Ever since two of its graduates, Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Joshua Dürksen, jumped to Formula 2, the feeder series closest to F1, the Formula Regional European Championship, most commonly known as FRECA, has had a renewed spotlight shone on it. As the series pauses for its summer break, Feeder Series looks back at how the first half of the 2024 season unfolded.

By Francesca Brusa

From the first day of the 2024 season at Hockenheim – the first time since 2019 the season opener has not been in Italy – Rafael Câmara looked to be FR Europe’s dominant force. The Brazilian driver bagged pole position in the first qualifying session, a race one win and a second-place finish in race two on Sunday.

Teammate James Wharton of Australia had a strong two days on track as well. In the first race on Saturday, he took the chequered flag right after Câmara before being demoted to third for exceeding track limits while overtaking longtime rival Tuukka Taponen. Wharton redeemed himself the next day by being the fastest in qualifying, but he was forced to pit and retire after a collision with Van Amersfoort’s Pedro Clerot on the opening lap. In his stead, ART Grand Prix rookie Evan Giltaire impressed by stealing the lead at the first corner and taking victory.

The second round in Spa-Francorchamps started with a surprise. With a 2:22.533 lap time, Roman Bilinski took pole position in a wet qualifying one despite having never taken pole in the series before. But it was once again Câmara who won the first race of the weekend, extending his championship lead, with Polish-British driver Bilinski only coming second as the chequered flag waved.

The Brazilian driver did not stop there. He also achieved pole position in the second qualifying session and went on to win the second race, becoming a three-time winner in just four races.

The third round at Zandvoort put everyone’s expectations to the test. Race one was wet, causing drama for polesitter Wharton, who spun from the lead and lost position with 10 minutes to go. R-ace GP’s Taponen was ultimately victorious, beating fellow Ferrari junior Câmara, but the championship leader bounced back on Sunday by taking first in both the second qualifying session and the race later that afternoon.

Rounding out the podium in race two were Brando Badoer and Alessandro Giusti, whose Zandvoort weekends marked the beginning of their strongest form yet. While Badoer had never finished outside the top 10 before the Dutch weekend, his first podium only came in the sixth race of the season. Giusti, on the other hand, took third place for two days in a row.

If the Netherlands showed us that nothing could be taken for granted, Hungary gave us the confirmation. Taponen dominated the weekend, going fastest in both qualifying sessions and winning both races. Meanwhile, Câmara lost his spark in Budapest, beginning with a spin in damp conditions in qualifying. The Brazilian driver was promoted to third from just outside the podium in race one after R-ace’s Zachary David received two post-race penalties, but he then lost second place on Sunday to a penalty for making contact with teammate Ugo Ugochukwu at the safety car restart with three laps to go.

The beneficiary of both David’s and Câmara’s penalties was Badoer, who carried forward his streak of second-place finishes in the races while improving his performances in qualifying as well to start both races from third. Having shown an upturn in pace in the second qualifying session to start fourth, Ugochukwu inherited the final spot on the podium on Sunday.

The fifth round of the campaign took place in Mugello, Italy, where Taponen took his third pole position in a row in qualifying one and went on to win the first race of the weekend. Badoer followed him closely, but the Italian did not manage to get a win on home soil – not even in race two, which he started from the first spot on the grid. He succeeded, however, in extending his run of second-place finishes to five.

While Wharton was victorious for the first time in the series, championship drama unfolded in that race when Câmara pushed Taponen wide at the first corner with three laps to go. The resulting penalty cost Câmara third position and elevated countryman Clerot to third in his place. VAR teammate Ivan Domingues of Portugal also found his way back on the podium in the Saturday race, achieving his third rookie win after he took both at the Hockenheimring.

With the halfway point of the season crossed, FR Europe stopped by Paul Ricard before the summer break. Câmara returned in full swing to take pole position on Saturday and win the first race of the weekend. Rounding out the podium were Michael Belov, a FR Europe veteran substituting for Bilinski, and Badoer, on his sixth consecutive podium with third place.

But both of them had a much tougher Sunday after coming together on the fourth lap of a damp second race and retiring from the contest. Taponen, who survived that incident while battling with Badoer, then retired at the end of the lap after contact with Enzo Peugeot. After overtaking polesitter Camâra at the second safety car restart, home hero Giusti of ART Grand Prix took his first victory of the season. With him on the podium were Ugochukwu and Noah Strømsted, who also took the win among the rookies.

As of round six, Câmara sits comfortably in the lead of the championship with 210 points, with Taponen – who raced in the Spa F3 round a fortnight ago – 50 points behind his fellow Ferrari junior. Thanks to his outstanding consistency in June and July, Badoer now occupies third place in the championship as the series prepares to head to Imola in four weeks’ time.

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency