Munoz wins thrilling last lap shoot-out in delayed FREC race one at Spa

Photo: ACI Sport

ART Grand Prix’s Alexandre Munoz held off Rashid Al Dhaheri in an exciting finish after a late safety car restart to take his maiden Formula Regional Europe win.

The result is the team’s first win in over a year since Evan Giltaire took victory at the opening weekend of the 2025 season at Misano. It is also the first win by a rookie-classified driver for over two years, since Giltaire’s win, also for ART, at Hockenheim in May 2024.

Prema’s Kean Nakamura-Berta finished third, just 0.437s behind the winner, having briefly challenged the leading dup on the final lap.

MP Motorsport’s Sebastian Wheldon had run in fourth for the duration but lost out to Yuki Sano on the final lap, as the R-ace GP driver drafted past the championship leader on the Kemmel straight.

Heavy rain in the morning had caused the suspension of the initial race, with the race being postponed to later in the day, replacing the scheduled reversed-grid second race. The track was still wet as the cars lined up for the second time of asking, with the stewards mandating wet tyres and opting not to activate the category’s push-to-pass race mode.

With the clock having already run down to zero as the field made its way around the 7km long Ardennes circuit, Munoz was slow through the final chicane allowing Al Dhaheri to get a run through Raidillon and onto the Kemmel straight.

The Mercedes-AMG junior briefly got his nose in front at the timing beam for the first sector, but Munoz managed to hold the inside line through Les Combes, doing well to keep the car on the still wet track. Into the Bruxelles hairpin, Al Dhaheri was on his gearbox, with third-placed Nakamura-Berta looking for a way past both.

Line astern down to Pouhon, Munoz held the position, with Al Dhaheri challenging again through the right-left flick at Fagnes. Through Blanchimont, the Emirati was still looking to make a move but, despite running wide into the final chicane, Munoz, the reigning French Formula 4 champion, held on to take a well-deserved win.

The early stages of the race had been rather less dramatic, as two safety car periods prevented the race from getting into any sort of flow.

After an exploratory lap behind the safety car, Munoz had made the best start, with positions unchanged at the front behind him. On lap four, Alexander Abkhazava and Dion Gowda made contact at the left-handed Turn 9 at the top of the circuit, pitching the Van Amersfoort Racing car into the barriers, and bringing the safety car out again.

At the restart, it was Nakamura-Berta who was looking racy, having a look at Al Dhaheri into Les Combes, trying a move round the outside but ultimately having to drop back into third.

With Aston Martin junior in the gravel at Bruxelles, racing was almost immediately neutralized once more, with CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot fortunate to escape a run through the gravel at Stavelot just before the yellow flags flew around the circuit, dropping the Dutchman to 14th position.

Race results (10 laps)