Vesti leads the way
in opening raceBack to winning
ways: DragonSpeed
ended its barren runFORMULA^ REGIO
NAL18 APRIL 2019 AUTOSPORT.COM 47RACE CENTRE WORLD OF SPORT
Vesti leads Prema premiere
EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES
PAUL RICARD (FRA)
LMP2 Henrik Hedman/Ben Hanley/
James Allen
DragonSpeed (ORECA 07-Gibson)
LMP3 Matthieu Lahaye/Jean-Baptiste
Lahaye/Francois Heriau
Ultimate (Norma-Nissan M30)
GTE Alessandro Pier Guidi/Nicklas
Nielsen/Fabien Lavergne
Luzich Racing (Ferrari 488 GTE)FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN
CHAMPIONSHIP
PAUL RICARD (FRA)
Race 1 Frederik Vesti
Prema Powerteam
Race 2 Enzo Fittipaldi
Prema Powerteam
Race 3 Frederik Vesti
Prema PowerteamWEEKEND WINNERScompleted an ORECA podium lockout.
A battle against tyre wear compounded
the woes of the polesitting G-Drive
Racing crew of Roman Rusinov/Job van
Uitert/Norman Nato. After stalling the
car on the parade lap, they couldn’t
recover beyond fourth place.
Ultimate was the eventual winner in
the LMP3 bout, despite Eurointernational’s
early control of proceedings. In the closing
stages of the race Matthieu Lahaye demotedlong-time class leader Jens Petersen to
give the team its first ELMS class victory.
The GTE field told a similar story
to that of the overall winners. Luzich
Racing controlled the field on its first
time out, as the Ferrari 488 GTE of
Alessandro Pier Guidi/Nicklas Nielsen/
Fabien Lavergne finished over a lap clear
of the similar Kessel Racing car, with its
all-female crew of Rahel Frey/Manuela
Gostner/Michelle Gatting.EUROPEAN LE MANS SERIES
PAUL RICARD (FRA)
14 APRIL
ROUND 1/6
DragonSpeed was back on the top step
of the European Le Mans Series podium
at Paul Ricard, thanks to the trio of Ben
Hanley, Henrik Hedman and James
Allen, which delivered the squad
its first spoils since Spa 2016.
Allen’s opening stint defined the
ORECA 07-Gibson crew’s race, as he
climbed from fifth on the grid to take
the lead. When the order finally settled
after the final round of pitstops, the
car maintained a near-17-second
advantage to the flag.
The four-hour race ran without
incident – not so much as a safety car
or full-course yellow – meaning the
Idec Sport Racing crew of Nicolas Jamin/
Pierre Ragues/Richard Bradley weren’t
offered a late joker to close the gap.
The Duqueine Engineering car of Paul
Lafargue/Paul-Loup Chatin/Memo Rojas
FORMULA REGIONAL EUROPEAN
CHAMPIONSHIP
PAUL RICARD (FRA)
13-14 APRIL
ROUND 1/8Frederik Vesti took two wins to claim an
early series lead in the inaugural Formula
Regional European Championship.
Only 10 cars assembled for the first
round of the FIA-blessed European
take on the Regional F3 concept, and it
was Prema Powerteam trio Vesti, Enzo
Fittipaldi and Olli Caldwell who shared
the poles after rain-affected qualifying.
Fittipaldi had pole for the opener, but
he and Caldwell ran wide at the MistralPOWERED BYFor full results visit motorsportstats.comchicane on the opening lap as they fought
for first position, allowing Vesti into a
lead he never looked like losing. Igor
Fraga was the revelation of Ricard – the
Brazilian, an Esports champion and ace
in US and Mexican single-seaters – ran
second for DR Formula before he was
caught napping at the final turn of the
penultimate lap by the incisive Fittipaldi.
While Caldwell led race two all the way,
Fittipaldi repeated his earlier move on
Fraga to take second on the fourth lap,
and Vesti wasted little time following
him through. The Prema triplets then ran
in tight formation to the finish without
swapping places but, when Caldwell was
excluded post-race for a technical issue,
Fittipaldi inherited the win.
Vesti grabbed the lead from the
start of Sunday morning’s finale, and
the Dane was untroubled. Fittipaldi had
to battle once again, this time passing
Dave Schumacher (US Racing) for second
place. Caldwell emerged from a mighty
dust-up with DR pair Fraga and Raul
Guzman for fourth, before the Latin-
Americans tangled at the Mistral chicane.DragonSpeed
breathes fire
once more
JEP