PREMA Racing wrapped up a victorious weekend at Hockenheim, as the German venue hosted the opening round of the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Lining up for his second season in the series, Brazilian racer Rafael Camara went from pole to win in Race 1, promptly recovering from a tough start to retake the lead, never to be challenged again. In Race 2, which was disrupted by several safety-car situations, he started from P3 and gained one position straight away, holding the same spot until the chequered flag.

James Wharton made his FRECA debut and achieved a very positive podium in Race 1, recovering up to P2 before losing one spot due to a track limits violation. In Qualifying 2, he delivered a scintillating performance to take pole position, although early contact forced him back to the pits for good in Race 2.

Also making his series debut, Ugo Ugochukwu put up a promising run despite two tough qualifying sessions. The American posted seventh place in Race 1, three spots up from his starting position. An early recovery run in Race 2 was stopped on the second lap by an unavoidable incident.

With Camara firmly in the lead of the Driver Championship and PREMA holding the point among teams, FRECA will be back on May 25th and 26th for Round 2 at Spa-Francorchamps.

3 UGO UGOCHUKWU

“A bit of a tricky weekend overall. We struggled a little bit from the start, but we maximized Race 1 with some good progress from P10 to P7. Unfortunately, a crash at the beginning of the second race put us out. Not ideal, but I think we know what we could have done better. Now we will try to regroup and make a step in Spa.”

Qualifying 1: P5 Gr. B
Starting position Race 1: P10
Qualifying 2: P9 Gr. B
Starting position Race 2: P18
Fastest lap: 1:35.789
Race 1: P7
Fastest lap: 1:36.036
Race 2: DNF

5 RAFAEL CAMARA

“It was a very good start to the season with P1 and P2, almost a perfect “weekend. This is the result of all the work we did during the winter as a team, and from myself as well. We worked very hard to be in this position. I want to thank my engineer, Emeric, and my mechanics, Roberto and Alessandro. Working with them is a pleasure. I’m just enjoying myself a lot this year, even if it is just the start. PREMA is a great environment, and everybody is working 100 percent to keep going like that. Now we will focus on achieving more good results in the coming races.”

Qualifying 1: P1 Gr. A
Starting position Race 1: P1
Qualifying 2: P2 Gr. A
Starting position Race 2: P3
Fastest lap: 1:34.848
Race 1: P1
Fastest lap: 1:35.607
Race 2: P2

13 JAMES WHARTON

“Overall it was a good first weekend pace-wise, we were fast in every session, especially in Qualifying 2 where we got pole position after second place in Race 1 on Saturday, still making improvements. In Race 2 we didn’t get the result we wanted, but we still got one podium this weekend. We have a lot of races to go and hopefully, in Spa we can come back even stronger.”

Qualifying 1: P3 Gr. A
Starting position Race 1: P5
Qualifying 2: P1 Gr. A
Starting position Race 2: P1
Fastest lap: 1:35.028
Race 1: P3
Fastest lap: 1:35.445
Race 2: DNF

Source | Photo: PREMA Racing