Antonelli, PREMA cap Le Castellet weekend with Race 2 win
Going from pole to victory in Race 2 at Circuit Paul Ricard, Andrea Kimi Antonelli secured his third win of the year, and stormed to the lead of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine as the series heads into its summer break.
After rounding out the top-5 in Race 1 from P5 on the grid, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team Junior Driver was flawless on Sunday, posting pole in the qualifying 2 session and sailing to take the checkered flag with a comfortable margin.
Brazilian Rafael Camara took home a points finish in race 1 with P8 from the fifth row on the grid. On Race 2, he was starting from the fourth row but remained stationary on the grid. After the late takeoff, he put together a stellar recovery, going from P31 to the brink of the points zone in P12.
Spaniard Lorenzo Fluxá had a tough weekend at the challenging French venue. In Race 1, he fought back from P17 to P11 but was put out of contention by contact in Race 2.
The Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine will be back into action in September at Red Bull Ring.
#7 LORENZO FLUXA
"It just hasn't been our weekend. We had potential but couldn't put it together in qualifying and starting at the back it was always going to be difficult to recover. Then of course getting hit in race 2 didn't help. We'll now reset to be back stronger for the next round after the break."
#8 RAFAEL CAMARA
"Quite a tough weekend, already up and down from the start. I think we struggled a bit with the setup and putting everything together in general. On my side, it wasn't 100% as well, but I think we had the potential to be in front and fight within top-5 in both races. Now we have the break, we will have time to think and keep working. If we stay on the same path, for sure we are going to be fighting for the wins in the next rounds. Even if it didn't go our way, we are still gaining something, and we will be strong in the last four rounds."
#12 ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI
"It feels great. We started a bit off this weekend and struggled a bit with the car balance in the beginning, but as we did in Mugello, we kept our heads down, worked hard, and in Race 2 the team gave me a great car, which I'm really grateful for. I want to thank my engineer and mechanics for all the hard work. It's great to be on top, and at the top of the championship as well. Now we have the summer break, we will get a bit of rest, but at the same time, we will keep focused because we have an important phase of the championship coming. I also want to thank all my supporters, sponsors, and family!"