Doriane Pin stars in FRECA qualifying, just shy of a maiden top-10 at Paul Ricard

Doriane Pin impressed in her home race at Circuit Paul Ricard with a strong performance on Sunday, qualifying eighth and finishing a personal best P14 in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, showcasing more steps forward for the single seater rookie.

Doriane Pin continues to impress in her rookie season of single-seaters with a remarkable performance in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Circuit Paul Ricard, which hosted the sixth round of the series.

In her home race, Mercedes junior Pin shone in a stellar second qualifying on Sunday in mixed conditions, eventually qualifying fourth in her group and thus lining up eighth overall.

In one of the most competitive feeder series worldwide, Pin was not far off the top ten in the second race, as she battled with the front runners in the opening laps, eventually finishing in a personal best P14 which also marks her first top-20 to date.

The result was a good comeback after a difficult first race, where she got stuck behind slower cars after a challenging qualifying and eventually ended in retirement after contact. Pin, however, was able to bounce back with a remarkable showing on Sunday which again brought many learning opportunities for the Iron Dames driver.

Doriane was making her return to Le Castellet after her outstanding run in the 2022 Ferrari Challenge Europe, where she claimed a dominant pole position and then recovered from the back of the field to fourth after an early puncture.

Hopes were therefore high for her home race, coming from a positive outing in Mugello last week, which marked her return to FRECA after an injury that saw the 20-year-old missing two rounds.

Very positive practice on Friday saw Doriane ending in the top-15 and frequently knocking on the doors of the top ten in the sessions.

The first qualifying of the weekend on Saturday morning saw both Iron Dames drivers Pin and Marta Garcia in Group B.

The session turned out to be not quite what Doriane expected, finishing P14 in class in a difficult group, unable to put a clean lap together. She would start P28 - but practice had shown she had enough pace to make up for it in the race.

Rafael Camara took pole from Michael Belov, who topped Group B. The two lined up ahead of Brando Badoer and Tuukka Taponen, second in their respective groups, for Race 1 on Saturday afternoon. Doriane, starting 28th, had some recovery to do to get back to the positions she belonged to.

With a remarkably clean start through the first couple of corners, Doriane held P28. Camara retained the lead from Belov, while Ivan Dominguez demoted Taponen for fourth. Pin hunted down KIC Motorsport’s Sawer while opening a gap to the cars behind. An off-track excursion for Noah Stromsted at turn 8 then gained Pin P27.

Doriane put heavy pressure on Sawer for a few laps and on lap 5 she found a gap to overtake the Vietnamese racer; the battle had cost her 1.5 seconds to the group of cars ahead, but once in clear air she immediately set her fastest sectors and significantly closed in on Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi.

Positions settled again, but Doriane Pin continued her chase, several tenths faster than the cars ahead. As the race seemed to have gone quieter, Clerot hit trouble and pitted; then Edgar Pierre and Enzo Deligny collided at turn 3, with both drivers continuing although down the order. Just as Doriane Pin attacked Bhirombhakdi, there was contact, and the Frenchwoman spun around and had to pit with damage. Unfortunately, that was the end of her first race of the weekend.

But after the storm always comes the sun: Sunday at Circuit Paul Ricard would bring a breakthrough performance for Pin, who starred in mixed weather conditions where she really proved her talent. Light rain showers appeared just before the session - and more raindrops fell as the session started.

Doriane took on Group B, the first group to go out on track on Sunday morning, in the most uncertain track conditions. However, it was a superb qualifying for Pin, who ran in the top positions all session, constantly improving with each lap. With big track development throughout the session, she could always adapt to the fast-changing conditions and find the limit after each run: she ultimately crossed the line with a stellar fourth-fastest time in the group, which put her eighth on the starting grid and first of the rookies in her group.

Race 2 started under safety car conditions due to heavy rain through most of the afternoon. While the rain slightly eased just before the start, visibility remained tricky. Cars followed the pace car and time effectively started ticking, with Rafael Camara leading Michael Belov, Brando Badoer, and Tuukka Taponen. Doriane started from the fourth row, following her best qualifying effort - with a real chance to score a top ten, which would be not only her first points in FRECA but also her first top-20.

After a few laps, the race went green; a thrilling start with plenty of carnage in the first corners saw Badoer spin and Doriane advancing to seventh, in a great start for the French racer, who then had Enzo Peugeot and Ugo Ugochukwu in her target.

More chaos ahead saw Peugeot and Taponen make contact in the final corner, turning what would have been a good opportunity to contend for the top five into an unlucky situation for Pin, as she had to take evasive action on the outside and dropped to P11.

Léna Buhler also found a way past Doriane on lap 4, just before the safety car was deployed for Taponen’s stranded car.

Ahead, Camara retained the lead, with Alessandro Giusti and Kanato Le making their way up into podium positions, as Ugochukwu and Bohra followed in the top five. The Safety Car made its way back into the pits at the end of lap 6; Giusti surprised Camara into turn 1, while Deligny spun and dropped down, promoting Doriane Pin back to P11.

More cars took the escape road into the first chicanes, and amidst the chaos, Pin fell to P14. With cars all over the place, Doriane passed Léna Buhler again on lap 8, running slightly faster than a couple of cars ahead. Ugo Uguchukwu meanwhile overtook Camara, who also lost out to Le and Stromsted.

In the final stages of the race, Doriane, on a 2:24 pace, tried to make her way forward but was then passed by Giovanni Maschio and Valerio Rinicella.

Alessandro Giusti took a remarkable win in Race 2, three seconds clear of Ugochukwu and Stromsted, who snatched the podium from Le.

Doriane claimed P14 from Théophile Naël on the final lap, securing not only her first top-20 but also her first top-15 finish in the championship, following a strong race in very difficult conditions that caught out some more experienced drivers.

The Mercedes development driver therefore just missed out on a top-10, which looked definitely reachable after her first few laps, where she battled solidly in P7 before the accident ahead of her.

Nevertheless, the weekend on home soil represented another crucial step forward for the Iron Dame, who showed she has the speed both in qualifying and in practice runs to battle for points, just a few races into her rookie campaign in Formula Regional machinery, as well as in single-seaters.

She will aim to build on this momentum at the next round in Imola, Italy, on 7-8 September. Meanwhile, she will return to the all-female championship F1 Academy for the final European leg of the series, scheduled for 24-25 August at Zandvoort, Netherlands. Pin currently sits second, with a win and three podiums to her name.