Just a few days after the Imola event, the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is ready to hit the track again this weekend at another Formula 1 venue: the Red Bull Ring.
Among the Styrian forests, Rafael Camara (Prema Racing) once again steps into the role of the driver to beat, now having set multiple records with the most pole positions, ten in total, and eight victories over his two years in the series. The Ferrari Driver Academy driver arrives in Austria with 239 points under his belt, giving him a 61-point lead over his direct rival Tuukka Taponen (R-ace GP). The Finn arrives at the Austrian circuit eager to bounce back from his retirement in the second race at Imola, where a collision with Camara at the second corner in the early stages forced him to retire and earned him a four-place grid penalty for the next race.
Behind the two Ferrari Academy flag-bearers, the battle for third place is more intense than ever between Brando Badoer (Van Amersfoort Racing) and Alessandro Giusti (ART Grand Prix). Badoer is coming off a challenging home weekend where, despite showing excellent pace in qualifying, he faced two difficult races that didn’t deliver the desired results. Just one point behind the Italian is Giusti, who secured his second win of the season at Imola, firmly establishing himself as one of the series’ standout drivers. Following closely behind the Williams Academy driver is James Wharton (Prema Racing), who, after the summer break, has regained crucial consistency in his results, including two podium finishes at the circuit dedicated to Enzo and Dino Ferrari.
This weekend, Noah Strømsted (RPM) arrives at the Red Bull Ring as the rookie championship leader, having jumped to the top of the standings thanks to his runner-up finish in the second race at Imola. The rookies have been fiercely competitive again this season. Just seven points behind him is Van Amersfoort Racing’s Ivan Domingues, closely followed by his teammate Pedro Clerot, Evan Giltaire (ART Grand Prix), and Red Bull Junior Team driver Enzo Deligny (R-ace GP), who, in that order, also occupy positions within the top ten in the overall standings.
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine drivers will take to the track tomorrow for the Pre-Event Collective Tests, which will be divided into two sessions, morning and afternoon, for a total of four hours on track. On Friday, the pit lane opens for two 50-minute Collective Test sessions at 9:44 and 14:24. The first qualifying session kicks off on Saturday morning at 9:05, with the first race scheduled for 13:15 in the afternoon. On Sunday, the second qualifying session will begin at 8:30 to set the grid for Race 2, which is set to start at 15:05. As per tradition, the qualifying sessions and races will be broadcast live on various networks that follow the series, as well as on the championship’s official YouTube channel.
