2024 FRECA Season: Driver Insights and Sneak Peeks
- Diana Badea
- May 10, 2024
- 5 min read
As the FRECA season is about to start this weekend at Hockenheim, let’s delve into the heart of the action, exploring the narratives, rivalries, and developments that promise to define this thrilling championship.
FRECA aka Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine first took place in 2021, because of a collaboration between Alpine Racing and ACI Sport. The series helps the drivers to make an easier transition between Formula 4 and Formula 3. A strong championship in the feeder series, FRECA has substantial impact on a driver’s career. We’ve seen in the past few years a lot of former FRECA drivers competing in the most prestigious motorsport championships from all around the globe: Isack Hadjar, Zane Maloney, Dino Beganovic and the reigning FRECA Champ, Kimi Antonelli.
The weekend format and the calendar
The season will consist of 10 rounds across 8 European countries (commencing in Germany and ending in Italy) in which 33 drivers and 11 teams will participate.
Throughout the racing weekend, the drivers have to compete in two free sessions and two qualifying sessions that will ultimately set the grid for each race. The qualifying sessions are 20 minutes long and are followed by 30 minutes races that provide exhilarating moments for the fans. The points distribution system is similar to the one used in Formula 1, however there are no points awarded for the fastest lap.
There were three pre-season tests done at Hockenheim, Paul Ricard and Barcelona in order to help the drivers to familiarize themselves with the car. Throughout these preseason tests, several drivers and teams have stood out from the rest. Notably, Prema, ART GP, and R-ace seem to be involved in a close battle for the teams' title. Meanwhile, the battle for the drivers’ title is wide open and ready to be disputed on the track.
Since FRECA is eager about supporting women in feeder series, they modified the front suspensions, aiming to reduce the physical effort that is being put in steering the car.
The drivers’ championship
Most of the rookies come from diverse F4 Championships, like: Italian F4 and French F4. With 15 rookies and 18 returnees, the grid is set to be highly competitive. All of the drivers are fighting for the same reason, a place in the FIA Formula 3 Championship in 2025 and the opportunity to be affiliated to an F1 team.
Here is how the grid is going to look like this year: Prema's lineup will be completed by Euro 4 Champ Ugo Ugochukwu, Australian James Wharton and FDA prodigee Rafael Câmara. French outfit, Saintéloc Racing will have the newest Spanish F4 Champ, Théophile Naël, Enzo Peugeot and Italian Matteo De Palo as their drivers. The newest Formula Regional Oceania Champion, Roman Bilinski is returning on the grid for the third time, but with high hopes after dominating the tracks in Oceania. He will compete with Trident, alongside Ruiqi Liu and Alpine Junior, Nicola Lacorte. FDA driver, Tuukka Taponen has switched teams for this year, going from Prema to R-ace; his teamates will be Zachary David and RB Junior driver, Enzo Deligny. ART GP will run 4 cars in FRECA this season with: Yaroslav Veselaho, F1Academmy runner-up, Léna Bühler and French F4 Champs: Evan Giltaire and Alessandro Giusti. MP Motorsport will participate with Nikhil Bohra, Valerio Rinicella and Nikita Bedrin (who is set to compete in both FRECA and F3 this year). RPM will be represented by Edgar Pierre, Giovanni Maschio and Noah Strømsted, who was the fastest driver in the pre-season test at Hockenheim. McLaren affiliated driver, Brando Baoder will drive alongside Ivan Domingues and brazilian Pedro Clerot for VAR. G4 Racing will put all of their hopes on: Jesse Carrasquedo Jr, Romain Andriolo and Kanayo Le, while KIC Motorsport will have Alex Sawer, Costa Toparis and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi. There is also a new team on the grid, Iron Dames that will take part in FRECA with only two cars, whose drivers will be Marta García and Doriane Pin.
We had the opportunity to talk to some of the protagonists of the series, so here is what they told us:
Brando Badoer
"I can't wait to hit the track in a few days at Hockenheim. It will be my debut in FRECA, and I feel excited and confident. The team and I have worked very hard during the winter to prepare ourselves the best we can, and we have seen positive results from the recent preseason tests, which were essential to fine-tune both myself and the car. Making predictions is very difficult, but our goal is to win, and it will certainly be crucial to also strive for consistency."
Enzo Deligny:
“A good result would be a top 5 in the championship and rookie champion, but my main focus is to learn as much as possible in this new category and improve throughout the season”
Nicola Lacorte:
"Obviously, I'm excited about starting the championship since it's a very competitive and constructive category. I believe that together with my team, Trident, I'll be able to achieve the goals set for the 2024 season, and I hope to continue with them next year as well."
The teams’ championship
Iron Dames
When it comes to the teams championship, most of the grid remains the same as last year, with Iron Dames taking Arden Motorsport and Monolite Racing’s place on the grid (both teams wanted to concentrate on their GB3 campaigns). Iron Dames is a project initiated by Iron Lynx (Italian endurance team) in 2019. Up until now they are known for promoting women in motorsport in the highest endurance championships. Their lineup will consist of two drivers in: Marta García and Doriane Pin.
This season will see three female drivers on the grid: Doriane Pin, Marta García and Léna Bühler ( both Marta and Léna have competed in F1Academy last season). Léna has experience in this championship from the previous years, while Marta and Doriane have to accommodate to the F3 chassis.
Marta García received a full-funded seat in FRECA after winning the F1 Academy title last year. She clinched seven race victories on her way to securing the 2023 F1 Academy championship title in Austin and is definitely one of the drivers to look out for.
Having worked with Iron Dames before, Doriane is looking to convert her experience from endurance into a positive result in the series. The transition from endurance to single-seaters is definitely not an easy one, but Pin has proved since the first F1Academy round that she is able to fight at the top, despite not being familiarized with the car.
The races will be broadcasted live on Freca’s YouTube channel, continuing to share the magic of the championship for free to the fans.
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