Saucy Returns to Winning Ways in Second FRECA Race at Spa-Francorchamps

Championship leader Grégoire Saucy took his seventh victory of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season on Sunday, with the Swiss racer coming out on top of a thrilling battle involving four cars for the lead at Spa-Francorchamps.

The ART Grand Prix driver started from pole position but lost the lead to team-mate Gabriele Mini on lap one, before Saucy found a way back ahead of the Italian on lap three.

The safety car was deployed briefly, but Saucy was then able to hold onto the lead until the chequered flag despite pressure from behind from R-ace GP duo Zane Maloney and Hadrien David, as well as Mini.

Mini lost out to both Maloney and David and dropped to fourth on lap four, and although Maloney was able to stick close to Saucy up front, he was never close enough to make a genuine challenge for the lead and ultimately was forced to settle for the second step on the podium.

Race one winner Michael Belov was a man on the charge in race two, with the G4 Racing driver climbing from eleventh on the grid to finish an excellent fifth.  He had capitalised on a clash between Prema Powerteam team-mates Paul Aron and David Vidales to move up to sixth on lap nine, and after that he was able to close down and pass MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto for fifth.

Belov was substantially quicker than those ahead of him in the closing laps and was on Mini’s tail for fourth when the chequered flag came out.  However, fifth was the best he could achieve but it meant he moves up to eleventh in the standings despite having not competed in the first six races and was ineligible for points in another two.

Colapinto ended up in no mans land in sixth, while there was delight for Dexter Patterson and Monolite Racing, as they both secured their maiden top ten finishes in seventh place.  Aron survived his clash with Vidales to take eighth, with the final points on offer going to R-ace GP’s Isack Hadjar and Arden Motorsport’s William Alatalo.

Saucy’s victory means he now sits sixty points clear of David in the Drivers’ Championship heading into the summer break, which comes as the result of the round at the Nurburgring being postponed due to the horrendous flooding in the area.

Spa-Francorchamps Race 2 Result