The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine got underway at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this morning with the first of two collective tests scheduled as part of the third-to-last round of the season. With the championship battle heating up, Matteo De Palo (Trident) set the pace, stopping the clock at 1:36.048 to edge out Michael Belov (CL Motorsport) by just 0.034s.

Behind them, championship contender Freddie Slater (Prema Racing) confirmed his strong form in the run-up to the title fight, taking third with a lap of 1:36.262. The Briton, who remains locked in a close battle with De Palo at the top of the standings, once again showed his consistency at the sharp end.

The morning session also underlined the strength of Van Amersfoort Racing, with Dion Gowda, fastest among the rookies, slotting into fourth place at 1:36.531, just ahead of teammate Pedro Clerot in fifth. Hiyu Yamakoshi completed the VAR trio inside the top six.

Nikita Bedrin (Saintéloc Racing) secured seventh, while Enzo Deligny (R-ace GP) and Ruiqi Liu (Trident) were separated by a mere thousandth of a second in eighth and ninth. Rounding out the top ten was Rashid Al Dhaheri (Prema Racing).

The group just outside the top ten included Jack Beeton (Prema Racing) in 11th, followed by Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix), Akshay Bohra (R-ace GP), and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi (Trident). Evan Giltaire (ART Grand Prix) closed the top 15 with a best lap of 1:37.002.

Among the fresh faces, Yuanpu Cui made his debut with Prema Racing as a wild card entry. The Chinese driver, part of the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team Junior Programme, gained valuable mileage in his first outing. RPM also welcomed back familiar names, with Santiago Ramos, fresh from racing in FIA Formula 3 and Macéo Capietto both returning to the FRECA paddock.

Action resumes this afternoon with the second collective test, again lasting 50 minutes, scheduled for 15:15 CEST.

Fans can follow the session live via the official live timing service: Click here