Giusti quickest in pre-event test for FREC’s Hockenheim season opener

Photo: FRECA

Williams junior Alessandro Giusti was quickest in pre-event testing for the Formula Regional European Championship season opener under cloudless skies at Hockenheim.

The ART Grand Prix driver topped the faster afternoon session by 0.133 seconds over R-ace GP’s Enzo Deligny.

Prema’s Rafael Camara had to settle for third, having jumped to the front midway through the sesion, ahead of Sainteloc Racing’s Theophile Nael.

Ferrari junior Tuukka Taponen was fastest in the morning session but was unable to improve in the follow-up, leaving him fifth in the day’s combined classification. He was the only driver to lap sub-1m36s in the morning, posting a 1m35.932s in the final minutes as three red flag periods badly disrupted running.

All three stoppages were caused by offs at turn 12, the right-hander leading into the stadium section. G4 Racing’s Jesse Carrasquedo was the first to run into the gravel, then four minutes after the session restarted Prema’s James Wharton did the same.

Speaking to Formula Scout after the session, Wharton blamed water on the track from the preceding GT Open practice session for the slippery conditions.

His off caused a five-minute stoppage, then there were six minutes of running before Trident’s Niko Lacorte spun backwards at speed into the gravel. At that point, MP Motorsport’s Nikhil Bohra was top of the times.

Released again with nine minutes still on the clock, the drivers were finally able to get into a rhythm. Sainteloc Racing’s Enzo Peugeot was the first to lap sub-1m37s but within seconds his time was beaten by MP’s Nikita Bedrin and Red Bull junior Deligny.

After Giusti and Bohra briefly returned to the front, Taponen asserted himself, ending the session 0.171s ahead of team-mate Zachary David, Bedrin and Deligny.

The afternoon session ran without interruption save for a 30-second virtual safety car period in the opening minutes to remove debris at turns one and two.

Taponen again headed the times from David halfway through the session as the field returned to the pits. One of the few to remain circulating was Prema’s Rafael Camara, who utilised the empty track to set successive fastest laps.

With just over 10 minutes remaining, Deligny and then Giusti bettered Camara’s pace. As most drivers finishing their running in the pits before the end of the session, there were no late improvements.

Test results