Aron Takes First FRECA Victory at Mugello, Saucy Claims 2021 Title with Fifth

Paul Aron took his first Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory in Saturday’s opening race at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello, but fifth place was enough to give Grégoire Saucy the 2021 Drivers’ title.

Aron took pole position on Saturday morning from Prema Powerteam team-mate Dino Beganovic, but it was G4 Racing’s Michael Belov who led lap one, with the Russian finding a way around the Estonian. 

The safety car was called upon on that opening lap as Beganovic was involved in a three-car crash at turn one that also eliminated MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto as well as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya.

Belov did not hold the lead long after the restart, with Aron sweeping around the outside at turn one, and despite another safety car for a crash involving DR Formula’s Emidio Pesce and KIC Motorsport’s Nico Göhler, Mercedes-Benz protégé Aron held on for his first win of 2021.

Behind Aron and Belov came Prema’s David Vidales, with the Spaniard capitalising on the chaos ahead of him on lap one to gain four positions, while William Alatalo of Arden Motorsport claimed fourth after a final lap pass on ART Grand Prix’s Saucy.

Saucy, however, had already done enough to secure the title with three races of the season remaining as none of his championship rivals finished inside the top ten.  R-ace GP’s Zane Maloney ended only eleventh, while his team-mate Hadrien David was even worse off in twenty-third.  It gives Saucy an eighty-eight-point lead in the standings with only seventy-five left to win.

FA Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto continued his recent turn of form to claim sixth ahead of Monolite Racing’s Pietro Delli Guanti, while 2020 series champion Gianluca Petecof claimed his first points since returning to the category in eighth for KIC Motorsport.  The top ten was completed by ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini and MP Motorsport’s Kas Haverkort.

Aside from those who crashed out and caused safety cars, the only other retiree was KIC Motosport’s Jasin Ferati, who spun out and was lucky not to be collected by other drivers around him.

Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello Race 1 Result

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1	1	Paul Aron	EST	Prema Powerteam	33:08.940
2	30	Michael Belov	RUS	G4 Racing	+0.223
3	12	David Vidales	ESP	Prema Powerteam	+1.594
4	8	William Alatalo	FIN	Arden Motorsport	+1.980
5	26	Grégoire Saucy	CHE	ART Grand Prix	+2.843
6	85	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRZ	FA Racing	+3.266
7	35	Pietro Delli Guanti	ITA	Monolite Racing	+3.886
8	11	Gianluca Petecof	BRZ	KIC Motorsport	+4.303
9	46	Gabriele Mini	ITA	ART Grand Prix	+4.632
10	27	Kas Haverkort	NED	MP Motorsport	+4.988
11	22	Zane Maloney	BAR	R-ace GP	+5.306
12	6	Isack Hadjar	FRA	R-ace GP	+5.360
13	33	Ido Cohen	ISR	JD Motorsport	+6.067
14	21	Alex Quinn	GBR	Arden Motorsport	+6.250
15	96	Oliver Gøthe	DEN	MP Motorsport	+6.854
16	5	Patrik Pasma	FIN	ART Grand Prix	+6.886
17	19	Andrea Rosso	ITA	FA Racing	+7.107
18	51	Francesco Pizzi	ITA	Van Amersfoort Racing	+7.544
19	62	Lorenzo Fluxá	ESP	Van Amersfoort Racing	+8.076
20	99	José Garfias	MEX	Monolite Racing	+8.721
21	91	Eduardo Barrichello	BRZ	JD Motorsport	+9.903
22	97	Sami Meguetounif	FRA	R-ace GP	+10.622
23	10	Hadrien David	FRA	R-ace GP	+10.959
24	16	Tommy Smith	AUS	JD Motorsport	+11.436
25	77	Dilano van’t Hoff	NED	MP Motorsport	+11.925
26	7	Axel Gnos	CHE	G4 Racing	+12.423
27	89	Arias Deukmedjian	USA	FA Racing	+12.941
28	25	Alexandre Bardinon	FRA	FA Racing	+13.099
29	15	Léna Bühler	CHE	R-ace GP	+13.717
30	14	Nicola Marinangeli	ITA	Arden Motorsport	+23.626
RET	41	Emidio Pesce	ITA	DR Formula	Retired
RET	2	Nico Göhler	GER	KIC Motorsport	Retired
RET	13	Jasin Ferati	CHE	KIC Motorsport	Retired
RET	17	Dino Beganovic	SWE	Prema Powerteam	Retired
RET	64	Mari Boya	ESP	Van Amersfoort Racing	Retired
RET	43	Franco Colapinto	ARG	MP Motorsport	Retired