PREMA Racing keeps winning form at Mugello
PREMA Racing posted one win and two more podiums in Round 5 of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Mugello. The Italian squad secured victory with Andrea Kimi Antonelli in Race 2 at the Tuscan venue as the 17-year-old Italian dominated from pole. Rafael Camara ended up right behind him in P2 after leading his qualifying group and starting from the front row. It was a remarkable comeback for the 18-year-old Brazilian, who had to miss most of the test day on Thursday due to a crash.
In Race 1, it was Antonelli’s time to start and finish second after leading his group but losing the pole overall with a close margin. Camara made an impressive recovery after starting from row 6 in P11 and fought back to sixth place, followed by teammate Lorenzo Fluxá.
The Spaniard didn’t have an easy weekend starting from qualifying. Taking off from P8 in the first race, he collected a points finish in P7. In Race 2, taking off from the sixth row, he was fighting for the top-10 but was spun out of the race by his competitor, who was later penalized.
Having made impressive gains in the team and driver classifications, PREMA is now set to be back on track again at Circuit Paul Ricard.
7 LORENZO FLUXÁ
“Difficult weekend overall. We had really high potential and great speed. There were really thin margins in qualifying, we just missed out a bit in both sessions, which could have been much better. Race 1 was a bit tough, but we managed it, while Race 2 was unfortunate with the incident. We’ll keep working and come back stronger in Paul Ricard.”
Qualifying 1 : P4 Gr.B
Starting position Race 1: P8
Qualifying 2 : P6 Gr.B
Starting position Race 2: P11
Fastest Lap: 1:43.768
Race 1: P7
Fastest Lap: 1:43.195
Race 2: DNF
8 RAFAEL CAMÂRA
“It was a good weekend in general. I think we did a really great job to catch back even with one less day on track, and we were able to score another podium. Now we will be focusing on Paul Ricard to get more.”
Qualifying 1: P6 Gr.A
Starting position Race 1: P11
Qualifying 2: P1 Gr.A
Starting position Race 2: P2
Fastest Lap: 1:43.000
Race 1: P6
Fastest Lap: 1:42.667
Race 2: P2
12 ANDREA KIMI ANTONELLI
“It was a great weekend. We struggled a bit in practice, but we did a mega job during the weekend, and I’m really thankful for that. We really showed that hard work pays off. If we look at where we were in Practice compared to Race 2, it’s completely another story. We were really fast in qualifying and race pace. In Race 1 we did our best as well and we closed the gap in the championship. We’re ready for the next one!”
Qualifying 1: P1 Gr.B
Starting position Race 1: P2
Qualifying 2: P1 Gr.B
Starting position Race 2: P1
Fastest Lap: 1:42.422
Race 1: P2
Fastest Lap: 1:42.650
Race 2: P1
Source | Photo: PREMA Racing