Photo: ACI Sport

Prema has announced that Sebastian Wheldon will be part of its Formula Regional European Championship line-up this year.

The 17-year-old joined the Mumbai Falcons squad that Prema provides technical support to for a race-winning Formula Trophy cameo at the end of 2024, then raced for the Italian outfit across three championships in 2025.

He came seventh in Formula 4 Middle East with one podium, fourth in E4 with one victory and two other podiums, and his six wins in Italian F4 put him third in the standings. Later in the year he raced in the FIA F4 World Cup in Macau and came fourth.

“It feels great to be back with Prema and to move up to FREC this year. We had a really good first season, winning races in F4, and I’m looking forward to what we can accomplish in 2026!” said Wheldon.

“I feel adjusted to the European environment and feel at home within the team. I want to thank TWG Motorsports for continuing to support me. Excited for what’s ahead!”

TWG owns Cadillac’s Formula 1 team and Andretti Global, which races in Formula E and IndyCar.

Wheldon, son of the late 2005 IndyCar champion Dan, has been an Andretti junior since 2021. His single-seater career began in 2023, when he won the USA’s Skip Barber Formula Race Series, and the following year he was YACademy Winter Series runner-up then third in IndyCar support series USF Juniors with four victories.

Wheldon picked up his first competitive FRegional experience last month, racing for Mumbai Falcons in FRegional Middle East. He came fifth in the standings with three podiums and a pole.

“Sebastian has been really impressive since his very first steps with the team,” said Prema’s team principal and chief executive officer Stephen Mitas. “He is a hard worker and a strong competitor, and we are confident that, working together, we will be up to pace with the series’ new package.”

The final version of FREC’s 2026 calendar has been released, and features several differences from the draft schedule. Mugello was absent from the calendar for the first time last year, and had been set to return while the Nurburgring was in contention to be raced on by FREC for the first time.

With the season downscaling from 10 to eight rounds this year, those two tracks’ spots would have come at the expense of the Hungaroring and Imola. Instead, the latter two tracks will continue to host FREC and Imola will be one of four venues to have featured every season.

The Red Bull Ring hosts round one on April 24-26, then there are trips to Zandvoort (May 22-24), Spa-Francorchamps (May 29-31) and Monza (June 19-21). The paddock heads to the Hungaroring on July 3-5, and Paul Ricard is raced at two weeks later. After a summer break, Imola and Hockenheim host the last two rounds in the first two weekends of September.

It has been confirmed, as Formula Scout reported, that several rounds will feature three races.

The post Sebastian Wheldon to race for Prema in FREC, 2026 calendar confirmed appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: WSK Promotion

Sasha Bondarev led Alp Hasan Aksoy in a Prema one-two at this week’s post-season Italian Formula 4 test at Imola.

The 37-car entry list was split into four groups for the four-day test, with two contesting the first two days and two contesting days three and four.

Aksoy was pipped to overall top spot by 0.066 seconds, and entered the test after signing with Prema to race in Italian F4, E4 and at least one other championship next year.

“I’m excited to join Prema for 2026,” said the 15-year-old Turk. “It’s going to be my first season in F4 and I’m already looking forward to it. Let’s see how it goes!”

He steps up to single-seaters after two years in senior karting racing OK karts, in which he has come fourth in WSK’s Euro Series, 16th in the CIK-FIA World championship and WSK’s Super Master Series, 18th in WSK’s Final Cup, 23rd in its Champions Cup and 27th in the Champions of the Future series. He raced for Prema’s karting squad in 2025.

Prema founder Angelo Rosin commented: “Aksoy has great potential and we are very impressed by how he adapted to the car coming from karting, which is obviously fundamentally different. He already showed his skills with our karting team, and we think he will make further progress from now on as he continues the journey.”

At Imola the track started off cold, and therefore damp, each day and the fastest laps came in the afternoon each time.

US Racing’s Arjen Kraling set the day one pace, a 1m50.430s putting him 0.139s ahead of team-mate Noah Killion. Maffi Racing’s Teodor Borenstein was third fastest, 1.28s off the pace.

Killion lowered the pace to 1m49.285s in session six for group B the next day, edging team-mate Olexander Savinkov by 0.005s. Trident’s August Toniolo was faster in group A, posting a 1m48.369s to lead Technorace’s Antonio Errigo by 0.238s.

Laptimes improved significantly later in the day, and Trident’s Lyuboslav Ruykov concluded day with a 1m47.62s that made him fastest by 0.041s over Killion and 0.082s over Toniolio.

Over the next two days, Bondarev topped six of group D’s eight sessions but PHM Racing’s Iacopo Martinese was quickest in the first. The driver of Cram Motorsport’s #16 car, who contested Thursday only, was quickest in group C’s first four sessions and was only 0.128s slower than Bondarev’s benchmark. In third was the driver of US’s #46 car, who was 0.703s behind.

Aksoy joined the action on Friday, and was closest to Bondarev in their final session when the test’s fastest laps were set. Bondarev bettered Ruykov’s benchmark by 0.108s, Cram’s starring driver slotted into ninth overall, while US’s #46 and #29 drivers were the only others aside from Aksoy to get within a second of Bondarev once the track had dried.

Test results

The post Bondarev leads new Prema signing Aksoy in Italian F4 test at Imola appeared first on Formula Scout.

Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides ended FIA Formula 3 post-season testing on top at Imola on Wednesday afternoon.

The final session lasted two-and-a-half hours, shorter than the regular length, and the track was busy early on.

Campos Racing’s Ernesto Rivera registered the first flying lap, a 1m33.121s, which was beaten 11 minutes in by Rodin’s Christian Ho. He set a 1m32.782s, which he would not improve on as longer runs were attempted.

Red flags waved three minutes later as Trident’s Freddie Slater found the gravel at turn 14, and there was a seven-minute stoppage.

Only MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi and Hitech GP’s Michael Shin had not set flying laps after half an hour, and Ho led Benavides by 0.072 seconds and Campos Racing’s Theophile Nael by 0.137s.

Benavides soon lowered the pace to 1m32.510s, and Colnaghi’s first flying put him 0.17s behind but it was deleted for exceeding track limits at turn 10.

MP’s drivers set personal bests over the next 10 minutes, with Alessandro Giusti posting a 1m32.926s to sit third before Tuukka Taponen got within 0.122s of Benavides in second place. Colnaghi then registered a flying lap that stood, a 1m32.792s that demoted Giusti to fifth.

Most drivers were in the pits at the end of hour one, and at the 70-minute mark Benavides grew his gap at the top by improving to 1m32.201s. The track remained quiet, and by the end of hour two only Slater and team-mate Matteo De Palo were driving.

It gradually got busier in the final hour, and with 36 minutes left of testing Trident’s Noah Stromsted lapped 0.623s off Benavides’s benchmark to rise to fifth place.

More drivers were heading out, and on a packed track Shin crashed at turn four which brought out red flags. There were 17 minutes to go when green flags waved again, and lots of drivers headed out for their last laps of 2025.

De Palo went second fastest seven minutes from the end, 0.39s slower than Benadives, and Stromsted improved to fourth with a 1m32.668s. He set another personal best, finding a gain of 0.034s, with two-and-a-half minutes left on the clock.

Afternoon session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi led a top three split by 0.008 seconds on the final morning of FIA Formula 3 post-season testing at Imola.

Having been last to lap at pace in the previous day’s sessions, AIX Racing’s Fernando Barrichello was first to lay down a laptime when the three-hour session began.

Almost half of the 30-car field was on track after five minutes, and Hitech GP’s Fionn McLaughlin set the first flying lap. He was swiftly beaten by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jesse Carrasquedo Jr and AIX’s Yevan David, then Hitech’s Jin Nakamura broke into the 1m33s eight-and-a-half minutes in.

Trident’s Freddie Slater lowered the pace to 1m33.154s, which team-mate Matteo De Palo got within 0.084 seconds of after 11 minutes. AIX’s Brad Benavides then beat Slater by 0.03s, and lapped 0.102s shy of his benchmark day one laptime.

Slater responded with a faster lap, but was one of many to have improvements deleted due to track limits violations.

Benavides was beaten 18 minutes in by Rodin Motorsport’s Pedro Clerot, who set a 1m32.997s. Everyone had now been on track, and 22 drivers had set flying laps.

Campos Racing’s Theophile Nael was next to the top, bettering Clerot by 0.123s, shortly before Slater set a 1m32.688s to move back ahead.

After 25 minutes only Prema’s Louis Sharp was without a flying lap, and Slater had a 0.102s gap to MP’s Tuukka Taponen.

Red flags waved a few minutes later as McLaughlin and team-mate Michael Shin got beached in turn 13’s runoff, then after a restart the session stopped again as Nael crashed at turn four.

Drivers headed back out as hour two began, and Benavides lowered the pace to 1m32.247s. Nael sat fourth, ahead of team-mate Ugo Ugochukwu and improvers Colnaghi and Clerot. Sharp also finally lapped at pace.

Rodin’s Brando Badoer and Taponen got within 0.201s and 0.208s of Benavides, and a minute later Ugochukwu cut his gap to 0.145s.

After a non-improvement, Taponen went 0.001s faster than Ugochukwu next time by before joining most of the field in the pits. Prema’s James Wharton snuck into second as the track emptied, bettering Taponen by 0.01s.

Colnaghi went quickest 80 minutes in, setting a 1m31.824s that went unbeaten. Taponen got within 0.335s of him a minute later, and Alessandro Giusti slotted into fourth after lapping 0.565s off his team-mate’s benchmark.

Ugochukwu went third fastest, 0.406s behind Colnaghi, and Clerot demoted Giusti to sixth 87 minutes in. Benavides then came 0.008s shy of matching Colnaghi approaching the session’s halfway mark.

Trident’s Noah Stromted jumped from 20th to third a few minutes into the session’s second half with a 1m31.961s, and at the end of hour two Slater rose from 17th to fourth then got within 0.002s of Colnaghi in successive laps.

The track was quiet until the final half-hour. With six minutes remaining, Stromsted improved by 0.007s and Ugochuckwu set a 1m32.148s to take fifth from Taponen. Session-ending red flags waved with three minutes left as David crashed at turn six.

Morning session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides lowered the pace on the first afternoon of FIA Formula 3’s post-season test at Imola, as the track dried out following morning rain.

It was still wet at the start, with most drivers who headed out early only doing sighting laps. Soon laptimes were coming in, at a similar pace to what had been achieved in the morning.

Pedro Clerot, Hiyu Yamakoshi, Theophile Nael, Noah Stromsted, Bruno del Pino, Kanato Le and Matteo De Palo all spent time in first place within the first 10 minutes, with 14 out of 30 drivers having lapped at pace.

Four minutes later Campos Racing’s Theophile Nael and Ugo Ugochukwu moved to the top, with the pair lowering the pace into the 1m44s.

Trident’s Stromsted moved ahead of them 25 minutes in, and del Pino went fastest again at the half-hour mark. Only four drivers were yet to attempt flying laps, and plans to change that were disrupted by red flags caused by ART Grand Prix’s Le stopping at turn four with a technical issue.

After the restart, Louis Sharp and Yevan David were first into the 1m43s, then Brando Badoer broke into the 1m42s. A minute later Badoer was down to third as James Wharton posted a 1m41.995s which Nael got within 0.142 seconds of.

The pace was lowered further by Ugochukwu, Wharton, Taito Kato, Christian Ho and Sharp in the first hour of three, with ART GP’s Kato setting the day’s first sub-1m40s lap.

Hour two featured either no drivers on track or one at a time, with runs starting again with 50 minutes to go. Drivers were making big pace gains, but losing laptimes to track limits violations

Hitech GP’s Jin Nakamura and Fionn McLaughlin went one-two, but Nakamura’s lap was deleted and their other team-mate Michael Shin was promoted to first having laid down a 1m36.974s.

McLaughlin and David set 1m35.9s with 43 minutes to go, before Tuukka Taponen lowered the pace to 1m35.251s.

Jesse Carrasquedo Jr swiftly beat that, then a 1m34.224s put Benavides comfortably ahead. Clerot edged ahead by 0.023s with 39 minutes remaining, but Taponen’s next lap — a 1m33.786s — returned him to the top.

Benavides responded, usurping Taponen by 0.233s, then improved again to an unbeatable 1m33.022s with 34 minutes to go.

A second split the top four entering the final half-hour, with Ugochukwu in third, and a few minutes later Wharton reduced Benavides’s advantage to 0.723s. Ho slashed it further to 0.636s, then Wharton set another personal best to cut it to 0.426s.

Alessandro Giusti was next to occupy second, getting within 0.36s of the pace, before Clerot came 0.088s shy of Benavides’s benchmark 21 minutes from the end.

Mattia Colnaghi took third place five minutes later, 0.018s behind Clerot, then red flags waved with 11 minutes to go as Sharp went off at turn four.

Action did resume, and Freddie Slater improved to fifth in the final minute before del Pino crashed at turn three and triggered more red flags.

Afternoon session results

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Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd

FIA Formula 3’s final post-season test at Imola began with a wet session in which Campos Racing’s Ugo Ugochukwu was quickest.

Rain hit early in the morning, and everyone stayed in their garages for the first 15 minutes of the three-hour session. Drivers then headed out for sighting laps, getting a taste of conditions before returning to the pits.

There was then another long stretch of the track being empty, before Hitech GP’s drivers ventured out 49 minutes in.

Jin Nakamura posted a 2m01.808s as he was joined on track by Prema’s line-up, who not complete a timed lap before pitting as a few others logged sighting laps at the end of hour one.

Drivers headed out one at a time thereon until the 70-minute mark, which preceded another stretch of inactivity before Trident’s Freddie Slater and Matteo De Palo took to track. Both were set to beat Nakamura’s benchmark, but instead returned to the pitlane.

There was then a 24-minute spell of no action before Ugochukwu left the pits with 68 minutes to go, at which point Nakamura’s laptime was scrubbed from the timesheet.

Ugochukwu was joined by team-mate Theophile Nael, and four minutes later they went one-two with 1m51.933s and 1m52.179s laps. Next time by Ugochukwu improved to 1m51.313s, but Nael set a 1m50.743s.

The response from Ugochukwu was to go fastest by 0.33 seconds, and hour two ended with six other drivers recording laptimes.

Hour three began with Prema’s James Wharton getting within 0.19s of Ugochukwu, then Nael posted a 1m49.629s to reclaim top spot by 0.784s.

Prema’s Louis Sharp lapped 0.133s shy of Nael, but was swiftly shuffled to fourth as Ugochukwu lowered the pace to 1m49.240s to lead Wharton by 0.125s.

Sharp set a 1m48.948s two laps later, and more than a third of the 30-car field had now set laptimes.

Next to the top was MP Motorsport’s Alessandro Giusti, posting a 1m48.710s, then Wharton went quickest by 0.155s moments before Sharp improved to 1m48.448s to reclaim first place. Wharton replied with a 1m47.851s, as MP’s Tuukka Taponen went fourth fastest.

Hitech’s Michael Shin demoted Taponen with 44 minutes to go, but Taponen then improved to 1m48.057s and second place while Giusti set a personal best of 1m48.201s to retain third only for Ugochukwu to beat him by 0.098s.

Two thirds of the field had set representative laptimes with 43 minutes to go, and Wharton’s gap was cut to 0.046s by MP’s Mattia Colnaghi.

Taponen then went quickest, posting a 1m47.499s, but Ugochukwu went 0.088s faster than him just before red flags waved as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hiyu Yamakoshi had crashed at turn 13.

Action resumed with 32 minutes remaining, and almost everybody headed out. Giusti set a 1m47.618s to take third with 27 minutes to go, and red flags returned 19 minutes from the end as he crashed at turn six.

Ten minutes were left after that, and on a busy track few improved as AIX Racing’s Fernando Barrichello became the last driver to lap at pace.

Morning session results

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Photo: ACI Sport

Sasha Bondarev fought past Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta to win Italian Formula 4 race three at Imola.

The pair shared the front row, with Bondarev on pole, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov was ahead of their other team-mate Newman Chi on row two.

Nakamura immediately tucked in behind Bondarev at the start, then thought about the outside line entering Tamburello.

He attacked properly at Acque Minerali, getting alongside Bondarec and then leading him into the Variante Alta chicane as the safety car was called.

Maffi Racing’s David Walther had spun out at Tamburello, and VAR’s Dante Vinci had picked up enough damage to have a stop-start route back to the pits where his front end was changed.

Racing resumed on lap three, and US Racing’s Gabriel Gomez was on a charge. He had picked off Prema’s Salim Hanna Hernandez and PHM Racing’s Reno Francot on lap one, and now cleared R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri through turn one.

Francot tried to also overtake Olivieri, but clipped his right-right wheel. Olivieri soon went off with a puncture, while Francot needed a new front and both fell down the order before pitting.

Nakamura pulled away up front, then Bondarev began closing back in on lap six. He was very close to Nakamura’s rear through the first corners of lap eight, as Popov made it a three-car fight, and had a look at the outside of Rivazza 1.

A warning flag was shown to Nakamura after his defending through Tamburello on lap nine, and he began lap 10 just 0.2 seconds ahead. Bondarev tried the outside through the first two corners, then the safety car was called out again as Maffi’s Kornelia Olkucka spun out there.

Nakamura was unchallenged on lap 12 when racing resumed, but had Bondarev alongside him through Tamburello and the Villeneuve chicane on lap 13 and weaved his way down the pit straight as the lap ended.

Bondarev again chose the outside into Tamburello on lap 14, and finally made an overtake happen as Chi did the same to Popov. Gomez overtook Popov at the Villeneuve chicane, as a pack had bunched up behind Nakamura.

Now in clear air, Bondarev pulled away and claimed his first F4 podium with victory, as Chi then became the cork in the bottle. Hanna went around the outside of Popov at Tamburello on lap 15 for fifth, and R-ace’s Alex Powell held off Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon for seventh.

US’s Kabir Anurag was involved in their battle, and Jenzer Motorsport’s Bart Harrison and Artem Severiukhin tried to be but made contact. Severiukhin lost several places, and Harrison punctured.

US’s Andrija Kostic and Luka Sammalisto had their own drama on lap 14 that meant being classified several laps down rather than rounding out the points places, and Jenzer’s Enea Frey came through for 10th.

Race results (16 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

R-ace GP’s Akshay Bohra won Formula Regional European Championship’s second race at Imola.

He pipped Prema’s Freddie Slater by 0.027 seconds to pole, his first ever, with the two in different groups.

Red flags waved very quickly in group B, and after that Trident’s Matteo De Palo led the way. He was usurped when CL Motorsport’s Michael Belov set a 1m39.544s, then Bohra posted a 1m39.144s.

He improved to 1m38.776s, and after team-mate Enzo Deligny pipped him by 0.007s he found more pace and set a 1m38.503s. A 1m39.115s put De Palo third in the group, ahead of team-mate Ruiqi Liu, and just 0.03s split fifth to eighth.

Nine drivers spent time atop group A, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot the first to reach a representative pace. Taito Kato was first into the 1m39s, then Slater, Clerot and Evan Giltaire lowered the pace before his ART Grand Prix team-mate Kato returned to first place with a 1m39.178s.

Clerot and Giltaire later beat that in quick succession, by less than 0.1s, and when Sainteloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin crossed the line he broke into the 1m38s. Pole was still out of reach though, and Slater set a 1m38.589s before his group-topping lap that was just off Bohra’s benchmark.

There were tiny gaps behind Slater, with 0.082s between Bedrin, Clerot, Giltaire, G4 Racing’s Kacper Sztuka, Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri and Kato.

Bohra had wheelspin when the race began, but kept the lead into the first turns and still led Slater when the safety car was called.

Trident’s Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi had compromised Race Performance Motorsport’s Giovanni Maschio into the first braking zone and Maschio had flown off in a hefty crash, while G4 Racing’s Kacper Sztuka later got too close to Giltaire and took a trip through the grass that broke off his front wing and required him to pit.

Racing resumed on lap three, and Bohra had to hug the inside into the Tamburello chicane to keep Slater at bay. The safety car was required again though as R-ace’s Jin Nakamura and Prema’s Jack Beeton locked wheels at Acque Minerali fighting over ninth and crashed out.

The next restart was on lap six, and Bohra again had to move across into Tamburello to stay ahead. He built a 0.4s lead, and when he later extended it Slater always responded.

They were 0.468s apart with two laps remaining, and the top seven set personal bests on the penultimate lap. Bohra took the fastest lap, and although his lead shrunk again on the last lap he took his maiden victory by 0.642s.

The top six held their starting positions, with Giltaire seventh ahead of Belov and Kato. He overtook Liu on the restart, and VAR’s Dion Gowda did on the penultimate lap to secore a point.

Race results (16 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

Gabriel Gomez won Italian Formula 4’s first race at Imola, then a huge multi-car shunt led to the second being suspended 17 seconds in.

There was drama before race one’s start as US Racing’s Maxim Rehm stopped on track en route to the grid so the whole field had to go through the pits.

Eventually the start took place, with Rehm taking up his 10th place on the grid while team-mate Gomez had pole. His other team-mate Andrija Kostic was fighting him mid-lap, and Salim Hanna Hernandez took second from Prema team-mate Kean Nakamura Berta after going side-by-side through the first corner.

