– Swede takes top six finish and rookie podium in Austria*
Dino Beganovic bounced back to end a challenging weekend on a high as the Formula Regional European Championship descended on the Red Bull Ring.
After fighting balance issues earlier in the event, Beganovic posted a fine recovery in Sunday’s concluding Race 2 at the Austrian Grand Prix track, powering to a sixth-place finish* from 11th on the 33-car grid.
It marked a strong conclusion to the weekend for the Ferrari Driver Academy junior, who also led the Prema Powerteam assault and simultaneously scored a podium with P3 in the championship’s rookie classification.
“It was great to finish the weekend strongly like that, especially after we struggled a bit in the first race,” says Dino Beganovic. “It started off well in practice, but then for some reason the balance shifted and I wasn’t very happy with the car on Saturday.”
After finishing 14th in the opening race, it was the Sunday turnaround that added fresh incentive to Beganovic’s weekend, allowing him to add to his points tally in arguably one of the world’s most competitive junior single-seater series.
“The team did a great job to turn it around for Sunday, and we were on for a top five in qualifying until it got squandered by traffic,” Beganovic explains. “I think we proved that in the race later on, where I was able to strike forward with some early overtakes. We’ll take the positives from this weekend, learn from the challenges, and come back stronger next time.”
The Formula Regional European Championship resumes in two weeks’ time at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain.
* Following the weekend, Beganovic was among a host of drivers to pick up post-event penalties in Race 2, dropping him from sixth on the road to 11th in the final classification.
RESULTS
Formula Regional European Championship
Rd. 7 – Red Bull Ring (AUT)
RACE 1
1: F. Colapinto (ARG), MP Motorsport
2: H. David (FRA), R-Ace GP
3: P. Aron (EST), Prema Powerteam
4: A. Quinn (GBR), Arden
5: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix
—
14: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
RACE 2
1: F. Colapinto (ARG), MP Motorsport
2: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix
3: G. Bortoleto (BRA), FA Racing
4: Z. Maloney (BAR), R-Ace GP
5: I. Hadjar (FRA), R-Ace GP
—
11: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
STANDINGS
Formula Regional European Championship
After 7/10 rounds
Overall
1: G. Saucy (SUI), 224 p.
2: H. David (FRA), 147 p.
3: Z. Maloney (BAR), 141 p.
4: I. Hadjar (FRA), 109 p.
5: G. Minì (ITA), 109 p.
—
16: D. Beganovic (SWE), 24 p.
Rookies
1: I. Hadjar (FRA), 109 p.
2: G. Minì (ITA), 109 p.
3: M. Boya (ESP), 30 p.
4: T. ten Brinke (NED), 28 p.
5: G. Bortoleto (BRA), 26 p.
—
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), 24 p.
