The seventh round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine is officially underway. Collective Test 1 opened the day at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg bei Knittelfeld, with nearly 30 drivers back on the Styrian circuit that hosts the Austrian Grand Prix. The first contact with the track had already taken place yesterday during the pre-event collective test, on the iconic circuit characterized by a high-speed layout combined with a decisive technical sector, crucial for the perfect lap. On that occasion, it was Enzo Deligny of R-ace GP who topped the times, narrowly ahead of championship leader Freddie Slater with Prema Racing.
This morning the field returned to the track to continue the work started the day before, this time in different conditions. While Thursday offered mild and sunny weather, Friday began with lower temperatures and rain forecast for the afternoon.
The session was lively, with frequent changes at the top and gaps decided by thousandths of a second. The final minutes proved particularly intense, as lap times dropped sharply with less than ten minutes to go. The order was only settled at the very end, with the Frenchman from R-ace GP once again fastest overall, clocking a best lap of 1:25.837. Deligny has now led both sessions held so far at the Austrian venue.
Second place went to Pedro Clerot of Van Amersfoort Racing, who led the classification for part of the session before finishing just 0.121 behind. Matteo De Palo of Trident secured third, only a handful of thousandths further back and 0.137 off the benchmark. Freddie Slater of Prema Racing ended up fourth with a gap of 0.158.
Frenchman Evan Giltaire of ART Grand Prix set the fifth-best time, 0.410 adrift of his countryman, followed closely by Japan’s Jin Nakamura with R-ace GP at 0.416. Rashid Al Dhaheri of Prema Racing placed seventh, 0.440 behind Deligny. Completing the top ten were Taito Kato of ART Grand Prix at 0.456, Nikita Bedrin of Sainteloc Racing at 0.460, and Italian driver Giovanni Maschio with RPM at 0.550.
Complete results are available here.
One more collective test is scheduled today, Friday 5 September, from 1:25 PM to 2:15 PM. The weekend will get underway in earnest on Saturday 6 September with Qualifying 1 at 9:00 AM, followed by Race 1 (30 minutes + 1 lap) at 12:55 PM. On Sunday 7 September, Qualifying 2 will take place at 9:35 AM, with Race 2 (30 minutes + 1 lap) set for 3:05 PM.
Click here to download the broadcast list to find out where to watch qualifying and the races live on TV worldwide. Live streaming will be available on the official Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine YouTube channel.
