PREMA Racing secures 2023 FRECA Team Championship
PREMA Racing wrapped up the 2023 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine by winning the Team Championship at Hockenheim, maximizing a tough weekend in a solid overall effort.
Lining up in cold weather conditions, qualifying was tricky and, with track limits and yellow flags coming into play, there were huge challenges. Rafael Camara put up a bold effort in qualifying, securing P2 and P3 on the grid for the races respectively. The Brazilian fought hard for the win but came short to take a double P4. He rounded out the top 5 in the Driver Championship.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli started from P10 in the first race and valiantly recovered up to P6 before being forced to make a similar effort in race 2 when early contact pushed him down the order. The Italian, who was crowned FRECA Champion one week ago at Zandvoort, charged through the pack and eventually delivered a stunning last-lap move to P6, which was enough to secure the title for PREMA Racing.
Lorenzo Fluxá ended his 2023 season with a points finish. Two difficult qualifying sessions forced him to fight back with recovery drives, which he promptly accomplished, storming back from P20 to P12 in Race 1 and from P15 to P9 in Race 2.
#7 - Lorenzo Fluxá
"A bit of a tough weekend. The pace in qualy wasn't the best, but luckily it was quite good in the races. We managed to gain a few positions in both races, so I'm quite happy with that, and it's nice to end the championship in the points."
#8 - Rafael Camara
"It has been an okay weekend, for sure it could have been better with the pace that we had. We were quite strong all weekend, especially in qualifying. Unfortunately, the races didn't go as we wanted even if we were fast, and I was able to attack. We learned from that, and I will continue working on myself and improving for what's ahead next year."
#12 - Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
"It was a difficult weekend. We started really strong in dry and wet. Unfortunately, in qualy 1, I made a mistake with track limits, and got a yellow flag so my two laps, which could have given me pole, were canceled. In qualifying 2, we were struggling with the car, and I also didn't drive perfectly. In race 1, we made a good comeback from P10 to P6, while in race 2, after making a good start and climbing up to P4, a contact pretty much ruined my race. We went back to P11, but the pace was really strong, and I came back again, making a last-lap move to secure the teams' title which was really important."