More than a month after its last event at Le Castellet, FR Europe picked up from where it left off at Imola. While the title fight seems to have a clear favourite now, the return of rain led to a decisive collision and a repeat win from a wet-weather master. 

By Francesca Brusa

Câmara leaps ahead in the standings

Though five drivers are still mathematically eligible for the crown leaving Imola, the first weekend back from the summer holidays saw one racer dominate. After finishing the two collective testing sessions respectively in third and second place, Prema Racing’s Rafael Câmara ran fastest in qualifying one, setting a time of 1:39.414. 

The Brazilian driver was also first to the chequered flag later that afternoon, taking victory over fellow Ferrari junior Tuukka Taponen despite being handed a five-second penalty for jumping the start.

Câmara’s search for the perfect weekend did not end on Saturday. The racer in red set a series record by taking his 10th pole position in qualifying two, usurping the nine taken by Paul Aron in 2021 and 2022. But an incident with Taponen on the first lap of race two sent the Brazilian driver to the back of the field, preventing him from sealing what would’ve been a statement performance.

Still, Câmara finished the second race ninth, earning himself two championship points to add to the 25 he took the previous day. With a total of 239 points – 61 more than closest rival Taponen, who retired after the collision – the Prema Racing driver remains undisturbed atop the standings and solidifies his claim as the favourite for the title. 

Another wet race two win for Giusti

Some drivers just seem to perform better in certain conditions, and Alessandro Giusti in wet weather is hard to beat.

After winning at Paul Ricard in late July, Giusti took his second win of the season in the second race of the Imola weekend, yet again in pouring rain.

The Frenchman started showcasing his strength in the first session of collective testing by putting the fastest lap on the board. But despite ending collective test two a tenth from the top and setting the fastest lap in his qualifying group, the ART Grand Prix driver failed to put all the pieces together in race one and came home only fifth.

Giusti started fourth in race two, and aided by the incident involving Câmara and Taponen at the start, he led the field through three safety cars until he reached the finish line first. That gave him victory for the second weekend in a row while also setting the fastest lap of the race. 

The Williams-backed driver now sits fourth in the championship, only one point behind Van Amersfoort Racing’s Brando Badoer and 99 behind Câmara. He must lose no more points to the Brazilian in the next round to remain in mathematical title contention. 

Bilinski returns and rises

The first racing weekend back from the summer break also marked a return for one of the series’ veterans. FR Oceania champion Roman Bilinski made his FR Europe comeback in Imola after being absent since the second round at Spa, where he took a series-best second place in the first race.

In early June, before the third round at Zandvoort, the British-Polish driver was in a road car accident that left him with two broken vertebrae. Bilinski underwent an operation and had recovery and rehabilitation in the last three months.

Despite having missed out on much of the season, Trident’s veteran driver left Imola with eight more points in the bag, having finished ninth in race one and seventh in race two. It is only the second time in his FR Europe career that Bilinski has scored in both races in a weekend, and it lifted his points tally to 28, already higher than his year-end totals in both 2022 and 2023.

Badoer and Wharton exchange fortunes

The 2024 Imola round of FR Europe saw the end of an impressive streak for one series newcomer and a season-best performance for a rival, a week after each of them paid multi-day visits to the F2 and F3 support paddock in Monza.

For the first time since the second event of the campaign, Brando Badoer didn’t step on the podium. In fact, even with pace he showed from topping the second session of collective testing, the Italian barely scored any points.

Despite qualifying third for race one, a four-place grid drop from an incident at Le Castellet forced the Van Amersfoort Racing driver down to fourth row for the start, and he concluded the race in sixth. A poor start in race two then saw the Italian driver tumble down the order from third on the grid, and he eventually took the chequered flag 11th.

On the other hand, with two third-place finishes, James Wharton experienced his most consistent weekend to date in the series, making up positions in both races after qualifying fifth and seventh for the two races. The Australian driver now sits fifth in the championship, the final driver still in mathematical title contention, with a 39-point lead over lead rookie and recent F3 debutant Noah Strømsted, who finished race two at Imola second.

The Formula Regional European Championship will be back at Spielberg this weekend from the 12th to the 15th of September alongside Euroformula Open and Euro 4. 

Header photo credit: Dutch Photo Agency