Viola Formula Racing’s Ludovico Busso and Arthur Lorimier collided, and Gomez’s lead of over a second was eradicated by the safety car on lap two.

Maffi Racing’s Kornelia Olkucka crashed into the back of Cram Motorsport’s Elia Weiss on lap three, meaning the restart was delayed to lap five.

PHM Racing’s Reno Francot overtook Prema’s Sebastian Wheldon for fifth at turn two on lap six, then the safety car returned on lap seven after R-ace GP’s Guy Albag and Jenzer Motorsport’s Javier Herrera collided.

The next restart was on lap 10, and Nakamura was immediately alongside Hanna. Their team-mates Sasha Bondarev and Newman Chi got involved along with Francot, and Bondarev ended up defending from Chi and losing touch to Nakamura.

Kostic was sent spinning, team-mate Kabir Anurag went off and R-ace’s Emily Cotty came to a stop, but racing continued.

Gomez won by 0.616 seconds over Hanna, with Wheldon dropping to 10th on the 13th and final lap.

On race two’s formation lap, Bondarev was slow off the line and dropped from second to seventh but was able to reclaim his starting spot behind Gomez.

Chi and Hanna stalled on the actual start, and they were collected by several cars. Olkucka had another embarassing crash under yellow flag conditions, and her Maffi team-mates retired on the grass while trying to avoid the debris.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Maximilian Popov spun, Viola’s drivers were out in heavy impacts by turn one and 16 drivers in total were eliminated as red flags waved. Due to noise curfews, the restart of the race was delayed to another day.

Olkucka was handed a three-place grid penalty for her contribution to the chaos, Lorimier was docked six places, and Herrera was found most responsive with an eight-place grid penalty. He drops to 26th on the grid, Lorimier falls to last, while Olkucka gains one spot to 38th.

Race results (13 laps)

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Photo: ACI Sport

Enzo Deligny mastered Imola in Formula Regional Europe’s track action on Saturday, following up his practice-topping pace of Friday with pole position and a victory.

He was in the second qualifying group, so knew what laptime had to be beaten for pole.

In group A, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot was the first to reach a representative pace with a 1m40.373s. ART Grand Prix’s Evan Giltaire swiftly beat that by a tiny 0.002 seconds, then Clerot responded on his next lap by trumping everyone to the tune of 0.833s.

That was not enough to keep him ahead, as when Prema’s Freddie Slater crossed the line he set a 1m39.134s. He improved to 1m38.921s, then to 1m38.646s to be 0.252s faster than Clerot.

Giltaire trailed by 0.301s in third, team-mate Taito Kato was 0.466s off Slater in fourth and Sainteloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin edged Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri to fifth and therefore a top 10 starting spot. G4 Racing’s Kacper Sztuka was 12th fastest on his return.

Trident’s Matteo De Palo was first to the top in group A, with Deligny and then R-ace GP team-mate Jin Nakamura edging ahead. De Palo moved back ahead with two successive improvements, before Deligny set the group’s first sub-1m39s lap.

Later on De Palo responded, posting a 1m38.941s, but Deligny had more in hand and got down to 1m38.585s to claim his second pole.

Team-mate Akshay Bohra was second fastest in the group, 0.186s off pole and 0.108s ahead of De Palo, with Nanakmura fourth and VAR’s Hiyu Yamakoshi.

Slater started slowly and Bohra took second as race one began, while Giltaire and CL Motorsport’s Michael Belov having grassy moments. Clerot was back ahead of Slater and Bohra by the end of lap one.

Kato passed Giltaire for seventh through the Tamburello chicane on lap two, with Yamakoshi following past. But they then clashed at Piratella, sending Yamakoshi spinning into retirement. CL’s Yevan David spun after contact with Prema’s Jack Beeton, and the safety car and then red flags came out due to Yamakoshi’s off.

The race restarted on lap five, with green flags waving on lap seven of what would be 17 laps. Deligny set multiple fastest laps thereon as he pulled away to win, although there was another safety car interruption on lap 14 due to Al Dhaheri crashing out after fighting with Race Performance Motorsport’s Ean Eyckmans.

Slater had gone around the outside of Clerot before turn one on that lap, then Bohra got him too before racing was neutralised.

The top five, completed by De Palo, held their positions following the lap 16 restart but Nakamura was less fortunate and was eliminated so Kato pipped Bedrin to sixth.

Race results (17 laps)

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