The 17 year old Scuderia Ferrari Driver Academy student, Tuukka Taponen, won both races at the Hungarian track and consolidated his second place in the championship, which is led comfortably by his fellow Academy colleague Rafael Camara.
Tuukka Taponen is on a roll: after taking his first European Formula Regional win two weeks ago in Zandvoort, the 17 year old Finn was the dominant driver at the fourth round at the Hungaroring, winning the two races after starting both of them from pole position. “It was a great weekend,” commented Tuukka. “The team did a great job I had a very good feel for the car in all conditions. I am happy and we must continue like this.”
Catching up. Taponen is now on 113 points, 46 behind the leader, Rafael Camara, who was also a front runner this weekend. The Brazilian was also on good form, going from eight to third in Race 1, before taking the chequered flag in second place in Race 2, although he was later demoted to sixth, with a five second penalty. “We’ve increased our points haul in the standings,” commented Camara. “In Race 1, we fought back from the problems in qualifying, but the second race turned out to be more difficult than expected. In the end, it was a weekend where we fought to ensure we left no points on the table. I’m happy with the work the team has done and we will now prepare well for the next round at Mugello.”
Race 1. Taponen made the most of starting from pole to maintain the lead, while Camara began to move up the order from eight on lap two, passing Enzo Peugeot. On lap 10, Rafael then passed Evan Giltaire and with two laps to go, he slipped past Alessandro Giusti and Enzo Deligny, before being promoted to third when Zachary David was given a penalty. Taponen led every lap and always had a comfortable lead over second placed Brando Badoer.
Race 2. Taponen was again on pole with Camara alongside him. When the lights went out, Tuukka held onto the lead, but Rafael dropped a place at the exit to turn 2. The Safety Car came out on lap 9, when a midfield runner went off the track. The race resumed with three laps remaining and Taponen did a perfect job at the restart to keep the lead, while Camara managed to get ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu at turn 1, but the stewards decided he had been too aggressive, inflicting a five second penalty which dropped him to sixth.