F.Regional. Mixed emotions for Beganovic

The Ferrari Driver Academy student was a front-runner this weekend at Monza, securing his first ever Formula Regional pole position. But a collision triggered by a team-mate denied him the chance of what would have been a well deserved win in Race 2.

Dino Beganovic’s weekend in the final round of the Formula Regional championship ended in disappointment. The Ferrari Driver Academy driver got off to a great start at Monza, fighting his way up the order in Race 1 before securing pole position for the final race. 

Fight back. Beganovic’s points haul for the two races was not what it could have been, but he started off with a fifth place in the first race. Starting from eleventh, he picked off his rivals lap after lap with some well planned and executed overtaking moves and fifth at the flag, under three seconds behind the winner, was some consolation for a poorer than expected qualifying. 

Pole and disappointment. Starting from pole in Race 2, Beganovic kept the lead, doing a good job of managing two restarts after Safety Car periods. The race was rather messy and was also red flagged at one point following a collision between two cars. The FDA driver maintained concentration during the break and again took off in the lead at the restart. With two laps remaining, his Prema team-mate, David Vinales, who was running second, tried to go for the lead going into the Roggia chicane but it ended with both cars going off the track. Beganovic rejoined without mishap but Vidales’ car took off over a sausage kerb and crashed into Dino. Both drivers had to retire, their cars too badly damaged to continue. 

Progress. “It was a good weekend,” commented Dino after Race 2. “We were quick from the very first practice session on Thursday and on Sunday we showed what we could do. I got my first Formula Regional pole position and I led most of Race 2 up until the crash. There’s not much to say about what happened. As for the rest of the weekend, the first qualifying wasn’t perfect, but we had a solid race pace and managed to get back up to fifth place. Summing up the season, I finished as third best rookie, but I think the most important thing is what I learned and the progress I made thanks to the efforts of the whole team.”