Colapinto Withstands Vidales Pressure to Take Opening Valencia Victory

Franco Colapinto took his second Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine win in three races as the Argentine racer fended off the race-long challenge from David Vidales to win race one in Valencia on Saturday.

The MP Motorsport driver, who took the chequered flag first in both races at the Red Bull Ring two weeks ago only to have the second victory taken away from him due to a penalty for exceeding track limits, took pole position for race one at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo, and he held onto the lead at the start.

Vidales, racing for Prema Powerteam, stayed on Colapinto’s tail throughout the race and was never more than a second behind his rival, but the Spaniard was never close enough to make a genuine attempt to take the lead.

Completing the podium was Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya, who had by far his best finish of the season, with the Spaniard’s previous best being a fifth place in the first race of the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya weekend back in May.

Prema’s Paul Aron made a first lap move on G4 Racing’s Michael Belov to give him fourth place ahead of the Russian, while Arden Motorsport’s Alex Quinn was sixth ahead of R-ace GP duo Hadrien David and Zane Maloney as overtaking proved difficult around the tight Valencia track.

Maloney made some early gains as he moved up four places from his starting position on the opening lap, while a third R-ace GP car of Isack Hadjar was ninth, just ahead of Prema’s Dino Beganovic, who took the final point on offer in tenth.

Championship leader Grégoire Saucy endured a difficult day, with the ART Grand Prix driver dropping out of the points on the opening lap and ending twelfth overall, just behind FA Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto.

Series debutant Dilano van’t Hoff, racing as a guest driver this weekend for MP Motorsport, finished a credible twentieth out of thirty-two finishers, with Patrik Pasma and Alexandre Bardinon the only two drivers not to see the chequered flag.

Saucy remains the favourite for the title despite failing to score points for only the fourth time in 2021, with the Swiss racer still seventy-four points clear of David with only one hundred and twenty-five available across the remaining five races of the year.

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Race 1 Result

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1	43	Franco Colapinto	ARG	MP Motorsport	21 Laps
2	12	David Vidales	ESP	Prema Powerteam	+0.417
3	64	Mari Boya	ESP	Van Amersfoort Racing	+4.092
4	1	Paul Aron	EST	Prema Powerteam	+6.049
5	30	Michael Belov	RUS	G4 Racing	+10.817
6	21	Alex Quinn	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+12.427
7	10	Hadrien David	FRA	R-ace GP	+14.479
8	22	Zane Maloney	BAR	R-ace GP	+16.680
9	6	Isack Hadjar	FRA	R-ace GP	+17.191
10	17	Dino Beganovic	SWE	Prema Powerteam	+17.605
11	85	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRZ	FA Racing	+19.114
12	26	Grégoire Saucy	CHE	ART Grand Prix	+20.632
13	8	William Alatalo	FIN	Arden Motorsport	+23.033
14	46	Gabriele Mini	ITA	ART Grand Prix	+25.285
15	27	Kas Haverkort	NED	MP Motorsport	+25.818
16	35	Pietro Delli Guanti	ITA	Monolite Racing	+27.780
17	91	Eduardo Barrichello	BRZ	JD Motorsport	+28.568
18	51	Francesco Pizzi	ITA	Van Amersfoort Racing	+31.238
19	62	Lorenzo Fluxá	ESP	Van Amersfoort Racing	+31.673
20	77	Dilano van’t Hoff	NED	MP Motorsport	+32.182
21	16	Tommy Smith	AUS	JD Motorsport	+34.654
22	11	Gianluca Petecof	BRZ	KIC Motorsport	+35.852
23	96	Oliver Gøthe	DEN	MP Motorsport	+39.268
24	99	José Garfias	MEX	Monolite Racing	+40.501
25	41	Emidio Pesce	ITA	DR Formula	+43.553
26	19	Andrea Rosso	ITA	FA Racing	+45.405
27	7	Axel Gnos	CHE	G4 Racing	+45.789
28	2	Nico Göhler	GER	KIC Motorsport	+46.233
29	72	Bélen Garcia	ESP	G4 Racing	+54.028
30	15	Léna Bühler	CHE	R-ace GP	+54.719
31	14	Nicola Marinangeli	ITA	Arden Motorsport	+54.830
32	13	Jasin Ferati	CHE	KIC Motorsport	+1:45.864
RET	5	Patrik Pasma	FIN	ART Grand Prix	Retired
RET	9	Alexandre Bardinon	FRA	FA Racing	Retired