Dino Beganovic was left lamenting what could have been on a trying weekend of racing in the Formula Regional European Championship, with promising pace going largely unrewarded in Valencia.
After a convincing start to the Spanish meeting, where Beganovic went second quickest among the 34 cars present in Friday practice, things took a turn for the worse later in the weekend.
The Ferrari Driver Academy racer was taken aback by a sudden change in car balance in first qualifying on Saturday morning, restricting him to 11th on the grid, although the Swede did bounce back to score the final point on offer in P10 in the opening race.
Eager to reinvigorate his weekend in the second race on Sunday, Beganovic initially appeared well-placed to do so, recording a time good enough for the second row of the grid in the morning qualifying session.
However, Beganovic was adjudged to have completed his lap under full course yellow conditions – by the finest of margins – stripping him of his time and dropping him to 14th on the final Race 2 grid.
“We were incredibly unlucky to have that time taken away in Qualifying 2,” Dino Beganovic explains. “I was coming around to complete the lap in green conditions, and the yellows were called just fractions before I crossed the line. One second later and we’d have been fine and P4.”
Instead stuck in midfield traffic, Beganovic had just managed to complete one of few overtaking moves in the race when his Prema Powerteam car slowed on the main straight, necessitating a pit stop to reset an electrical issue.
Beganovic rejoined, now in clear air dead last, and underpinned the inherent potential by immediately posting the fastest lap of the race (by a quarter of a second) before returning to the pits and retiring.
“We had such potential this weekend, as indicated by our practice pace and the fastest lap in Race 2,” Dino Beganovic concludes. “Unfortunately we got nothing to show for it, but I’m taking away all the positives and as a team, we’re continuing to make great strides. I’m optimistic for the last couple of rounds of the season.”
The penultimate round of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship takes place at Mugello, Italy, on October 8-10.
RESULTS
Formula Regional European Championship
Rd. 8 – Valencia (ESP)
RACE 1 (full results)
1: F. Colapinto (ARG), MP Motorsport
2: D. Vidales (ESP), Prema Powerteam
3: M. Boya (ESP), Van Amersfoort Racing
4: P. Aron (EST), Prema Powerteam
5: M. Belov (RUS), G4 Racing
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10: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
RACE 2 (full results)
1: M. Belov (RUS), G4 Racing
2: F. Colapinto (ARG), MP Motorsport
3: G. Saucy (SUI), ART Grand Prix
4: I. Hadjar (FRA), R-Ace GP
5: D. Vidales (ESP), Prema Powerteam
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DNF: D. Beganovic (SWE), Prema Powerteam
STANDINGS
Formula Regional European Championship
After 8/10 rounds
Overall (full standings)
1: G. Saucy (SUI), 239 p.
2: H. David (FRA), 161 p.
3: Z. Maloney (BAR), 151 p.
4: I. Hadjar (FRA), 123 p.
5: P. Aron (EST), 121 p.
—
16: D. Beganovic (SWE), 25 p.
Rookies (full standings)
1: I. Hadjar (FRA), 123 p.
2: G. Minì (ITA), 110 p.
3: M. Boya (ESP), 49 p.
4: G. Bortoleto (BRA), 28 p.
5: T. ten Brinke (NED), 28 p.
—
6: D. Beganovic (SWE), 25 p.
