Formula Renault Eurocup racer Nicola Marinangeli will join the Formula Regional European Championship for this weekend’s races at Imola, while Dennis Hauger makes a second appearance of the year.
Marinangeli made his car racing debut in an Italian F4 cameo in 2018, before tackling a full season last year and finishing a pointless 29th in the standings.
His form improved when he entered F4 United Arab Emirates at the start of this year, taking a first single-seater win. He then moved on to the Eurocup, which like FREC is a regional Formula 3 championship.
Marinangeli missed two rounds as a result of a broken leg from a road accident, and came 21st in the points with Bhaitech.
Earlier this week he lined up with KIC Motorsport for FREC free practice at Imola, and the Finnish team confirmed to Formula Scout his presence in its line-up during the second day of free practice on Friday.
Prema’s Arthur Leclerc topped the rain-hit morning session on Friday, over a second faster than Van Amersfoort Racing’s Hauger in second place.
Red Bull junior Hauger, who is a late addition to this weekend’s entry list after joining VAR last time out at Barcelona, caused a red flag when he stopped at Turn 2 in the final moments of the morning session, but then went to the top of the times in the final moments of the afternoon session.
A late full course yellow in that one, caused by DR Formula by RP Motorsport’s Emidio Pesce getting stuck in the gravel at Turn 18, gave drivers little time to improve at the end of the day and Pesce’s debuting team-mate Ian Rodriguez opted to pit rather than stay out until the chequered flag. This went to his disadvantage as he was bumped from top spot by Hauger.
Prema’s Oliver Rasmussen and KIC duo Konsta Lappalainen and Patrik Pasma jumped up to third, fourth and fith respectively by mirroring Hauger’s strategy, with Pasma recovering from an off in the morning that caused a red flag and limited his running.
FREC leader Gianluca Petecof was late to set a lap in the morning and was then three seconds off the pace in the afternoon. He fared better than main title rival Leclerc though, as the Monegasque didn’t even record a lap.
Free practice results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dennis Hauger | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m46.222s | 32 | |
| 2 | Ian Rodriguez | DR Formula by RP Motorsport | 1m46.653s | +0.431s | 23 |
| 3 | Oliver Rasmussen | Prema | 1m46.661s | +0.439s | 29 |
| 4 | Konsta Lappalainen | KIC Motorsport | 1m46.908s | +0.686s | 34 |
| 5 | Patrik Pasma | KIC Motorsport | 1m47.165s | +0.943s | 20 |
| 6 | Pierre-Louis Chovet | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m47.563s | +1.341s | 29 |
| 7 | Gillian Henrion | Gillian Track Events | 1m48.370s | +2.148s | 28 |
| 8 | Gianluca Petecof | Prema | 1m49.345s | +3.123s | 24 |
| 9 | Jamie Chadwick | Prema | 1m49.841s | +3.619s | 28 |
| 10 | Nicola Marinangeli | KIC Motorsport | 1m55.977s | +9.755s | 25 |
| 11 | Arthur Leclerc | Prema | 1m57.521s | +11.299s | 12 |
| 12 | Emidio Pesce | DR Formula by RP Motorsport | 1m57.728s | +11.506s | 17 |