Aron, PREMA Racing capture double pole, double win

Paul Aron and PREMA Racing showcased their best form at Zandvoort, home to round 5 of the 2022 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine. The 18-year-old Estonian put together a perfect run, claiming two pole positions in as many qualifying sessions and dominating both races from lights to flag.

Aron didn’t make the slightest mistake and moved up to second place in the driver championship behind teammate Dino Beganovic. The Ferrari Driver Academy-backed Swede had a consistent weekend as he maximised qualifying on a tough track for overtaking but where mistakes can make a heavy difference. In race 1, he finished fourth, before claiming his ninth podium of the season with P3 in race 2.

Adding positive notes for the team, Sebastian Montoya equalled his best finish of the season in P4 overall and delivered a double rookie win. The 17-year-old Colombian-American solidified his lead in the rookie competition with P6 overall in race 1, courtesy of a couple of late penalties, before securing his best starting position in the series with P2 of his group in qualifying 2. From that point, he secured P4 by keeping his nose clean in a race that featured a long red-flag situation due to an early crash.

Lining-up on one of the most complicated racetracks of the season, especially for the drivers with the least experience, Hamda Al Qubaisi improved lap by lap and eventually got home with P29 in race 2 and consistent lap times.

#3 PAUL ARON

“Obviously it was a very very good weekend, me and the team were on point all the time, we got the two pole positions and two wins which make me extremely happy. We dominated completely, the pace was great in qualifying and race trim. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into Budapest.”

Qualifying 2: P1 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 1: P1

Qualifying 2: P1 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 2: P1

Fastest lap: 1’30″970

Race 1: P1

Fastest lap: 1’30″570

Race 2: P1

#18 DINO BEGANOVIC

“Overall strong results for the team, but a bit of a tough weekend for me. I didn’t nail it in qualifying 1, but already from before, I was struggling with the pace and not finding the right feeling with the car. We managed to be P1 in our group on Sunday, and to get P3 in the race, but again we struggled a bit with the pace. We will analyze what went wrong and what we can improve for the next round as we have a bit of a break between now and Budapest.”

Qualifying 1: P3 Gr.A

Starting Grid Race 1: P6

Qualifying 2: P1 Gr.A

Starting Grid Race 2: P2

Fastest lap: 1’31″207

Race 1: P4

Fastest lap: 1’30″747

Race 2: P3

#58 SEBASTIAN MONTOYA

“Pretty happy with the weekend, some key points to work on still, but we made good improvement, especially from the last two rounds, finally scoring points and being the best rookie. We made a big step forward in qualifying, and we ended up P3 and P2 in our group in the two sessions, which is quite positive. In race 1 the speed was really good, just a little bit of inexperience on my side caused us to lose some ground and a few positions. However, it was a good experience and  learning with a little luck in the end to get the rookie win. Race 2 was more difficult, we tried a few balance experiments to see if I could get more confident in the car, and I think we made a good step forward, but we didn’t compensate enough. In the end, we were still able to finish P4, which is a really good result, matching the best one of the season in Imola, and it shows our advancements. We need to keep pushing in this direction.”

Qualifying 1: P3 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 1: P5

Qualifying 2: P2 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 2: P3

Fastest lap: 1’31″239

Race 1: P6

Fastest lap: 1’30″934

Race 2: P4

#88 HAMDA AL QUBAISI

“So for this race weekend I knew that it would be tough physically, and so I struggled a bit in qualy, which put us at the back for the races. However, in terms of race pace, I was quite happy with the improvements, and I was able to gain some positions in the race overall. I have a lot of work to do with the team, and will keep working to improve.”

Qualifying 1: P17 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 1: P33

Qualifying 1: P17 Gr.B

Starting Grid Race 2: P33

Fastest lap: 1’32″840

Race 1: P30

Fastest lap: 1’32″929

Race 2: P29