Dino Beganovic: “It was a great first weekend in the 2022 championship”

Dino Beganovic was delighted with his weekend’s work at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, with the Swede claiming his maiden pole position, first victory and another podium to lead the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine standings.

The Ferrari Driver Academy driver had a very strong weekend at Monza.  Racing for Prema Racing, he took pole position for race one and controlled the race amid difficult wet conditions and through three safety car periods to claim the victory.

For Sunday’s second race, he was unfortunate that his group in Qualifying did not have the better of the track conditions, and as a result, he was forced to follow team-mate Paul Aron throughout the race, although he was rewarded with a second-place finish.

In what is his sophomore year in Formula Regional in 2022, Beganovic was pleased with the outcome of the opening round of the season, and it gives him confidence heading into the second round next month at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.

“It was a great first weekend in the 2022 championship, we definitely got a lot of points, which was the main goal,” said Beganovic.  “I got my first pole for the season, my first victory, and a good Sunday result with P2.

“I think we maximized the situation and we had a great pace overall within the team. We showed it first with the win on Saturday and then with Paul winning on Sunday.

“We got great points and I’m really happy with P2 today even if it’s hard to beat a pole and a win!”

“I’m really happy for myself and the team” – Paul Aron

Team-mate Aron recovered from his failure to score in Saturday’s opening race, in which he took damage to his front wing that put him to the back of the pack after a pit stop for repairs, to claim the win on Sunday.

Mercedes-Benz protégé Aron took pole position on Sunday and led every lap to give Prema a second win of the weekend and began his challenge for the title.  He goes into the season as one of the favourites for the crown, and to get a win so early on was pleasing for the Estonian.

“Today was a very good one, we managed to maximize qualifying with pole position, and the race with the win,” said Aron.  “It was a lights-to-flag victory, the car was really good, and so were the pace and the race management.

“I’m really happy for myself and the team. Yesterday we had some bad luck, facing technical issues in qualifying that compromised the whole day and made us come out with zero points.

“I’m really happy to finally get the championship started by winning race 2 and to see the team finish 1-2 to show our dominating form today.”

Paul Aron led from lights out to chequered flag on Sunday – Credit: Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine