Glory for Haverkort and David
FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN RED BULL RING (AUT) 10-11 SEPTEMBER ROUND 8/10
Kas Haverkort and Hadrien David shared the wins in Austria as Dino Beganovic extended his points advantage with two rounds to go in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.
Haverkort’s win with Van Amersfoort Racing on Saturday came in a bizarre race on a slippery track after starting 14th. It began behind the safety car with the field on wet-weather tyres. Paul Aron led from pole, but the Prema-run Mercedes F1 protege’s bid to claw back ground in the title race was ruined by two errors – one strategic, one driving.
R-ace GP team-mates Gabriel Bortoleto and David had already pitted for slicks when Aron took the same gamble, before Prema stablemate Sebastian Montoya followed suit. The crossover soon came, but by then the slick runners were too far behind to be in contention unless there was a safety car. There was one, but it was too late and it was caused by Aron, who turned in on the later-stopping Montoya as they raced side by side up to Turn 3.
After Aron’s stop, Eduardo Barrichello (Arden) inherited the lead, before FRECA returnee Pierre-louis Chovet (RPM) took over. But Haverkort was on a mission, and surged through in the late stages. So too did VAR team-mate Josh Dufek, who pipped Chovet at the line. Prema’s Ferrari junior Beganovic was fourth from Barrichello.
There was precious little action in the dry race on Sunday – no surprise given there were three safety cars, the last of which lasted until the finish. David led all the way from Beganovic and the onform Dufek, while Gabriele Mini (ART) jumped ahead of Bortoleto after the first restart to complete the leading quartet.