F.Regional: can Petecof or Leclerc make the break?

The European Formula Regional championship is back in action this weekend at Imola for the seventh and penultimate round of 2020. It’s an exciting prospect as the top three in the championship are all very close in terms of points. Among the favourites for the top honour are two Ferrari Driver Academy students, Gianluca Petecof and Arthur Leclerc, who have both enjoyed good seasons so far and have consistently been near or at the top of the leaderboard.

Three-way fight. At the previous round in Barcelona, Petecof kept the lead in the series, but the gap to Leclerc has closed to just 4 points, proving how close it is in performance terms. Behind the FDA duo, another Prema Powerteam driver, Oliver Rasmussen, has closed the gap and is now just 19 points off Petecof after winning two races in Spain.

Pressure. “The fact that no one driver has dominated the series has clearly made the season more interesting for fans and also for those involved,” commented Head of FDA Marco Matassa. “There will definitely be additional pressure on the favourites, but I believe that too is part of a young driver’s development. It’s another exam to deal with and we can only hope it’s something they will go on to face several times in their career. Learning to manage pressure is a vital step for youngsters aiming to be professional racers and there’s an immediate benefit in learning to handle it.”

Programme. The action at Imola starts on Saturday afternoon with the first race of the weekend at 14.10 CET. It serves as an hors d’oeuvre for a busy Sunday, featuring Race-2 at 9 and Race-3 at 14.20.