Daizun Download: FREC Hockenheim Round 8
2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship Race Report - Hockenheimring, Germany - Round 8
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Hockenheim. The final round of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship season, and a circuit that delivered everything a season finale should. Fast, technical, and unforgiving, the Hockenheimring has hosted some of motorsport's most memorable moments - and Round 8 added a few more to the list.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Qualifying 1
The season finale at Hockenheim arrived with everything still to play for at the sharp end of the championship, and I went into qualifying wanting to make a statement. Running in Group B as part of a fifteen-driver field, I pushed throughout the session and qualified ninth in the group putting me eighteenth on the grid for Race 1 later that day.
Olivieri topped Group B with a 1:34.424, with Tomass Stolcermanis close behind, while Weldon went fastest overall in Group A with a 1:34.353 - securing pole and narrowing the championship gap to eighteen points heading into Race 1. The front row was set, the title fight was alive, and I was ready to go racing.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Race 1
Eighteenth on the grid for the penultimate race of the season, and I was determined to make it count. I got a great start, picking off three cars around the outside of turn 2 to make immediate ground through the field. Then the opening lap drama unfolded - Wheldon and Olivieri colliding at the Nord Curve brought out the safety car.
From thirteenth after the safety car restart, I just kept pushing and with seventeen minutes on the clock I was up to tenth and firmly in the points battle. Through the Mercedes section I found myself in an intense three-way scrap with Miguel Costa and Salim Hanna - positions changing with every corner, no room for error. I had a move on Hanna before he closed the door and cut it off, but I stayed patient and kept the pressure on rather than forcing anything I'd regret.
It paid off and I crossed the line in eighth - ten positions gained from where I'd started. Another great hack from 18th, and one that felt fully earned by everyone in the Rodin Motorsport garage.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Qualifying 2
Going into the final qualifying session of the season with Race 1 momentum behind me, I wanted to carry that confidence onto the timing sheets. Running in Group B, I pushed throughout and briefly moved up to ninth before settling into twelfth as the late laps came in. Frustrating not to convert the pace into a stronger grid slot for the finale, but the race was where the focus was.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Race 2
The final race of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship season, and I went out determined to end it the right way. A multi-car pile-up at Turn 3 on the opening lap brought out an immediate safety car, retiring Stolcermanis, Popov, and Almaosherji before the race had properly started.
Starting from twentieth, I got my head down immediately. Tucking in behind Bansal and getting past him was the first move of many. I was up into nineteenth, and from there I focussed on working through the pack. The hairpin was good to me all race - picking off places there consistently and making the most of every opportunity it presented. I managed push to pass carefully throughout, deploying it at the right moments rather than spending it all at once, and it made a real difference in the battles that mattered.
Mid-race I found myself in a close fight with Gowda, trading positions as we both pushed hard for every place available. He got the better of me with seven minutes on the clock, but I wasn't done. With just a minute remaining I was back into sixteenth, Munoz on my tail and Gowda dropping back behind us. After an intense late battle with Zhenrui, I crossed the line in fifteenth - the pace in the final stages was some of the strongest I showed all afternoon, and it felt like a sign of what's to come.
When Przyrowski and Nakamura-Berta collided, it opened the door for Olivieri to move into second and hold it to the flag. That was enough. Emanuele Olivieri is the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship champion, and the title was well deserved over the course of a long, fiercely competitive season.
For me, this campaign has been a journey. A front-row start and podium in Budapest. Fighting through the chaos of Spa and Imola. A season of learning, growing, and building something with Rodin Motorsport that I'm genuinely proud of. To Rodin Motorsport, to Daizun, my sponsors, my family, my friends, and to every single person who followed and supported us this year - from the bespoke flags in Budapest to the messages at every round - thank you. It means more than I can put into words.
See you next season.
