More than 30 drivers are ready for the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine opener in Imola, with the engines ready to start this weekend for the first of the ten rounds of the season.
The 12 Teams successfully completed the 3 pre-season tests in Barcelona, Le Castellet and Monza, and now everything is ready and tuned for the challenge of Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola.
The first race event of 2023 promises nothing but great emotions in the twist and turns of one of the most iconic raceway for single-seaters, a venue of high sporting value, but also certainly emotional as well. Imola’s circuit fascinates fans and young drivers on the path to Formula 1, carrying on the memory of the unmatched Champion Ayrton Senna, and at the same time hosting today’s battles of the world’s best drivers.
Here as defending Champion, PREMA Racing, enters the competition with Lorenzo Fluxa, Rafael Camara and Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The last one, already proved himself earlier this year by winning the title in the Middle East series. Nothing is to taken for granted in the series cosigned by Alpine and ACI Sport, with top notch competition ready to give the hardest battle on the track to win the first event of the year.
The French team R-ace GP presents at the starting grid Martinius Stenshorne, at this debut in the category, then Tim Tramnitz and Matias Zagazeta. All the three drivers already showed an excellent pace during the preparation of the season, with Tramintz in particular having topped the test in Barcelona. ART Gran Prix’s trio of driver is made by Austrian Charlie Wurz, Laurens Van Hoepen and Marcus Amand, with the latter also entering the Rookie title battle.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s entries are Joshua Dufek, Niels Koolen and Kas Haverkort, who will certainly make good use of the experience gained in the series last year to aim for top results. Trident also doesn’t miss the first appointment of the year and presents a line-up that can surely aim to reach the top of the standings, with Roman Bilinski, Owen Tangavelou and Nikhil Bohra.
MP Motorsport joins the battle in Imola with Sami Meguetounif, Dilano Van T’Hoff and Victor Bernier, three experienced drivers eager to hit the track again with the Tatuus T318 of the Championship. Arden Motorsport bets on the Englishman Tom Lebbon to be the Rookie of the season, flanking Joshua Duerksen and Levente Revesz.
RPM deploys three cars with the Mexican driver Santiago Ramos, the Rookie Adam Fitzgerald and Macéo Capietto, while Monolite bets on Enzo Scionti and Giovanni Maschio. KIC Motorsport, G4 Racing and Saintèloc Racing will also represent the core of the Rookie standings’ assault, with Oleksandr Partyshev, Shannon Lugassy and Maya Weug racing for the Finnish squad. The Frenchman Alessandro Giusti in Imola is at his first FRECA weekend with G4, while Saintéloc Racing, the newest entry of the Championship, will bring to his debut Emerson Fittipaldi Jr., on the footsteps of his father’s legacy.
The weekend’s schedule:
The first track action will be Friday, April 21st, with the collective tests at 11.10 and then again at 15.10 in two 50 minutes sessions. Saturday will be the turn of the first qualifying session (Group A 10.20 – 10.35; Group B 10.40 – 10.55) and Race 1 (16.30, 30 minutes + 1 lap). Sunday the second and last qualifying session (Group B 9.00 – 9.15; Group A 9.20 – 9.35) will precede Race 2 (14.35, 30 minutes + 1 lap). Both, qualifying and race sessions will be live streamed on the official Youtube and Facebook pages @formularegionaleubyalpine.
The Grandstands Start 1 (Ex A) and Start 3 (Ex I) will be open to the public on April 21,22 and 23. The access is free of charge.
