Belov Wins Race Two in Valencia as Saucy Edges Closer to FRECA Title

Michael Belov took his second victory of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season in a processional race around the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, while Grégoire Saucy moved closer to securing the title with another podium finish.

G4 Racing’s Belov, who start from pole position, held onto the lead at the start having taken top spot in Qualifying on Sunday morning, and despite being shadowed for much of the race by race one winner Franco Colapinto, he went on to take the win.

Colapinto withstood a first lap attack from Saucy to maintain second, with the MP Motorsport driver able to stay with Belov up front whilst easily keeping the ART Grand Prix driver behind him.

Saucy’s third place, coupled with a sixth place for closest rival Hadrien David, puts the Swiss racer seventy-eight points clear at the top of the championship standings with only one hundred points left on the table.  He only requires twenty-two points across the final four races to clinch the title.

Isack Hadjar took fourth for R-ace GP, while a fast start from seventh gave Saturday podium finisher David Vidales fifth for Prema Powerteam, ahead of David and his R-ace GP team-mate Zane Maloney. 

Like on Saturday, Maloney made excellent gains from his grid spot to run eighth, and he was responsible for one of the few on-track moves inside the top ten after that as he passed FA Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto for seventh. 

Bortoleto lost momentum and ultimately also lost out to Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya and ultimately finished down in ninth, while the final point went the way of ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini. After the race, stewards gave Maloney a one-place penalty for going off track and gaining an advantage, which dropped him behind Boya into eighth.

Prema’s Dino Beganovic failed to finish after a technical issue initially saw him slow and hit the pits, and although the team got him back on track again, he pulled out a few laps later to retire.

With under ten minutes to go, the safety car was needed after a collision between MP Motorsport’s Dilano van’t Hoff and Monolite Racing’s José Garfias, but even after the track was cleared and racing resumed, there was no further movements inside the top ten as overtaking proved difficult around the Valencia track.

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Race 2 Result