Akshay Bohra turns first FREC pole at Imola into victory

Photo: ACI Sport

R-ace GP’s Akshay Bohra won Formula Regional European Championship’s second race at Imola.

He pipped Prema’s Freddie Slater by 0.027 seconds to pole, his first ever, with the two in different groups.

Red flags waved very quickly in group B, and after that Trident’s Matteo De Palo led the way. He was usurped when CL Motorsport’s Michael Belov set a 1m39.544s, then Bohra posted a 1m39.144s.

He improved to 1m38.776s, and after team-mate Enzo Deligny pipped him by 0.007s he found more pace and set a 1m38.503s. A 1m39.115s put De Palo third in the group, ahead of team-mate Ruiqi Liu, and just 0.03s split fifth to eighth.

Nine drivers spent time atop group A, with Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot the first to reach a representative pace. Taito Kato was first into the 1m39s, then Slater, Clerot and Evan Giltaire lowered the pace before his ART Grand Prix team-mate Kato returned to first place with a 1m39.178s.

Clerot and Giltaire later beat that in quick succession, by less than 0.1s, and when Sainteloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin crossed the line he broke into the 1m38s. Pole was still out of reach though, and Slater set a 1m38.589s before his group-topping lap that was just off Bohra’s benchmark.

There were tiny gaps behind Slater, with 0.082s between Bedrin, Clerot, Giltaire, G4 Racing’s Kacper Sztuka, Prema’s Rashid Al Dhaheri and Kato.

Bohra had wheelspin when the race began, but kept the lead into the first turns and still led Slater when the safety car was called.

Trident’s Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi had compromised Race Performance Motorsport’s Giovanni Maschio into the first braking zone and Maschio had flown off in a hefty crash, while G4 Racing’s Kacper Sztuka later got too close to Giltaire and took a trip through the grass that broke off his front wing and required him to pit.

Racing resumed on lap three, and Bohra had to hug the inside into the Tamburello chicane to keep Slater at bay. The safety car was required again though as R-ace’s Jin Nakamura and Prema’s Jack Beeton locked wheels at Acque Minerali fighting over ninth and crashed out.

The next restart was on lap six, and Bohra again had to move across into Tamburello to stay ahead. He built a 0.4s lead, and when he later extended it Slater always responded.

They were 0.468s apart with two laps remaining, and the top seven set personal bests on the penultimate lap. Bohra took the fastest lap, and although his lead shrunk again on the last lap he took his maiden victory by 0.642s.

The top six held their starting positions, with Giltaire seventh ahead of Belov and Kato. He overtook Liu on the restart, and VAR’s Dion Gowda did on the penultimate lap to secore a point.

Race results (16 laps)