Photo: ACI Sport
ART Grand Prix’s Evan Giltaire held off Prema’s Freddie Slater to take victory in the second Formula Regional Europe race at Misano, and with it the early points lead.
In a race disrupted by three brief safety car periods, Slater shadowed Giltaire throughout the race without ever coming close enough to challenge for the lead.
A delighted Giltaire told Formula Scout he was very happy to have recovered from “a difficult weekend from the beginning”. “We came back really well today, improving the car yesterday evening and finishing with the victory. It’s amazing!” he said.
Behind them, race one winner Matteo De Palo (Trident) took his second podium of the weekend, holding off R-ace GP’s Enzo Deligny.
Giltaire made a strong start from pole, moving to the inside to deter Slater from trying a move into the inside of the first corner. Behind them De Palo was even more aggressive in defending his position from the fast-starting Deligny.
Completing lap five, R-P-M’s Giovanni Maschio lost control on the kerb entering the pits straight, spinning across the track and into the pit wall. The safety car was deployed, although thankfully the car was quickly removed and racing resumed.
Giltaire controlled the restart, allowing Slater no opportunity. Indeed, it was the Englishman who briefly came under pressure from De Palo.
Slater soon pulled clear, with De Palo falling into the clutches of Deligny who got a good run on De Palo down the back straight on lap eight but was unable to execute the pass.
The safety car was soon out again, as Dion Gowda lost control over the inside kerb, clouting Rashid Al Dhaheri rear wheel and delaying Jin Nakamura, who had to take to the gravel to avoid the stricken cars.
As Al Dhaheri returned to the pits to replace his punctured tyre, the field once more bunched up behind Giltaire.
Giltaire was again flawless at the restart, while Sainteloc Racing’s Nikita Bedrin took advantage to nip ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Pedro Clerot, although within a lap Clerot had regained the place.
Giltaire made an early break after Tim Gerhards brought out the safety car for the third time, managing the two-lap sprint to the flag with no drama, despite Slater setting the fastest lap on the final tour as he made one last push.
Race results (18 laps)
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Evan Giltaire | ART Grand Prix | 31m43.070s |
| 2 | Freddie Slater | Prema | +0.319s |
| 3 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | +2.312s |
| 4 | Enzo Deligny | R-ace GP | +2.967s |
| 5 | Pedro Clerot | Van Amersfoort Racing | +3.732s |
| 6 | Nikita Bedrin | Sainteloc Racing | +4.217s |
| 7 | Jack Beeton | Prema | +4.845s |
| 8 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | Trident | +6.201s |
| 9 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | Van Amersfoort Racing | +6.479s |
| 10 | Jin Nakamura | R-ace GP | +6.937s |
| 11 | Taito Kato | ART Grand Prix | +7.299s |
| 12 | Enzo Peugeot | R-P-M | +7.418s |
| 13 | Ruiqi Liu | Trident | +9.447s |
| 14 | Kacper Sztuka | G4 Racing | +9.621s |
| 15 | Enzo Yeh | R-P-M | +9.928s |
| 16 | Akshay Bohra | R-ace GP | +9.981s |
| 17 | Rashid Al Dhaheri | Prema | +10.937s |
| 18 | Kanato Le | ART Grand Prix | +11.502s |
| 19 | Edouard Borgna | G4 Racing | +12.573s |
| 20 | Saqer Al Mousherji | Akcel GP | +13.160s |
| 21 | Arthur Aegerter | G4 Racing | +15.610s |
| Ret | Valerio Rinicella | CL Motorsport | |
| Ret | Tim Gerhards | Sainteloc Racing | |
| Ret | Dion Gowda | Van Amersfoort Racing | |
| Ret | Giovanni Maschio | R-P-M | |
| Ret | Aditya Kulkarni | Akcel GP | |
| Fastest lap: Slater, 1m29.625s
Championship standings |
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