Photo: ACI Sport
Reno Francot will make his Formula Regional Middle East this weekend at Dubai Autodrome with CL Motorsport.
After Michael Belov departed its line-up following a horror shunt in race three of the campaign, CL has signed Reno Francot to fill its third car for the remaining two rounds at Dubai and Losail.
The 18-year-old Dutchman was 2023 F4 Central European Zone runner-up, 10th in the United Arab Emirates-based Formula Trophy series in 2024, then third in E4 and fifth in F4 Middle East last year. He also made a FRegional cameo in the European championship.
MP Motorsport has also revised its line-up. Christian Ho’s two-round deal has concluded, and he sits seventh in the standings with one win and one other podium at the season’s halfway point. He is replaced this weekend by Jesse Carrasquedo Jr, who will be driving for Van Amersfoort Racing in the FIA Formula 3 Championship later this year.
The 18-year-old Mexican has been racing at the FRegional level since 2023. He has no points from 12 FREC starts, one podium from 23 races in FRME and has had far more success from his 30 races in Eurocup-3. He won as a part-timer in 2024, and was fifth in the 2025 standings with two victories. He was also eighth in its winter series.
Carrasquedo, Francot and R-ace GP’s debutant Emanuele Olivieri got some crucial running at Dubai in FRME’s pre-event test sessions on Thursday and Friday.
Trident’s Maximilian Popov was fastest, setting a 1m53.523s in session two to lead Mumbai Falcons duo Sebastian Wheldon and Kean Nakamura-Berta by 0.051 and 0.094 seconds respectively. Taito Kato (ART Grand Prix), Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) and Alexander Abkhazava (MP) were also within 0.2s of Popov, and a second covered the top 23 drivers in the expanded 32-car field.
R-ace’s points leader Rashid Al Dhaheri was 0.384s off the pace in eighth place, and fell down to last in the one-hour free practice session on Friday afternoon.
Setting the pace were G4 Racing’s Andrea Dupe and Jules Roussel, after being 22nd and 14th in testing, with the former posting a 1m54.270s late on to claim top spot by 0.026s.
Olivieri trailed by 0.159s in third place, and just 0.026s ahead of Nakamura-Berta whose personal best came before his final set of laps. Artem Severiukhin made it three G4 drivers in the top five, and also in a top eight split by 0.277s were Reza Seewooruthun (Rodin), title contender Alex Powell (Pinnacle Motorsport) and Giovanni Maschio (Race Performance Motorsport).
There were 25 drivers within a second of Dupe, while Al Dhaheri only set eight laps in total (the second least in the field) and was 2.127s off the pace.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrea Dupe | G4 Racing | 1m54.270s | 23 |
| 2 | Jules Roussel | G4 Racing | +0.026s | 21 |
| 3 | Emanuele Olivieri | R-ace GP | +0.159s | 22 |
| 4 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | Mumbai Falcons | +0.185s | 21 |
| 5 | Artem Severiukhin | G4 Racing | +0.251s | 21 |
| 6 | Reza Seewooruthun | Rodin Motorsport | +0.275s | 23 |
| 7 | Alex Powell | Pinnacle Motorsport | +0.277s | 21 |
| 8 | Giovanni Maschio | R-P-M | +0.277s | 20 |
| 9 | Kabir Anurag | ART Grand Prix | +0.316s | 22 |
| 10 | Alexander Abkhazava | MP Motorsport | +0.319s | 23 |
| 11 | Taito Kato | ART Grand Prix | +0.322s | 22 |
| 12 | Maximilian Popov | Trident | +0.337s | 23 |
| 13 | Dion Gowda | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.338s | 18 |
| 14 | Francisco Macedo | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.370s | 17 |
| 15 | Yuki Sano | R-ace GP | +0.383s | 20 |
| 16 | Enea Frey | CL Motorsport | +0.417s | 19 |
| 17 | Reno Francot | CL Motorsport | +0.540s | 21 |
| 18 | Matteo Giaccardi | ART Grand Prix | +0.559s | 22 |
| 19 | Sebastian Wheldon | Mumbai Falcons | +0.566s | 21 |
| 20 | Newman Chi | CL Motorsport | +0.583s | 19 |
| 21 | Salim Hanna | Mumbai Falcons | +0.619s | 21 |
| 22 | Kai Daryanani | Trident | +0.754s | 23 |
| 23 | Jesse Carrasquedo Jr | MP Motorsport | +0.775s | 24 |
| 24 | Yuhao Fu | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.881s | 21 |
| 25 | Maxim Rehm | Rodin Motorsport | +0.889s | 17 |
| 26 | August Raber | Pinnacle Motorsport | +0.928s | 17 |
| 27 | Miguel Costa | R-P-M | +1.049s | 23 |
| 28 | Andrija Kostic | Trident | +1.056s | 22 |
| 29 | Alceu Feldmann Neto | MP Motorsport | +1.390s | 24 |
| 30 | Jan Przyrowski | R-P-M | +1.890s | 23 |
| 31 | Alex Ninovic | Rodin Motorsport | +2.017s | 7 |
| 32 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | R-ace GP | +2.127s | 8 |