Photo: FREC
French talents Hadrien David and Esteban Masson will participate in this year’s Formula Regional European Championship, France’s motorsport governing body the FFSA has confirmed.
It has long been anticipated that 2021 title runner-up David would stay in FREC, as he told Formula Scout at the end of last year he was struggling to find the budget to step up to FIA Formula 3 and would instead aim for a FREC seat and the title.
Formula Scout understands he will remain at FREC’s defending champion team R-ace GP, after racing for the team last year and also contesting the first two rounds of the 2022 FRegional Asian Championship – earning two wins – as one of its drivers.
It is David’s third year in FRegional, having raced for MP Motorsport in the 2020 Formula Renault Eurocup in the final season of that series before it merged with FREC. As a single-seater rookie he won the 2019 French Formula 4 title.
Reigning French F4 champion Masson, who like David is 17 years old, has impresssed in FREC post-season testing with several teams and set the fastest lap in the Paul Ricard test with R-ace GP last November. He also drove for FA Racing.
He is expected to announce which team he will graduate to FREC with soon, while his F4 title rival Maceo Capietto is searching for budget to step up to the series.
Masson joins David in the FFSA’s ‘Equipe de France’ group of supported junior single-seater drivers for 2022. Also backed by the FFSA is Formula 2 race-winner Theo Pourchaire and FIA F3 racers Victor Martins and Isack Hadjar.