Photo: ACI Sport
Frederik Vesti “didn’t expect” he’d take victory in an “intense” second?Formula Regional European Championship race at the Red Bull Ring after being punted into the gravel on lap one.
The championship leader was rear-ended by Igor Fraga into Turn 4, which resulted in him going into the gravel and dropping to the bottom half of the pack while Fraga raced away up front before being penalised.
Describing the moment he was hit, on the opening lap, Vesti told Formula Scout: “I was braking a bit early as it was drizzling so I didn?t know exactly what the grip would be, and then the guy behind [Igor Fraga] braked a lot later and hit me.
“I was really surprised cause I knew I would brake early, but I didn?t really think about [that] someone would hit me like this. It just happened so quick, so you just react to it as best as you can.”
Immediately after the incident, Vesti believed his Prema-ran car was damaged and was briefly hindered as he re-joined the track due to the gravel on his tyres. He was also convinced that the diffuser had been broken by the impact with Fraga.
Vesti’s fight back to the front was helped by the safety car which “came at the right time so I could catch up”, and he re-took the lead with six laps remaining.
Despite the contact, Vesti remained confident of a strong result but had believed that the win would be out of the question.
“I didn’t expect that win, when I came out of the gravel. But when I got back on track and did a few laps I knew the speed was there to fight back, but the win I didn?t expect so I?m very happy.”