The first race weekend of the Formula Regional Championship 2023 season at the Imola circuit in Italy, was a though one for the team. The weekend started with 2 test sessions on Friday, where our 3 drivers showed some promising pace in a very competitive championship.

After two promising test sessions on Friday, it was time to show that same pace in Q1 on saturday morning. Santiago was able to put in a good lap during Q1, resulting in a P2 in Group B and P4 on the grid of Race 1. Our Rookie driver, Adam Fitzgerald, managed to qualify on P26 out of the 33 drivers in his first FRECA qualifying. Unfortunately, Macéo could not get een clean lap on the time sheets, despite showing great pace in the sectors. This resulted in a P10 in Group B and a P20 on the grid of Race 1.

The first race of the season started with bad news for Santiago, as he encountered mechanical problems on the pre-grid. Although the team managed to fix the problem in time, it still meant a pitlane start for Santiago in Race1. Starting P20, Macéo had a good start and managed to gain some places, but contact in the first lap meant more bad news for the team. The contact with another driver resulted in a broken suspension and a DNF for Macéo in Race 1. In a race filled with 2 safety-car periods, Adam showed some good pace and gained 5 places during the race, but things went from bad to worse as Adam spinned out of the race. The spin saw his car launching over a yellow ”sausage curb”, resulting in 3 broken vertabrae as the car came down to the ground. A day to forget for the team, but luckely Adam is in good health despite his fractures.

On Sunday morning, Santiago and Macéo had a good pace in the 2nd qualifying session but could not quite get a clean lap on the timesheets, resulting in a P14 and a P12 respectively. Our 2 drivers managed to escape the numerous race incidents in another safetycar filled afternoon. Thanks to a clean race, a fast car and a great drive, they both gained several places and scored their first points this season with a P6 for Santiago and a P9 for Macéo.

Luck was not on our side this weekend, but the pace was definitely there.

FRECA will be back on track in less than a month, in Barcelona, where we will for sure be fighting for podiums!