The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine fired up its engines at Mugello this weekend, as the international series reached the seasonal turning point. Today’s schedule featured the first race, preceded by a minute of silence in memory of Dilano Van ‘T Hoff, who tragically passed away last Saturday at Spa Francorchamps.
In Tuscany taking the top step of the podium once again was Martinius Stenshorne (R-ace GP), who scored a lights to flag victory. Behind the young Norwegian rookie, his direct rival Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured the second position. The Prema Racing driver fended off the other R-ace GP car of Tim Tramnitz, with the German still in contention for the title.
At the beginning of the race, Stenshorne had a good start that allowed him to stay in the lead, followed by Antonelli, Tramnitz, and Kas Haverkort (Van Amersfoort Racing). Maya Weug was also a protagonist in the early stages, maintaining the fifth position she earned in this morning’s qualifying session. Subsequently, a contact between Kirill Smal (Monolite Racing) and Joshua Duerksen (Arden Motorsport) resulted in the deployment of the safety car. After the restart, the leading group remained unchanged, with the two drivers from the Van Amersfoort Racing team, Haverkort and Joshua Dufek, in fourth and fifth place respectively. Prema Racing’s Rafael Camara and Lorenzo Fluxa finished the race behind them.
Macéo Capietto was P8 for RPM Team, followed by Weug. The female driver of KIC Motorsport gained points again after Belgium and was the second fastest Rookie driver on the Tuscan track. Behind her, and third in the Rookie race, was R-ace GP French driver, Alessandro Giusti (G4 Racing), rounding out the top 10.
Martinius Stenshorne: “Having a good qualifying session was crucial to achieve this result. I displayed the right determination and managed the tires correctly, being able to push when needed. At the same time, it wasn’t easy because Antonelli was very fast behind me, but I was able to keep the lead by managing the advantage”.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli: “It was a tough race where I didn’t have one of my best starts, but I still managed to hold on to the second position. Later on, I had a similar pace to Martinius, and before the safety car, I was able to make up a lot of ground. Now, we are focused on tomorrow where we aim for a good result starting from the qualifying session”.
Tim Tramnitz: “Today wasn’t easy, especially in managing the tires on a particularly fast track like this one. In the qualifying session this morning, my lap times were close to Martinius’, and the third position allowed me to battle with the front group. I had a good restart after the safety car and tried to pass Andrea, but he defended very well. Nonetheless, I’m satisfied to have made it onto the podium”.
The second qualifying session will be held tomorrow, Sunday, July 9, with the two groups ready to battle from 8:30 onwards, followed by the final race of the weekend, starting at 16:20.
Both the qualifying sessions and the races of the weekend will be streamed live on the official Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine YouTube page (@formularegionaleubyalpine).
