Reno Francot has achieved victory in the final race of the weekend of the Formula Regional Europe Championship at the Red Bull Ring, in a race marked by multiple interruptions and the appearance of the safety car. The Dutch driver, with his team CL Motorsport, is now one of the winners of the championship.
The race became complicated for Kean Nakamura-Berta, who started from pole position but made a mistake that caused him to lose first place before the first safety car. This incident triggered several collisions and, ultimately, Nakamura-Berta was forced to retire due to problems with his rear wing.
This has been the first triple event of the championship since 2020, with the aim of maintaining a calendar of 20 races by extending the action over four of the eight weekends. After a Saturday with two relatively calm races, the last race on Sunday became a chaotic spectacle with little room for real competition.
The marshals were also overwhelmed after the morning qualifying session, with Rashid Al Dhaheri receiving a five-position penalty for a yellow flag infringement. His teammate at R-ace GP, Yuki Sano, was disqualified for an irregularity in his rear diffuser, allowing him to start from the back of the grid.
At the start, Nakamura-Berta attempted to defend his position against Francot at the first corner, but an incident at the start triggered the first appearance of the safety car. After resuming the race, the CL Motorsport driver took the lead and stayed ahead, while Nakamura-Berta dropped down the standings, getting involved in more incidents that caused him to fall to 14th position.
The third attempt to resume the race saw Francot create a quick gap from his pursuers, although a new safety car was waved with just five minutes to go after Saqer Almaosherji collided with Andrea Dupe. From that moment on, Francot faced no further opposition.
With only five minutes to go, the drivers returned to competition and Francot opened a one-second lead over Alex Ninovic and Sebastian Wheldon, who were battling for second place. In the end, the CL Motorsport driver crossed the finish line in complete tranquility, followed by Ninovic, Wheldon, and Salim Hanna, who finished fourth.
The race results reveal that Francot has demonstrated his ability to manage pressure in adverse conditions, while the championship standings remain tight, with Ninovic leading with 43 points, followed by Francot with 40 and Al Dhaheri with 38.
Race Classification (17 laps):
1. Reno Francot (CL Motorsport) – 32m05.557s
2. Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) +1.336s
3. Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport) +2.528s
4. Salim Hanna (Prema Racing) +3.069s
5. Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) +4.076s
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
