Season-best performance in FRECA for Léna Bühler at Le Castellet

Léna Bühler achieved her best qualifying position and race finish of the season at Le Castellet in the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, bouncing back from a technical issue on Saturday with an run in wet conditions that saw the Swiss driver running as high as tenth.

Photo by: Racers - Behind the Helmet

Léna Bühler was the protagonist of a stellar second qualifying in Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Le Castellet, where she emerged from a mixed weather session with the eighth fastest lap in her group to claim her best qualifying position in the series - a P16 that put her right in the midst of the midfield battles in the uber-competitive feeder series.

In a strong field of 33 cars, Bühler immediately made her way up the order in the second race, running as high as tenth and in contention for a superb result before eventually losing out to a few recovering cars in the closing stages. Despite this, she secured her personal best finish of the season to date with P23 across the chequered flag.

While the Sauber Academy driver couldn't capitalize in the final laps, she showed a significant step forward at Circuit Paul Ricard in the sixth race meeting, marking the start of the second half of the campaign.

Bühler bounced back after a difficult Saturday at the French venue, as the Swiss racer couldn't take the start of the first race following gearbox issues that also ended her qualifying prematurely.

Despite missing a stand-out result in the first rounds, Léna had often completed solid weekends with good battles and strong recoveries, consistently moving up the order in the races. She aimed to get closer to the top-20 at Le Castellet, where she had scored two second-place finishes last year in F1 Academy, albeit on a different track layout.

Bühler, who eventually finished runner-up in the all-female championship and was promoted to FRECA with ART Grand Prix, tackling one of the toughest championships in junior formulae, aiming to steadily make her way forward weekend after weekend.

The French round saw the drivers battling extreme heat on Saturday as well as rain on Sunday. Léna Bühler had an encouraging practice on Friday with the 26th fastest time in the opening session, as she worked to continue to reduce the gap in qualifying.

In the first qualifying of the weekend on Saturday morning, Bühler tackled Group B. While she set a 1:59.921 lap that put her just outside the top ten in the group after the first timed laps, her #14 bright green machine soon developed technical issues, forcing the Swiss driver to end her session after just five laps. That placed her 15th in the group.

When the car was brought back, the ART Grand Prix team identified a gearbox issue and started working on the car. However, the short gap to the first race in the early afternoon resulted in a disappointing first day for Bühler, who couldn't take the start.

Determined to fight back on Sunday, the Sauber-supported racer delivered one of the highlights of her season to date.

With light rain showers just before the session and heavier rain as cars hit the track, Léna was in the first group to go out on Sunday morning. She put in a superb performance, consistently running in the top five in the group.

As the track developed and times tumbled quickly, Léna was one of the first drivers to take the chequered flag, going P5 before other drivers improved, ultimately finishing P8. This marked her best qualifying in the series, placing her 16th on the grid for Race 2.

Photo by: Racers - Behind the Helmet

Race 2 started under safety car conditions due to heavy rain throughout most of the afternoon. While the precipitation had slightly eased just before the start, visibility remained tricky. From P16, Léna was ready to fight.

A thrilling start saw plenty of carnage in the first corners, with Badoer spinning and Bühler defending well into turn 1, immediately making up two positions to P14. More chaos ensued as Enzo Peugeot and Tuukka Taponen made contact at the final corner, with Léna brilliantly taking evasive action to move up to P12 in a massive first lap for the Swiss driver.

Bühler then passed Doriane Pin 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 contention, as Ugochukwu and Bohra followed inside the top five.

The safety car returned to the pits at the end of lap 6; Giusti surprised Camara into turn 1, while Deligny spun and dropped down, promoting Léna Bühler to P10 in a stellar drive under very challenging conditions. As more cars took the escape road into the chicanes, Léna hung on, although she was passed by Deligny.

As the rain eased and a few fast-charging cars approached, Léna started to struggle for pace and she was overtaken by Wharton although she tried to hang on in P13, just ahead of Pin. The Frenchwoman found a way past on lap 8, with Giovanni Maschio and Valerio Rinicella following. Unfortunately, she would fall behind a group of cars and eventually cross the finish line in P23.

While she couldn't grab a top-15 that she long held on to, her second race of the weekend was still enough to secure her personal best of the season to date.

Despite not yet achieving the results she is working hard for, the French round nevertheless showcased significant progress, proving that Bühler can battle towards the front.

The next round will be in Imola, Italy, after the summer break on 7-8 September.

Photo by: Racers - Behind the Helmet