F.Regional: Petecof and Leclerc on track in Barcelona

The European Formula Regional championship is back on track this weekend for the sixth of eight rounds on the 2020 calendar. The racing takes place at the classic Barcelona-Catalunya circuit a regular fixture for the junior series. Flying the flag for the Ferrari Driver Academy will be Arthur Leclerc and Gianluca Petecof.

Head to head. It’s an important weekend for the two FDA drivers, with everything still to play for in the championship. Petecof finished second twice at the previous round in Monza to lead the series on 273 points. The 17 year old Brazilian leads second placed Leclerc by 11 and the battle between the pair will be one of the main points of interest.

Fighting back. Leclerc had a tougher than expected time in Monza, even though he arrived at the venue for the Italian F1 Grand Prix with three Mugello wins under his belt. This week, Arthur took part in a Formula 3 test at Jerez de la Frontera and his aim in Barcelona is to get back on top.

Confident. “At the previous round in Monza, our two drivers failed to win any of the races,” commented Marco Matassa, head of the FDA. “It's the first time that’s happened this season. However, one has to consider that the circuit layout tends to level out performance, thus reducing the gaps between the teams and drivers. We will see what happens at Montmelo this weekend, a track where both Arthur and Gianluca have done a lot of laps. Everything is in place for them to do well and I hope they will both be front-runners and return to the top step of the podium.”