PREMA Racing added another podium finish to the team's tally as the FIA Formula Regional European Championship headed to Spa-Francorchamps for Round 3 of the 2026 season.
The Belgian venue is renowned for its unpredictable conditions, and the FIA FREC weekend was no exception. Hot and humid weather greeted the drivers early on, before rain arrived on Saturday, forcing the cancellation of the Reverse Grid Race and the postponement of Race 1.
Kean Nakamura-Berta made the most of the circumstances with a hard-fought podium in the opening race, having qualified P2 in his group to set the stage.
Race 1 got underway on Saturday morning amid heavy rainfall, with the start given behind the safety car. Even that proved insufficient, as conditions made it impossible to complete the minimum two racing laps mandated by the FIA.
The race was eventually held in the afternoon with improving conditions, and Nakamura-Berta went on the attack from the outset in pursuit of the win. Safety car periods denied him the opportunities he needed, but he held on for a solid P3.
Following a difficult qualifying session, Salim Hanna and Tomass Stolcermanis were unable to secure points, although Hanna delivered a fine recovery drive from P20 to P11.
Conditions remained unpredictable on Sunday, with yellow flags shaking up the order in Qualifying 2 and leaving the PREMA Racing drivers starting outside the top ten. Nakamura-Berta quickly made his way into the points-paying positions to cap off the weekend with P5 in a frantic and highly spectacular race. He would have fought for the podium again without a lengthy safety-car situation in the end.
#51 - KEAN NAKAMURA-BERTA
"A bittersweet weekend. We showcased a lot of speed throughout testing and the car looked very strong. On Friday afternoon we just got pipped for pole position, finishing P2 in our group to start in P3. Saturday was a really wet day and we brought it home in P3. The car was quick, but we were caught behind some safety cars that prevented us from pushing forward. In Qualifying 2 we caught a yellow flag while battling for pole, which forced us to back out of our best lap. We ended up starting P11, but the team did an excellent job with strategy and we managed to come through to P5 in the race. There was definitely more in the tank, if not for a long and late safety car. Big thanks to the team — they did another amazing job. This is probably the best weekend we've executed together, and it puts us in a really good direction ahead of Monza."
#60 - TOMASS STOLCERMANIS
"A very difficult weekend. We've been lacking a bit of pace since free practice, which we used to learn and improve. Qualifying 1 was quite complicated. We unexpectedly went out first and had to do two very slow laps waiting for someone to pass me, which affected the tyre warm-up. By the time I started pushing, the tyres were too cold and simply didn't have enough grip. Race 1 on Saturday afternoon was wet but raceable. We started quite far back, had two strong laps at the beginning overtaking multiple cars, but unfortunately the grip faded and there was little I could do about it. The safety car helped, though it only came out with one racing lap remaining. Qualifying 2 was almost fully dry but complicated again. Warm-up, track position and yellow flags all worked against us. The second race was a bit frustrating. I got a decent start and tried to go around the outside, but got pushed off in the process. We are going to learn a lot from this hard weekend and keep fighting."
#88 - SALIM HANNA
"We were looking good since practice, only missing a bit in sector 2 while the other sectors were looking really strong. In Qualifying 1 I had a bit of understeer in sector 2, and my driving wasn't perfect through T9 and T10 either. Race 1 doesn't have much to say about — it was wet with a lot of safety cars and we couldn't really race. In Qualifying 2 we were unlucky with a camber issue that made me struggle in sector 2, and we also picked up a grid drop. The car felt a lot better for Race 2 though, we made a real step forward. I managed to overtake a few people and it was a fun race until the end, I was really unlucky in the safety car, as I was involved in a contact. It was a bit of a disaster weekend, really unlucky. We'll put this one behind us and move forward. I have a very good feeling about the tracks coming up."