Our FRECA team headed over to France for the sixth round of the Formula Regional Championship by Alpine. It would turn out to be a challenging and informative weekend in very hot conditions. 

The weekend started on Friday with two free practice sessions. Session number one started very promising for the team with Santiago finishing FP1 in P1 and Maceo in P3. Free Practice two proved to be a bit more challenging with Maceo in P11 and Santiago in P12. With the first two practice sessions in the books, it was now time for the engineers and drivers to find the right set-up for qualifying on Saturday.

After a promising practice Friday, things got really serious on Saturday with Q1 and Race 1 still to come. Despite all the hard work on Friday, we were not able to find the pace that the car has, which resulted in a P15 for Santiago and a P26 for Maceo. These were obviously not the results we wanted. 

As the heat got more intense on Saturday afternoon, it was mandatory for the drivers to keep their head cool during the first race at Paul Ricard. Starting from P14 (instead of P15 due to a penalty for a competitor), Santiago was on the hunt for points in Race 1. Unfortunately he lost a couple of places in het first laps of the race, while Maceo gained a few places, having started from P25. Things got worse for Santiago with 3 minutes to go, as he tried to overtake another driver for P16. Santiago lost control of his car in turn 11 and had to retire his car the same lap. Maceo meanwhile had gained a few more places and finished the first race in P21. 

Le Castellet (FRA), JUL 22-23 2023 – Round six of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine 2023 at Circuit Paul Ricard. Santiago RAMOS #65, RPM. © 2023 Diederik van der Laan / Dutch Photo Agency.

A new day and a new opportunity for better results at Paul Ricard on Sunday. First up: Qualifying 2! This time we did get more reasonable results with a P7 for Santiago and a P14 for Maceo, although we hoped for more of course. 

Sunday afternoon and time for the last race of the weekend at Paul Ricard. It was again very hot and also the strong wind did not make things easier for the drivers. Thanks to a good start by both drivers, it was Santiago in P5 and Maceo in P11 after having started in P7 and P14 respectively. They both had to fight and defend hard for it during the eventful race, but in the end it resulted in a P6 and a P10! A double points finish for the team after their hard work all weekend long. 

Now it’s time to re-charge the batteries and come back even stronger after the summer break!

Next up: Red Bull Ring, Austria (08-09-10 September)

Driver standings after round 6:
P6 Santiago – 65 points
P7 Maceo– 61 points
P34 Adam – 0 points
Team standings after round 6:
P4 – 126 points