title condenders come together during dramatic freca weekend at imola

The Formula Regional European Championship returned after the summer break last weekend for round 7 at Imola, with Championship leader Rafael Camara looking to extend his advantage over rival Tuka Taponen.

Finlay McSporran
Published: 17:02, 9th September 2024

Race 1

Camara would get his weekend underway in the best possible manner, taking pole position for race 1 on Saturday morning, with Alessandro Giusti second and Taponen third.

A lightning quick start for Camara saw him hold the lead into turn one with Taponen moving up to second as Giusti dropped back to 5th.

Behind them, a collision between Nikita Bedrin and Ivan Domingues left both cars stranded in the gravel at the Villeneuve Chicane resulting in an early safety car.

As the drivers sat behind the safety car race leader Camara came under investigation by the stewards for a jump start, with him being handed a 5 second time penalty which left him with a lot of work to do as racing got back underway with 20 minutes to go.

With Taponen looming large in his mirrors and a penalty hanging over him, it was beginning to look like mission impossible for Camara. However the Ferrari driver pushed on against the odds, setting multiple fastest laps and building the gap behind him to 8 seconds as he crossed the line to take his 8th win in the championship, equalling the record set by Grégoire Saucy and Paul Aron.

Behind him Taponen came home in second to limit the damage, with James Wharton 3rd and Redbull junior Enzo Deligny finishing 4th as the top rookie.

Race 2

Camara would continue his dominant run off form into Sunday as he secured pole position for race 2 as well, his 4th pole in a row as he set a new record for most poles in the series (7).

Starting alongside him on the front row would be Tuka Taponen, who was looking to make up for his losses during race 1. To make things even more interesting, rain had hit the track before the race started resulting in wet conditions for race 2.

A decent get-away for Camara allowed him to cover off Taponen as they approached turn 1, however a late send from Taponen got him alongside his rival, but he just couldn’t get his car stopped in time, which resulted in the two championship contenders coming together at turn 1 which left Taponen out of the race and dropped Camara right to the back in P26.

The collision out front allowed Williams academy driver Alessandro Giusti to inherit the race lead, with Noah Strømsted 2nd and Zachery David 3rd as the safety car was deployed.

Racing would get back underway for only a few minutes as Evan Giltaire, 4th at the time, pulled over with a mechanical issue. Another driver facing mechanical problems was F1 Academy driver Doriane Pin who came into the pits to retire after fighting near the points.

The race resumed with just 6 minutes to go as Giusti led the field down towards the first corner. Behind him, Enzo Deligny was taken out by a late breaking Enzo Peugeot which promoted James Wharton up to 4th.

The Prema driver was on the move once again as he got passed Zachery David for 3rd, meanwhile his teammate Camara had made his way back up into the points after being taken out on lap 1.

The safety car was deployed once again following a crash between Kanato Le and a spinning Enzo Peugeot which brought an end to the race , as Giusti led the field across the line for his second win of the season, with Strømsted coming home in second and Wharton 3rd with his second podium of the weekend.

Elsewhere on the grid, McLarens Ugo Ugochukwu finished 5th while a great recovery driver from Camara saw him finish 9 in the end to add yet more points to his championship lead.