Isack Hadjar converted his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine pole position into his maiden victory, with the Frenchman cruising to the win at the Circuit de Monaco on Saturday.
Hadjar had taken pole position for race one by topping his group in Qualifying on Friday, and once he navigated the start, he was able to pull a gap to his R-ace GP team-mate Zane Maloney to take the victory.
Even a safety car intervention, caused by Nicola Marinangeli being spun around at the Nouvelle Chicane by Brad Benavides could not prevent Hadjar from dominating. On the restart, Hadjar pulled away and eventually took the chequered flag 7.401 seconds clear of Maloney. Incidentally, Benavides will drop three places on the grid for Sunday’s race for spinning Marinangeli.
Paul Aron denied R-ace GP a podium lock-out by holding off Hadrien David throughout the twenty-one-lap race, with the Prema Powerteam driver finishing less than half a second ahead of the Frenchman despite appearing not to have the same kind of pace as his rival.
Similarly, the battle for fifth place was also a close affair, with Patrik Pasma of KIC Motorsport holding off the challenge of Arden Motorsport’s Alex Quinn throughout the race. Prema Powerteam’s David Vidales and Arden’s William Alatalo ended seventh and eighth, while the top ten was completed by Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya and ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini.
Just missing out on points was Monolite Racing’s Pietro Delli Guanti in eleventh, with the Italian edging out KIC Motorsport’s Elias Seppänen, FA Racing’s Andrea Rosso and a whole host of other cars that finished almost nose to tail between eleventh and seventeenth.
Championship leader Grégoire Saucy had been running inside the points but a late moment heading into the first corner left him way down the field in twenty-second place at the chequered flag. He will head into Sunday’s second race hopeful of turning around his Monaco fortunes.
Circuit de Monaco Race One Result
POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME/GAP |
1 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | R-ace GP | 32:56.410 |
2 | 22 | Zane Maloney | BAR | R-ace GP | +7.401 |
3 | 1 | Paul Aron | EST | Prema Powerteam | +10.400 |
4 | 10 | Hadrien David | FRA | R-ace GP | +10.863 |
5 | 5 | Patrik Pasma | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +13.385 |
6 | 21 | Alex Quinn | GBR | Arden Motorsport | +13.613 |
7 | 12 | David Vidales | ESP | Prema Powerteam | +17.151 |
8 | 8 | William Alatalo | FIN | Arden Motorsport | +17.700 |
9 | 64 | Mari Boya | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | +18.428 |
10 | 46 | Gabriele Mini | ITA | ART Grand Prix | +18.791 |
11 | 35 | Pietro Delli Guanti | ITA | Monolite Racing | +25.151 |
12 | 58 | Elias Seppänen | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +27.235 |
13 | 19 | Andrea Rosso | ITA | FA Racing | +27.552 |
14 | 27 | Kas Haverkort | NED | MP Motorsport | +28.037 |
15 | 51 | Francesco Pizzi | ITA | Van Amersfoort Racing | +28.726 |
16 | 23 | Thomas Ten Brinke | NED | ART Grand Prix | +29.139 |
17 | 17 | Dino Beganovic | SWE | Prema Powerteam | +29.373 |
18 | 96 | Oliver Gøthe | DEN | MP Motorsport | +31.040 |
19 | 7 | Axel Gnos | CHE | G4 Racing | +47.375 |
20 | 15 | Léna Bühler | CHE | R-ace GP | +47.675 |
21 | 55 | Alessandro Famularo | VEN | G4 Racing | +51.106 |
22 | 26 | Grégoire Saucy | CHE | ART Grand Prix | +52.890 |
23 | 85 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRZ | DR Formula | +56.698 |
24 | 71 | Brad Benavides | USA | DR Formula | +1:08.939 |
NC | 91 | Eduardo Barrichello | BRZ | JD Motorsport | +8 Laps |
RET | 14 | Nicola Marinangeli | ITA | Arden Motorsport | Retired |
RET | 13 | Jasin Ferati | CHE | Monolite Racing | Retired |
RET | 62 | Lorenzo Fluxá | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | Retired |