The eighth round of the Formula Regional Championship took place at Valencia last weekend. Dino Beganovic performed well, but this was not reflected in the results – a tenth place in Race 1 and a retirement with a technical problem in the second one.
Dino Beganovic’s weekend at the Ricardo Tormo circuit did not go as well as expected. The Ferrari Driver Academy student finished tenth in Race 1 but he had to retired with a technical problem in Race 2 having set the fastest race lap. The Spanish weekend got off to a promising start as the Swede was second in the first free practice session, but after that things got tougher. In qualifying to determine the grid for Race 1, Beganovic only managed 11th fastest as the car did not handle the way it had done in free practice. In the first race, Dino moved up to tenth to score one point.
Race-2. Qualifying for Race 2 raised hopes of an immediate change of fortune, as Beganovic soon set a time good enough for fourth fastest, but it was then deemed to have been set when the yellow flags were out in one section and his next quickest time was only good enough for 14th on the grid. So he had a fight on his hands in Race 2 and once the race settled, he started to move up the order but an electrical problem slowed him on the main straight. He pitted to have it fixed and after that he pushed very hard, to the point of setting the race fastest lap, but the problem resurfaced and Dino had no option but to retire.
Disappointment. “I’m very disappointed, because we had the potential to aim for the podium,” said Beganovic. “The fastest lap proves it. Unfortunately, the results did not match our ability but I hope to build on the positives of this weekend in the remaining rounds. We continue to make a lot of progress and I am optimistic about the rest of the season.” The penultimate round of the 2021 Formula Regional championship takes place at Mugello from 8 to 10 October.