Kean Nakamura-Berta has achieved a notable victory in the first race of the Formula Regional Europe held in Austria, resisting a final attack from Rashid Al Dhaheri of the R-ace GP team. This competition marks the beginning of a new era for the series, featuring an intense battle among four drivers that kept the excitement high throughout the event.
The Prema Racing driver started the race from pole position, while Al Dhaheri overtook Alex Ninovic of Rodin Motorsport in the early moments. The race experienced a moment of stoppage when an accident between Matteo Giaccardi and Gabriel Gomez triggered the safety car, leaving the atmosphere charged with tension.
Once the competition resumed, Nakamura-Berta quickly regained the lead with a spectacular pass on Al Dhaheri. At the same time, Sebastian Wheldon managed to overtake Ninovic, adding more tension to the battle for the podium. The top six drivers quickly established a gap from the chasing group, with a standout Reno Francot fighting back.
Despite a new incident that required the safety car to be deployed, Nakamura-Berta managed his advantage well. The Japanese driver maintained focus and defended his position in the final corners, aware of the effectiveness of the push-to-pass system implemented to facilitate overtaking.
After crossing the finish line, Nakamura-Berta expressed satisfaction with his performance: “It has been a great start to the championship; new car, new season, new category. My team did an exceptional job, and we are confident in what we are doing.” His positive attitude was reflected in how he handled the pressures from his rivals.
For his part, Al Dhaheri acknowledged that the race had been an exciting challenge: “After a poor start, I found an opportunity at T3. It was a long race, and we learned a lot. Now we will look to improve for the next race with the inverted grid.”
Race Results (19 Laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | Prema Racing | 32m26.094s |
| 2 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | R-ace GP | +1.176s |
| 3 | Alex Ninovic | Rodin Motorsport | +2.311s |
| 4 | Sebastian Wheldon | MP Motorsport | +3.580s |
| 5 | Newman Chi | MP Motorsport | +6.783s |
| 6 | Reno Francot | CL Motorsport | +7.066s |
| 7 | Max Popov | Trident Motorsport | +8.086s |
| 8 | Alexander Abkhazava | MP Motorsport | +8.380s |
| 9 | Kai Daryanani | Trident Motorsport | +9.940s |
| 10 | Miguel Costa | RPM | +10.304s |
| 11 | Yuki Sano | R-ace GP | +10.636s |
| 12 | Salim Hanna | Prema Racing | +11.343s |
| 13 | Alexandre Munoz | ART Grand Prix | +11.634s |
| 14 | Dion Gowda | Van Amersfoort Racing | +13.058s |
| 15 | Enea Frey | CL Motorsport | +13.476s |
| 16 | Marcus Saeter | G4 Racing | +14.730s |
| 17 | Andrea Dupe | Van Amersfoort Racing | +15.800s |
| 18 | Kabir Anurag | ART Grand Prix | +15.970s |
| 19 | Jan Przyrowski | RPM | +16.309s |
| 20 | Francisco Macedo | Van Amersfoort Racing | +16.957s |
| 21 | Andrija Kostic | Trident Motorsport | +18.693s |
| 22 | Giovanni Maschio | RPM | +19.600s |
| 23 | Matteo Giaccardi | ART Grand Prix | +20.164s |
| 24 | Emanuele Olivieri | R-ace GP | +20.275s |
| 25 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema Racing | +20.375s |
| 26 | Rahim Alibhai | G4 Racing | +20.580s |
| 27 | Jules Roussel | CL Motorsport | +20.863s |
| 28 | Reza Seewooruthun | Rodin Motorsport | +30.784s |
| Ret | Saqer Almaosherji | G4 Racing | |
| Ret | Gabriel Gomez | Rodin Motorsport |
Fastest Lap: Ninovic, 1m27.937s
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
