Beganovic Takes Maiden FRECA Victory in Chaos-filled Wet Opening Race at Monza

Ferrari Driver Academy member Dino Beganovic took his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory in the opening race of the weekend at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza.

In a race held in wet conditions, Beganovic maintained his advantage at the front after starting from pole position, while fellow front row starter Lorenzo Fluxá slipped behind both Michael Belov and Gabriele Mini into turn one. ART Grand Prix’s Mini moved up to second, while R-ace GP’s Fluxá regained third at the exit of the turn ahead of MP Motorsport’s Belov.

The safety car was soon deployed as ART Grand Prix’s debutant Laurens van Hoepen and Arden Motorsport’s Edoardo Barrichello collided at turn one, the former stopping at the side of the track with damage and the latter going to the pit lane for repairs.

On the restart, it was nearly game over for the race leader as the Prema Racing driver was hit from behind by ART’s Mini.  Beganovic got away without damage, but the Italian broke his front wing and was forced into the pit lane for repairs.  The incident is under review from the stewards.

Fluxá and Belov again switched positions after the R-ace GP driver missed the first chicane, but it was not long before the safety car was out for a second time for two separate incidents.  Léna Bühler ended in the gravel trap at Parabolica, while Race Performance Motorsport’s Pietro Delli Guanti and MP Motorsport’s Dilano van ‘t Hoff collided at the second chicane.

Another incident accounted for the front wing of Prema Racing’s Paul Aron, but Beganovic again held the lead behind the safety car ahead of Belov and Fluxá.

At the restart, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Kas Haverkort, running in fourth, found himself passed by both Hadrien David and Gabriel Bortoleto in quick order, and it was status quo at the front until the third safety car intervention, caused by G4 Racing’s Axel Gnos crashing out at the exit of the second Lesmo corner.

Beganovic survived the final restart for a one-lap shootout, while Belov and Fluxá completed the podium.  David ended fourth while Haverkort repassed Bortoleto for fifth.  Mari Boya was ART Grand Prix’s only points finisher in seventh, while the leading rookie was Prema Racing’s Sebastián Montoya in eighth.

The top ten was completed by MP Motorsport’s Sami Meguetounif and Monolite Racing’s Maceo Capietto, while Mini recovered from coming out of the pits in thirty-third place to finish sixteenth in a certain case of what could have been for the Italian.

Autodromo Nazionale Monza Race 1 Result

POS.	NO.	DRIVER	NAT	TEAM	TIME/GAP
1	18	Dino Beganovic	SWE	Prema Racing	32:35.273
2	30	Michael Belov		MP Motorsport	+0.767
3	16	Lorenzo Fluxá	ESP	R-ace GP	+1.754
4	26	Hadrien David	FRA	R-ace GP	+2.907
5	27	Kas Haverkort	NED	Van Amersfoort Racing	+3.479
6	85	Gabriel Bortoleto	BRZ	R-ace GP	+4.442
7	64	Mari Boya	ESP	ART Grand Prix	+4.454
8	58	Sebastián Montoya	COL	Prema Racing	+6.078
9	17	Sami Meguetounif	FRA	MP Motorsport	+6.327
10	5	Macéo Capietto	FRA	Monolite Racing	+6.892
11	10	Joshua Dürksen	PAR	Arden Motorsport	+7.429
12	12	Victor Bernier	FRA	FA Racing	+7.612
13	72	Leonardo Fornaroli	ITA	Trident	+8.386
14	70	Tim Tramnitz	GER	Trident	+8.793
15	4	Roman Bilinski	POL	Trident	+9.349
16	46	Gabriele Mini	ITA	ART Grand Prix	+9.812
17	9	Esteban Masson	FRA	FA Racing	+10.688
18	35	Nicolás Baptiste	COL	FA Racing	+10.945
19	13	Joshua Dufek	CHE	Van Amersfoort Racing	+11.331
20	8	Matías Zagazeta	PER	G4 Racing	+13.959
21	19	Noel León	MEX	Arden Motorsport	+14.084
22	92	Owen Tangavelou	FRA	G4 Racing	+14.333
23	11	Levente Révész	HUN	Van Amersfoort Racing	+14.608
24	21	Piotr Wiśnicki	POL	KIC Motorsport	+16.146
25	68	Santiago Ramos	MEX	KIC Motorsport	+16.291
26	91	Eduardo Barrichello	BRZ	Arden Motorsport	+18.218
27	3	Paul Aron	EST	Prema Racing	+18.487
28	24	Cenyu Han	CHN	Monolite Racing	+19.196
29	28	Francesco Braschi	ITA	KIC Motorsport	+20.003
30	88	Hamda Al Qusaibi	UAE	Prema Racing	+25.458
RET	65	Keith Donegan	IRE	Race Performance Motorsport	Retired
RET	6	Pietro Armanni	ITA	Monolite Racing	Retired
RET	7	Axel Gnos	CHE	G4 Racing	Retired
RET	77	Dilano van ‘t Hoff	NED	MP Motorsport	Retired
RET	55	Pietro Delli Guanti	ITA	Race Performance Motorsport	Retired
RET	15	Léna Bühler	CHE	R-ace GP	Retired
RET	42	Laurens van Hoepen	NED	ART Grand Prix	Retired