Rashid Al Dhaheri has taken the lead of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) Drivers’ Standings after a consistent Spa-Francorchamps weekend moved the R-ace GP driver to the top on 94 points.
Al Dhaheri arrived at Spa still chasing Sebastian Wheldon in the standings, but he left Belgium one point ahead after scoring strongly in Race 1 and Race 3. The Emirati driver finished second behind Alexandre Munoz in the opening race, before taking third and the fastest lap in Race 3 as Maksimilian Popov claimed his maiden FREC victory.
Wheldon now sits second on 93 points after a more difficult round by his early-season standards. The MP Motorsport driver finished fifth in Race 1 and 10th in Race 3, while Race 2 was cancelled. Kean Nakamura-Berta remains third on 81 points, while Reno Francot holds fourth on 70 after a challenging Spa weekend.
In the Teams’ Standings, MP Motorsport continues to lead with 157 points, but R-ace GP has closed the gap after a strong round from Al Dhaheri, Emanuele Olivieri and Yuki Sano. R-ace GP now sits second on 147 points, with PREMA Racing third on 119.
Al Dhaheri takes championship lead after consistent Spa round
Al Dhaheri was the main winner in the championship picture at Spa. He started the weekend strongly by topping Group A in Qualifying 1, securing a front-row start for Race 1 while Alexandre Munoz took overall pole from Group B.
In Race 1, Al Dhaheri kept the pressure on Munoz throughout the damp contest and challenged for victory on the final lap. Although Munoz held firm to take his first FREC win, Al Dhaheri’s second place gave him a valuable points haul.
He then added another podium in Race 3. Popov controlled the race from pole, but Al Dhaheri finished third and set the fastest lap, giving him the bonus point that moved him ahead of Wheldon in the championship.
Al Dhaheri now leads with 94 points, just one clear of Wheldon. With only three rounds completed, the gap remains extremely narrow, but Spa has changed the momentum at the top.
Wheldon slips to second but remains firmly in contention
Wheldon entered the weekend as the championship leader after his double victory at Zandvoort, and he looked competitive from the start. He topped the opening Collective Test session for MP Motorsport, while Olivieri later set the fastest time of Thursday overall for R-ace GP.
However, the races proved more difficult for the American. He finished fifth in Race 1 after starting from the second row, then took 10th in Race 3 as Al Dhaheri gained the advantage.
The cancellation of Race 2 also limited Wheldon’s opportunity to recover points across the weekend. He now sits second on 93 points, but the one-point gap means the title fight remains finely balanced heading into the next round.
Nakamura-Berta and Francot stay in the chasing group
Nakamura-Berta remains third in the Drivers’ Standings on 81 points after adding important points at Spa. He finished third in Race 1 behind Munoz and Al Dhaheri, then followed up with fifth in Race 3.
Although he lost ground to the top two, the PREMA Racing driver remains within reach. He sits 13 points behind Al Dhaheri and 12 behind Wheldon, keeping him firmly involved in the early championship fight.
Francot endured a much more difficult round. The CL Motorsport driver finished 13th in Race 1 after contact with Popov at Eau Rouge, then dropped to 20th in Race 3. As a result, he remains fourth on 70 points and now sits 24 points away from the championship lead.
Munoz and Popov become new winners at Spa
Spa also added two new winners to the 2026 FREC season. Munoz converted his Qualifying 1 pole into a lights-to-flag victory in Race 1, becoming the first rookie to win a FREC race since 2024.
That result moved the ART Grand Prix driver up to seventh in the standings on 37 points. It also marked a major breakthrough after he had already shown strong pace in qualifying.
Popov then secured his first single-seater pole in Qualifying 2 before converting it into victory in Race 3. The Trident driver controlled the race despite two late Safety Car periods and became the sixth different winner from six different teams in the opening seven races of the season.
His victory lifted him to eighth in the standings on 35 points, just two behind Munoz and five behind Olivieri.
Olivieri, Ninovic and Abkhazava close up behind the front four
Olivieri continued his strong Spa form after topping both Thursday’s overall running and Friday Free Practice. He then scored in both completed races, finishing sixth in Race 1 and eighth in Race 3.
That moves the R-ace GP rookie to sixth in the standings on 40 points, just one behind Alex Ninovic. The Rodin Motorsport driver sits fifth on 41 after taking seventh in Race 1 and sixth in Race 3.
Alexander Abkhazava also enjoyed a strong weekend for MP Motorsport. His Race 3 podium lifted him to ninth on 32 points, level with teammate Zhenrui Chi. Chi’s Spa weekend proved more difficult after he retired from Race 1 and finished 11th in Race 3, but his earlier results keep him inside the top 10.
2026 FREC Drivers’ Standings after Round 3 at Spa-Francorchamps
- Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) – 94
- Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport) – 93
- Kean Nakamura-Berta (PREMA Racing) – 81
- Reno Francot (CL Motorsport) – 70
- Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) – 41
- Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP) – 40
- Alexandre Munoz (ART Grand Prix) – 37
- Maximilian Popov (Trident Motorsport) – 35
- Alexander Abkhazava (MP Motorsport) – 32
- Zhenrui Chi (MP Motorsport) – 32
- Salim Hanna (PREMA Racing) – 31
- Dion Gowda (Van Amersfoort Racing) – 19
- Reza Seewooruthun (Rodin Motorsport) – 13
- Yuki Sano (R-ace GP) – 13
- Jan Przyrowski (RPM) – 12
- Kai Daryanani (Trident Motorsport) – 9
- Gabriel Gomez (Rodin Motorsport) – 8
- Tomass Štolcermanis (PREMA Racing) – 7
- Marcus Sæter (G4 Racing) – 6
- Miguel Costa (RPM) – 4
- Francisco Macedo (Van Amersfoort Racing) – 2
- Andrea Dupé (Van Amersfoort Racing) – 0
- Andrija Kostić (Trident Motorsport) – 0
- Jules Roussel (CL Motorsport) – 0
- Matteo Giaccardi (ART Grand Prix) – 0
- Enea Frey (CL Motorsport) – 0
- Kabir Anurag (ART Grand Prix) – 0
- Giovanni Maschio (RPM) – 0
- Saqer Al Maosherji (G4 Racing) – 0
- Thomas Strauven (CL Motorsport) – 0
- Rahim Alibhai (G4 Racing) – 0
MP Motorsport keeps Teams’ Championship lead after 2026 FREC Spa-Francorchamps round
MP Motorsport remains at the head of the Teams’ Standings after Spa, although R-ace GP has reduced the gap. MP now has 157 points after Wheldon, Abkhazava and Chi all contributed across the first three rounds.
However, R-ace GP has moved closer with 147 points. Al Dhaheri’s championship-leading total forms the foundation of the team’s charge, while Olivieri’s strong rookie form and Sano’s points have helped keep R-ace GP within 10 points of MP Motorsport.
PREMA Racing sits third on 119 points. Nakamura-Berta remains its leading scorer, while Salim Hanna and Tomass Štolcermanis have also added to the team’s total.
CL Motorsport holds fourth on 70 points, with Francot responsible for the bulk of its score. Rodin Motorsport follows in fifth with 62, ahead of Trident Motorsport on 44 and ART Grand Prix on 37.
2026 FREC Teams’ Standings after Round 3 at Spa-Francorchamps
- MP Motorsport – 157
- R-ace GP – 147
- PREMA Racing – 119
- CL Motorsport – 70
- Rodin Motorsport – 62
- Trident Motorsport – 44
- ART Grand Prix – 37
- Van Amersfoort Racing – 21
- RPM – 16
- G4 Racing – 6
Spa tightens the early FREC title fight
Spa-Francorchamps has reshaped the 2026 FREC championship fight. Wheldon arrived in Belgium with the momentum after his Zandvoort double, but Al Dhaheri leaves with the lead after another consistent and composed round.
The margin at the top remains tiny. Just one point separates Al Dhaheri and Wheldon, while Nakamura-Berta remains close enough to capitalise if either leader stumbles. Francot lost ground, but he remains fourth and still has time to recover.
Further back, Munoz and Popov used Spa to announce themselves as race-winning contenders. Their victories also underlined the depth of the 2026 field, with six different winners from six different teams across the opening seven races.
In the Teams’ Championship, MP Motorsport still leads, but R-ace GP has moved firmly into striking distance. With PREMA Racing also within range, the battle between the top three teams remains open as the season heads towards its next round.
