not disappoint the expectations and got his first win in the European series after starting from the pole position obtained in the qualifying session held this morning. Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing) finished the race on the second step of the podium, behind the Italian driver, leaving the Santerno circuit with important points thanks to his fourth consecutive podium (two wins and two second places) and consolidating his leadership in the series.
The third position was assigned only after the engines were turned off to Gabriel Bortoleto (R-ace GP), following the exclusion from the race results of Kas Haverkort (Van Amersfoort Racing) after the technical checks made on his car.
Good results also for Hadrien David, who managed to get the fourth place ahead Michael Belov (MP Motorsport), who finished the race ahead of Paul Aron (Prema Racing).
Tim Tramnitz (Trident Motorsport) was first among the rookies, being author of an excellent qualifying in Group B this morning where he left everyone behind. The German driver managed to precede his teammate Leonardo Fornaroli in a race highlighted by adverse weather conditions and several neutralizations. Closing the top 10 the Frenchman Maceo Capietto (Monolite Racing) and Joshua Dufek (Van Amersfoort Racing).
The Sunday race started with a safety car because of a light rain. Once the green flag was waived, Minì was able to speed up his pace and hold the lead. Beganovic overtook Tramnitz on lap four, paving the way for the second step of the podium. Shortly after, the German driver was also passed by Belov. As the rain increased, Roberto Delli Guanti (RPM) and Sebastian Montoya (Prema Racing) clashed at the end of the straight, the latter’s car stopping in the gravel and forcing the red flag to be waived. Most of the drivers took advantage of this interruption to mount wet tyres and once back on track the race restarted under safety car conditions. With a little more than 5 minutes to go until the end of the race, there was a duel for third place between Belov and Haverkort while Minì kept the lead ahead Beganovic. The race ended under safety car with Victor Bernier‘s car stopped along the track.
“It was a tricky race and winning was not easy – Minì said – We found very different conditions, starting to race with slicks on a dry track. Then it started to rain in some parts of the track and I was the first one to notice these differences as I was in the front. It was not easy because it became wetter and wetter. After the stop we went back to the track with wet tyres, with the first two sectors completely wet and the other ones still dry, where I tried to manage the edge I had in the best possible way bringing home a great win”.
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine will restart the engines on the weekend of May 28 and 29 with the Formula 1 on the historical urban circuit of Monaco.