– Swede takes away three points from Circuit Paul Ricard
– Heads intra-team charts in five out of six sessions
Dino Beganovic picked up three points in the latest Formula Regional European Championship round at France’s Circuit Paul Ricard, on a difficult weekend for reigning champions Prema Powerteam.
Beganovic repeatedly set the bar among the Italian squad’s trio of drivers, leading the intra-team charts in five out of six sessions at the meeting, although the overall pace was not enough to stave off the outright competition on this occasion.
After going sixth quickest in opening practice, Beganovic was restricted to a pair of 12th places in the two qualifying sessions – disappointed, despite still featuring near the upper third of the 35-car grid and heading the Prema charge.
The Ferrari Driver Academy member eventually finished tenth in the first race of the weekend on Saturday, and battled back from a poor opening lap in Sunday’s Race 2 to take 11th having initially dropped to 15th.
Those results netted Beganovic a weekend total of three points (2+1), with the Swede moved up one slot among the point-scorers in each race with a guest driver further up the order ineligible to score.
”This was a tough experience for the entire team, and there’s only so much you can do on a weekend like this,” says Dino Beganovic. “While I’m not happy with the result itself, it has actually been a pretty good weekend for me in terms of my personal performance. My goal as always, but perhaps even more so this time, was to be the quickest within the team – and I felt like I achieved that. Both my team-mates are very fast drivers with a year’s experience in the championship behind them, so I was pleased with that.”
With Paul Ricard not yielding the desired results, Beganovic and Prema Powerteam are aiming to fight back next time out at Zandvoort in the Netherlands.
“Paul Ricard just doesn’t seem to be a good fit for us – we struggled in testing here in the winter, too – so we will have to move on and make sure we learn the lessons,” Beganovic concludes. “I think everybody knows what this team is truly capable of, so we’ll set our sights on being back to where we belong at Zandvoort.”
The Formula Regional European Championship resumes on June 18-20.
RESULTS
Formula Regional European Championship
Rd. 4 – Circuit Paul Ricard (FRA)
RACE 1
1: H. David (FRA), R-Ace GP
2: M. Belov (RUS), JD Motorsport
3: G. Minì (ITA), ART Grand Prix
4: Z. Maloney (BRB), R-Ace GP
5: P. Pasma (FIN), KIC Motorsport
—
10: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
RACE 2
1: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix
2: M. Belov (RUS), JD Motorsport
3: W. Alatalo (FIN), Arden Motorsport
4: I. Hadjar (FRA), R-Ace GP
5: A. Rosso (ITA), FA Racing
—
11: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS
Formula Regional European Championship
After 4/10 rounds
Overall (full standings)
1: G. Saucy (SUI), 110 p.
2: Z. Maloney (BRB), 87 p.
3: I. Hadjar (FRA), 85 p.
4: H. David (FRA), 81 p.
5: A. Quinn (GBR), 78 p.
—
15: D. Beganovic (SWE), 7 p.
Rookies (full standings)
1: I. Hadjar (FRA), 85 p.
2: G. Minì (ITA), 56 p.
3: T. ten Brinke (NED), 25 p.
4: M. Boya (ESP), 21 p.
5: A. Rosso (ITA), 14 p.
—
7: D. Beganovic (SWE), 7 p.
