Vesti beats last-lap suspension failure to take stunning FREC win

Photo: ACI Sport

Frederik Vesti completed the first triple Formula Regional European Championship win in the final Hungaroring race.

The victory didn’t come easy though, as Vesti’s 2.7 second lead was wiped in the final few corners by a right-front suspension failure when the bracket connecting the wishbone to the tub detached.

“I’m still in shock about what happened,” Vesti said to Formula Scout afterwards.

“In the Turn 6/7 chicane, I clipped the kerb as usual. I felt something weird, but I felt something the lap before and I didn’t think it was something.

“Then on the last lap obviously I felt it as the tyre went off [the ground], and the last half-lap I was trying to do the best I could as I didn’t know how much speed I could carry as I was on three wheels.”

“Somehow, I kept it together and won. If there was one more corner I wouldn’t have managed it. It made the win a bit more special. I’m still in shock.”

Olli Caldwell sat behind his team-mate as they crossed the line, having thought better of trying a move around the outside at the final corner. Prema got a podium lockout with Enzo Fittipaldi further back in third.

An aggressive first lap got Igor Fraga up to fourth, and a failed move by US Racing’s David Schumacher meant Fraga’s DR Formula by RP Motorsport team-mate Raul Guzman completed the top five.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Sophia Floersch was sixth, just ahead of Schumacher, while Isac Blomqvist (KIC Motorsport) was chased across the line by Floersch’s new team-mate Alexandre Bardinon.

Marcos Siebert secured the final point while two laps down, having run in third before his car stopped at put entry midway through the race. Once he got going again, he was able to set fastest lap.

Race results (19 laps)