Kean Nakamura-Berta secured his second victory of the season with a controlled performance in the opening race of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) weekend at Monza. The PREMA Racing driver started from pole position, survived an eventful race and resisted a late challenge from Emanuele Olivieri to move into the championship lead.
Olivieri finished 0.705 seconds behind the winner and secured his second podium of the campaign. The R-ace GP driver also topped the Rookie classification on home soil, while PREMA Racing’s Salim Hanna completed the podium in third.
Nakamura-Berta holds firm after chaotic opening lap
Nakamura-Berta made a strong start and retained the lead into the opening chicane. Behind him, Hanna overtook Olivieri for second, while MP Motorsport’s Zhenrui Chi ran fourth ahead of Rashid Al Dhaheri.
However, a major incident immediately disrupted the race at the first chicane. The collision eliminated Rodin Motorsport team-mates Reza Seewooruthun and Alex Ninovic, Trident Motorsport’s Maksimilian Popov, Van Amersfoort Racing’s Francisco Macedo, R-ace GP’s Yuki Sano and ART Grand Prix’s Mattéo Giaccardi.
Alexandre Muñoz also became caught in the incident but continued. Front-wing damage subsequently forced the ART Grand Prix driver into the pits for repairs. Race control deployed the Safety Car while officials cleared the stranded cars and debris from the circuit.
Olivieri recovers second after the restart
Racing resumed after two laps behind the Safety Car, and Olivieri immediately attempted to reclaim second place from Hanna. The Italian failed with his first attack but completed the move on his second attempt before turning his attention towards Nakamura-Berta.
Meanwhile, Al Dhaheri overtook Chi but later dropped to 11th. His setback allowed Alexander Abkhazava to move into fourth after an excellent start, while MP Motorsport team-mate Sebastian Wheldon climbed into fifth.
By lap six, Olivieri had reduced Nakamura-Berta’s advantage to six-tenths of a second. Behind the leading pair, Hanna defended third from Abkhazava and Wheldon, while Al Dhaheri recovered and rejoined the fight.
Al Dhaheri overtook Abkhazava, but their contest changed on lap eight when the MP Motorsport driver made contact with him at the entry to Ascari. The collision sent Al Dhaheri into a spin and removed him from the battle for the leading positions.
Nakamura-Berta responds to Olivieri’s attack
Olivieri launched his strongest challenge at the beginning of lap 11 and briefly moved ahead of Nakamura-Berta at the first chicane. However, the PREMA Racing driver responded quickly, fought back and reclaimed first place before Olivieri could establish an advantage.
At the same time, Wheldon attacked Hanna for the final podium position. Abkhazava also capitalised on the battle, and the final classification placed him fourth ahead of Wheldon in fifth.
Nakamura-Berta controlled the remaining laps and crossed the line 0.705 seconds ahead of Olivieri. Hanna followed in third, while Abkhazava and Wheldon completed the top five. Chi secured sixth, and Jan Przyrowski recorded the fastest lap with a 1:46.626 on lap 16. The overall result was, however, re-shaped by post-race classifications.
2026 FREC: Monza Race 1 results
- #51 Kean Nakamura-Berta – PREMA Racing
- #73 Emanuele Olivieri – R-ace GP
- #88 Salim Hanna – PREMA Racing
- #15 Alexander Abkhazava – MP Motorsport
- #98 Sebastian Wheldon – MP Motorsport
- #28 Zhenrui Chi – MP Motorsport
- #8 Jan Przyrowski – RPM
- #69 Reno Francot – CL Motorsport
- #78 Gabriel Gomez – Rodin Motorsport
- #87 Kai Daryanani – Trident Motorsport
- #71 Rashid Al Dhaheri – R-ace GP
- #95 Alexandre Muñoz – ART Grand Prix
- #67 Marcus Sæter – G4 Racing
- #24 Jules Roussel – CL Motorsport
- #55 Dion Gowda – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #42 Kyuho Lee – CL Motorsport
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis – PREMA Racing*
- #7 Andrea Dupé – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #47 Andrija Kostić – Trident Motorsport*
- #19 Kabir Anurag – ART Grand Prix
- #99 Giovanni Maschio – RPM
- #3 Saqer Almaosherji – G4 Racing
- #23 Rahim Alibhai – G4 Racing
Retired:
- #27 Mattéo Giaccardi – ART Grand Prix
- #12 Yuki Sano – R-ace GP
- #11 Francisco Macedo – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #33 Maksimilian Popov – Trident Motorsport
- #2 Alex Ninovic – Rodin Motorsport
- #4 Reza Seewooruthun – Rodin Motorsport
Disqualified:
- #5 Miguel Costa – RPM** (originally P13)
Penalties
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis received a 10-second time penalty after the race. He dropped from P7 to P17, promoting Jan Przyrowski to P7 and moving every driver between Przyrowski and Andrea Dupé up one position.
- #47 Andrija Kostić received a six-second time penalty after the race. He dropped from P12 to P19, promoting Alexandre Muñoz to P12 and moving the following drivers up the final classification.
- #5 Miguel Costa was disqualified from Race 1. He lost P13, promoting Marcus Sæter to P13 and moving every driver behind him up one position.
