Gabriele Mini Penalty Hands Dino Beganovic Victory in Opening Race at Imola

A penalty for Gabriele Mini denied the Italian his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine victory despite the ART Grand Prix driver leading from start to finish at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Saturday.

The victory ultimately went the way of Prema Racing’s Dino Beganovic, with the race finishing under a red flag, the second of the afternoon, with two additional safety car periods also affecting the race.

During an early red flag for a crash for MP Motorsport’s Sami Meguetounif, it was announced that Mini was under investigation by the stewards for a false start, and they handed the Italian a ten-second time penalty to be applied after the race.  Meguetounif was taken to the medical centre for precautionary checks due to the crash after heavy contact with the barriers.

Beganovic, who managed to pass ART Grand Prix’s Mari Boya early on to run second, thus was in the right place to take his second victory of the season and move clear at the top of the championship standings, while Boya held off the challenge of another Prema driver, Mercedes-Benz protégé Paul Aron for second.

Aron had passed his Prema Racing team-mate Sebastián Montoya and was pressurising Boya for second when the red flags flew just before they were due to start the final lap after a two-car crash between G4 Racing’s Axel Gnos and Arden Motorsport’s Eduardo Barrichello at the first chicane.

This was after the two safety car periods, the first for an incident between FA Racing’s Nicholas Baptiste and Prema Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi at the first chicane, while on the restart it was needed again after G4 Racing’s Owen Tangavelou spun into the gravel trap almost at the same place.

Kas Haverkort ended the day in fifth for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of Arden Motorsport’s Joshua Dürksen, with R-ace GP’s Gabriel Bortoleto sevent ahead of Trident duo Leonardo Fornaroli and Tim Tramnitz. 

The final point on offer went the way of R-ace GP’s Hadrien David, who ended just ahead of team-mate Lorenzo Fluxá and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Joshua Dufek.

Mini’s penalty relegated him from first on the road to twenty-eighth in the final standings, bad luck for a driver still seeking his first overall victory in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.  He’ll be looking for better luck in Sunday’s second race at Imola, while Beganovic will be seeking to continue his strong start to the year that has seen him take two victories and a second place in the opening three races.

Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Race 1 Result