Pin returns to FRECA with solid Mugello races, continuous progress for García and Bühler

The fifth round of the Formula Regional Europea Championship at Mugello was a learning-oriented experience for the three female drivers on the grid, with Doriane Pin making her series return after the injury and gaining positions after a challenging qualifying. On her first visit to the track, Marta Garcia had a weekend of steady improvement at Mugello, continuing her development in the series. Despite encountering technical issues in race 1, Léna Bühler had a promising recovery drive in race 2.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

Doriane Pin made a promising return to Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at Mugello, showing positive pace and making solid progress throughout the weekend, despite difficult qualifyings forced her to start out of position, nevertheless finishing just outside the top-20.

Pin, in her first year of single seater racing after only making the transition from sportscars at the end of 2023, is continuing her development weekend after weekend and is collecting crucial experience in her double campaign, which sees the Mercedes junior competing in both the all-female F1 Academy as well as the highly demanding Formula Regional European Championship.

Doriane returned to FRECA after missing the Zandvoort and Hungaroring rounds, following a rib injury that hindered her participation at Spa Francorchamps, where she could only finish the first race. The French racer unfortunately missed the 24H of Le Mans, but was back for the third F1 Academy round in Barcelona. Her return to Formula Regional machinery on one of the most physically demanding circuits of the calendar proved that she was fully healed, and made good progress over the sessions.

The Iron Dames FRECA team was therefore back to two cars, after 2023 F1 Academy champion Marta García was the only entry for the all-female team, venturing in single seaters. Female entries in FRECA at Mugello were back to three - with ART Grand Prix's Léna Bühler also continuing her campaign after being promoted as F1 Academy vice-champion last year.

García was coming off very promising races, including a top-15 in Spa and a top-20 at Hungaroring, showing good racecraft and battling spirit in one of the most competitive over-30 car fields in junior single seater racing. The Spaniard continued to collect experience, visiting the iconic Mugello track for the first time in her career.

Despite some bad luck in the first part of the championship, Bühler also showed promising signs, especially with really strong starts and good battles in the midfield that resulted in finishes just outside the top-20.

At the fast and undulating Mugello circuit on the Tuscan hills, drivers were also challenged by the torrid weather, making the fifth round of the championship a real physical test.

Léna Bühler had a strong first day of practice, posting a 1:44.662 in FP1 and running just ahead of Pin and García. In the afternoon session, Léna was 15th fastest, in one of her best sessions to date. Pin and García built speed consistently and ended P29 and P32, as they familiarized with the track. Pin had in fact last raced at Mugello in 2022, in her championship-winning Ferrari Challenge campaign on very different machinery compared to the Tatuus T318 Regional car.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

In Group A, Doriane and Léna were the first out on track on Saturday morning for qualifying. Doriane's first timed lap put her in P9, eventually setting a 1:43.912 that gained her P14 in the group, with Léna in P17 with a 1:44.825. Both Bühler and Pin were impeded during their final push lap by Giovanni Maschio spinning in front of them.

In Group B, Marta clocked the 14th time early on, then improved but held her position, ultimately finishing P16 with a 1:45.275.

Doriane Pin started from P27, Marta García from P29, and Léna Bühler from P31 in the opening contest of the weekend. All 33 cars made it cleanly through turn 1, with Taponen ahead of Badoer, Clerot, and Camara, while Wharton ran wide, losing positions.

Bühler moved up to P32, battling with Yujia Gao. García also had a great start, moving up to P27, while Pin lost a few spots, falling to P29 on the first lap. Maschio hit trouble on the second lap, allowing Marta to gain one more position to P26 and Doriane to P28.

Bühler passed Cho and Sawer, advancing to P29.

A safety car was deployed as Maschio ended up in the gravel with suspension damage after contact with Lacorte. The race resumed on lap 4, with Taponen accelerating away late, leaving the VAR teammates Badoer, Clerot and Domingues - who leapfrogged Camara - battling behind.

García lost one position to Pierre Edgar at the restart, with Pin now glued behind in the sister Iron Dames car. On lap 7, Pin went around the outside at turn 1 and Marta kept the low line, as she tried to avoid her teammate she had a spin at turn 1 and fell at the back of the pack, with Doriane up to 27th and Léna right behind.

Once ahead, Pin soon caught Edgar Pierre, but the Frenchman found a way past Veselaho one lap later and Pin put pressure on the ART GP driver.

García, faster than the cars ahead, reduced a 20-second gap to 10 seconds.

On lap 13, Léna Bühler was defending from Sawer when her car developed technical issues, forcing her to retire. Pin advanced to P16 after passing Veselaho but didn't have enough time to catch Edgar Pierre, finishing P26. Marta took the chequered flag in P31 after an unfortunate first race.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

On Sunday morning, Marta set a 1:45.094, placing her P14 in Group B. She improved to 1:44.629 but stayed 14th fastest. In Group A, Doriane set a 1:43.859, finishing P14, while Léna set a 1:44.369, finishing P17.

Brando Badoer, despite an off in the grass on his final run, clinched pole position with a 1:42.292 lap that emerged as the fastest of the session; he would share the front row with Wharton, while Camara and Clerot will line up from second row.

On another scorching hot Sunday afternoon, Doriane Pin lined up in P27, Marta García started in P28, and Léna Bühler in P33. As the lights went out, Wharton had an excellent launch, snatching the lead from Badoer, with Camara also moving up into second place.

Doriane Pin had a strong start, gaining several positions and advancing to P24. Léna Buhler also made a great start, passing Gao, Veselaho, and Cho to move up to P30. Marta García gained one position, passing Bhirombhakdi to reach P26.

Léna continued her aggressive start, passing Sawer before the end of the first lap, moving up to P29. However, Sawer fought back, and the two ran closely for most of the opening laps, showcasing some fierce wheel-to-wheel racing.

Meanwhile, Doriane picked up another position when Bohra fell down the order but lost out to Andriolo on lap 3, thus holding P24. Despite her position, Pin started to clock faster lap times than the group of cars ahead, but she struggled to find a gap and was stuck behind Andriolo for a significant portion of the race.

Marta García had a competitive start, trading positions with Bhirombhakdi, but eventually had to settle behind him on lap 4. The race was tightly contested, with most cars running in a pack, just a few tenths of a second apart.

Léna Bühler resumed her battle with Veselaho once the latter passed Cho on lap 7. Bühler demonstrated determination and the Sauber Academy driver always remained in control and held his position amidst some fierce duels.

When Bhirombhakdi retired, Léna gained one position, moving up to P29, and continued to follow Sawer closely.

García picked up one position on lap 7, advancing to 26th. However, the recovering Bohra made a move stick on lap 11; despite this, the Valencian never gave up and tried to fight back, although she couldn't quite get close enough in the second half of the race. Marta set her personal best lap time of 1:47.668, then ran on a low 1:48 pace for the remainder of the race, holding P27 and showing steady improvement.

After setting a 1:47.370 lap time, Pin was stuck behind a gaggle of cars, unable to find a way past despite her strong pace. She nevertheless held on well and, with a few minutes to go, she managed to hunt down Giovanni Maschio while opening a gap to Edgar Pierre behind.

Doriane ultimately took the chequered flag in P24, marking an overall positive second race, showing good progression at the start.

Bühler ran consistent lap times in the closing stages and, after clearing Sawer on lap 13, set her sights on closing in on Marta García. Despite gaining ground on her fellow former F1 Academy colleague, they crossed the finish line in P27 and P28 respectively.

While it was a learning weekend for all three drivers, the Mugello round proved to be a challenging yet developmental step. They will return to the track in a week's time at Circuit Paul Ricard for the sixth round of the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency