Daizun Download: FREC Imola - Round 7
2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship Race Report - Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy - Round 7
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Round 7 took us to Imola - one of motorsport's most historic venues, home to the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari and a circuit that demands respect at every corner. Narrow, unforgiving, and with precious little room for error, Imola has a way of sorting the field out in a hurry. This weekend did exactly that.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Qualifying 1
Qualifying was compromised before it had really begun. A cracked bell housing cut my practice session short, costing me my new tyre run and the track time I needed to dial in the setup. An early red flag took another lap away from us, and we went into qualifying without the full picture. It made for a difficult session, I qualified 8th in my group putting me 15th on the grid for Race 1.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Race 1
A race defined by drama from start to finish. Olivieri launched cleanly from pole and immediately defended against Wheldon, and from there he controlled the race with authority. But the afternoon quickly unravelled for much of the field behind him.
The first safety car came early - a collision at Turn 7 between Rashid Al Dhaheri and Tomass Stolcermanis left one of the cars in the wall and ended both their races on the spot. At the restart I was running twelfth, right on the tail of Popov, with twenty-two minutes on the clock and plenty of racing left.
It didn't stay clean for long. Mattéo Giaccardi went off-track, then Zhenrui Chi landed in the gravel at Tamburello, and shortly after team-mate Alex Ninovic had an unfortunate incident with just over sixteen minutes on the clock that brought out the second safety car. A third followed when Miguel Costa crashed at Ravazza, and then a final safety car in the closing stages for incidents involving Jan Przyrowski, Andrija Kostic, and Andrea Dupé effectively ended racing for the afternoon.
I crossed the line in twelfth, the race concluding under safety car. Olivieri took the win and with it the Rookie Championship title, moving to the top of the overall standings by a single point over Weldon, who finished second. Alexandre Munoz completed the podium in third.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Race 2
A reverse grid race that reshuffled the pack from the off. I dropped back to nineteenth on the opening lap, but kept my head and was back up to eighteenth on lap two, then seventeenth shortly after. The race was constantly evolving - Munoz lost it with twenty-five minutes on the clock, bumping everyone up a place, and then Maximillian Popov went off into the gravel with twenty-four minutes remaining, bringing out the safety car.
I was running fifteenth when the safety car deployed. Once back to green, Zhenrui Chi and Yuki Sano locked wheels and hit the gravel with just over fourteen minutes on the clock, bringing double yellows at Turns 2 and 3 and a safety car shortly after with thirteen minutes remaining. The restart nearly brought out another car - Gomez took a trip through the gravel but kept it out of the barriers. A final safety car came for contact between Marcus Saeter and Andrea Dupé, and the restart left just one lap on the clock.
I brought it home on the thirteenth. Salim Hanna took a well-deserved first career win, with Oleksandr Bondarev second and Reno Frankot third.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Qualifying 2
A competitive session split across two groups, with the track evolving quickly throughout. Running in Group A alongside team-mates Alex Ninovic and Gabriel Gomez, we were in the mix as the session reached its climax.
The closing moments saw significant improvements across the field, with Oleksandr Bondarev claiming pole on his first-ever FREC weekend with a lap of 1:38.78 - an impressive debut statement. Reno Francot and Tomass Stolcermanis completed the front three. I qualified 8th in my group, putting me 15th on the grid for Race 3.
Credit: © Dutch Photo Agency
Race 3
Imola's final race was as chaotic as the rest of the weekend. Starting from fourteenth, the first lap brought an immediate safety car after Yuki Sano was tagged from behind - Salim Hanna also retired during that safety car period following contact, ending his weekend on a low after the Race 2 win.
I restarted with nineteen minutes on the clock and found myself in a tough battle with Kabir Anurag and team-mate Alex Ninovic, eventually dropping back to fifteenth as I tucked in behind Ninovic. A second safety car was deployed with just over twelve minutes remaining when Abkhazava pulled over at the side of the track, and we restarted with eight minutes on the clock.
The third safety car came with six minutes left - G4 Racing driver lost the rear end and brought out the yellows again. The safety car came in with just three minutes and a lap on the clock, leaving precious little time to make any further progress. I stayed tight behind Ninovic and brought it home in fifteenth.
At the front, Bondarev was composed beyond his years on his debut weekend, holding off the persistent pressure of championship leader Olivieri to convert pole into victory. Francot completed the podium in third.
The numbers don't always capture what happens on track, and this weekend was proof of that. Three hard-fought races and a lot to build on. One round left - Hockenheim, and we're going out swinging.
