It was time for a trip to the beach as we headed to Zandvoort for the second to last race of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. With changing weather conditions all weekend long, it turned out to be a challenge for all drivers.

This weekend we had our full focus on only one driver, Maceo, as Santiago and Noah dit not compete in Zandvoort.

Qualifying turned out to be tricky due to windy conditions, but despite this Maceo managed to finish in P4 in his group and P8 overall. Race 1 followed in the afternoon and the weather conditions remained very tricky in het Dutch dunes. Maceo had a good start of the race but lost 2 places in the first lap. He fought for P9 throughout the race but eventually finished the first race of the weekend in P10.

The weather was not in our favour during Qualifying 2 and disturbed the session with multiple red flags. Maceo finished Q2 in P5 of his group and P10 overall. The race got spiced up by the weather, bringing out the safety car multiple times and it eventually resulted in a red-flag after a multi-car collision. Luckily all drivers came out unhurt. It was clean racing after the restart, but Maceo did not manage to finish in the Top-10 in Race 2.

HOCKENHEIMRING

There was no time to rest, because a new race weekend was awaiting. The team went straight from Zandvoort, Netherlands to Hockenheimring, Germany for the tenth round of the Formula Regional Championship by Alpine. For the Hockenheimring round we welcomed back Noah and Santiago to our line-up. Danish driver Noah Strømsted joined our team during the Monza round and will also join us next season.

The weekend in Germany started on Friday with two 50 minutes practice sessions and qualifying 1 in the afternoon for our 3 drivers. It weren’t the most easy sessions of the season as our drivers struggled to set a fast lap on the timesheets. Qualifying 1 resulted in a P13 for Maceo, P22 for Noah and a P31 for Santiago. These results would determine the starting grid of Race 2 on Sunday.

On Saturday it was time for Q2 and Race 1. The drivers and engineers confirmed their progress compared to yesterday, with a P6 for Maceo, a P13 for Noah and a P14 for Santiago.

Hockenheim (GER), OCT 20 – 22 2023 – Round 10 of Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine 2023 at the Hockenheim Ring. Maceo CAPIETTO #85, RPM. © 2023 Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency.

Our drivers got away well during the start of Race 1 and went on the hunt for points. Maceo lost a few places during the first minutes of the race, but managed to find his way into the top-10 throughout the race. The same can be said about Santiago and Noah, with the first driver finishing in P10 thanks a last-lap overtake. Noah finished the race in P14. 

On Sunday it was time to go for one last time this season with Race 2 in the morning. In an action-packed Race 2, Maceo and Noah managed to gain a few places and finish in the Top-15. Santiago did not start the race due to a knee injury. Maceo finished Race 2 in P10 which meant 1 point for the team and made sure we secured P4 in the Teams Standings!

Driver standings after round 10:
P8 Maceo – 77 points
P11 Santiago– 67 points
NC Noah – 8 points
Team standings after round 10:
P4 – 144 points