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Preview: Returning to Hockenheim for FRECA

FRECA — May 8, 2024

The FRECA 2023 season ended in Germany, and this week it’s time to return to the Hockenheimring for the first round of the season! Get ready with the FRECA preview for this weekend.

It’s finally time for the FRECA (Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine) championship to start again, with the first round taking us to Hockenheim. Previous year being the last, this season the famous German track will be the first to be conquered by a total of 33 drivers and eleven teams. The highlight of the 2023 season was the third-place finish during the second round in Barcelona. Tim, who is competing in Formula 3 this season, came in third to snatch the final podium spot. This season there is an exciting line-up of drivers delivered by the MP team. In April every driver was able to get a feel of the track to get ready for the upcoming season, with Nikita setting the best time out of the MP grid.

Meet the drivers

Valerio Rinicella
Having driven two seasons in Spanish F4 with MP, Valerio has been a part of the family for a long time. And with success, because the Italian has finished sixth and third consecutively with a total of two race wins, four pole positions, and fourteen podiums. This made the step up to the FRECA championship nothing but logical. Having won two races during the non-official round of Eurocup-3 earlier this year, Valerio is ready to take it to the next level.

Nikhil Bohra
Coming from New York City, Indian-American driver Nikhil will join the MP team for his second season in the FRECA Championship. During his rookie season last year, Nikhil managed to step onto the podium once in Imola and finished in the top ten a total of eight times. Having experience in multiple F4 championships we are looking forward to what he is going to pull off this season.

Nikita Bedrin
Starting in 2021 with open-wheel racing, Nikita has gained a lot of experience which led to him winning a total of nine races across different championships and finishing on the podium a total of 34 times. He is doing a dual campaign this season, also driving in the Formula 3. This means a busy but very instructive and experience-driven year for the eighteen-year-old.

Hockenheim
Over 4.5 kilometres of pure German asphalt, the Hockenheimring is one of the most famous German tracks in the world. Having opened 91 years ago among other motor racing events, it hosted the German GP from 2017 until 2019. In total, there are seventeen turns with various velocities and very little increment, which creates a track that ensures excitement. The lap record at the moment (in its current layout) is held by Kimi Räikkönen and was set in 2004. We managed to secure a total of eight points last season in Hockenheim, and are looking to improve this weekend.

There are a total of two races to be driven this weekend, starting on Saturday at 17:40, with the second race being on Sunday at 16:10. Before every race there is going to be a qualifying session, starting at 11:15 on Saturday and 10:15 on Sunday. Every bit of racing will be live-streamed on YouTube!

Links to the sessions:

Qualifying 1

Race 1

Qualifying 2

Race 2

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