Nael beats Stromsted to first win in eventful race for FREC contenders

Photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Theophile Nael used a fast start to beat Noah Stromsted to a maiden Formula Regional European Championship win for himself and Sainteloc Racing.

After the morning’s wet qualifying session, Nael lined up third on a dry grid and a great launch propelled him into the lead while polesitter Stromsted covered off his fellow front-row starter Brando Badoer.

Championship leader Rafael Camara started fourth and lost a place to Zachary David on the first lap. On lap two, he locked his brakes into Turn 2 up behind David and Badoer and would lose his front wing, forcing him to pit.

Camara’s error also appeared to trigger contact for one of his nearest title rivals behind as Alessandro Giusti was spun out of sixth place by Valerio Rinciella and ultimately forced to retire. Another of the championship contenders encountered trouble further around the second lap when Tuukka Taponen was eliminated in an incident that also involved Rinicella and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi.

All of this led to a safety car, and at the restart Nael was able to defend his lead from Stromsted.

Having then been able to build a gap, Nael had Stromsted right on his tail again with six minutes left on the clock, but the race was interrupted soon afterwards by another safety car after Enzo Deligny stopped in the Turn 1 run-off area.

The race restarted with time for just two more laps, and on the final lap Stromsted launched a move up the inside of Nael in Turn 2. He ran deep however, and did well to keep Badoer behind him while Nael clinched an unlikely victory – having not previously finished higher than seventh this season after stepping up with Sainteloc as Spanish Formula 4 champion.

Nael’s team-mate Matteo De Palo benefitted from the second-lap skirmishes, climbing to fifth after starting 13th, and he took fourth from David with 10 minutes to go. He was followed through by Pedro Clerot, who had previously gone wheel-to-wheel with Evan Giltaire, who found himself running wide into the gravel exiting Turn 4.

James Wharton started 16th and came through to finish fifth after getting past Clerot before the end. Camara also got back into the points in eighth to add to his series lead.

Race result (18 laps)