Kean Nakamura-Berta claimed victory in Race 1 at Paul Ricard to secure his third win of the season and move to the top of the 2026 FREC standings.
The PREMA Racing driver started from his fifth pole position of the year and took the chequered flag more than four seconds clear of R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri.
Olivieri secured his second consecutive podium and Rookie honours, while MP Motorsport’s Alexander Abkhazava completed the podium in third.
Sebastian Wheldon, who briefly led the race at the start, finished fifth, while championship leader Rashid Al Dhaheri’s race was affected by an opening-lap incident with his R-ace GP team-mate.
Wheldon makes the perfect start as R-ace GP collide
Saqer Almaosherji was forced to pull over before the start with a technical issue, leaving his car stranded at the side of the circuit and resulting in an additional formation lap.
Wheldon made an excellent start when the race eventually got underway, diving to the inside at Turn 1 to take the lead from polesitter Nakamura-Berta.
Abkhazava held onto third, while Olivieri moved ahead of Al Dhaheri. The two R-ace GP drivers then made contact, forcing Al Dhaheri into the pits and dropping him to the back of the field.
Nakamura-Berta retakes the lead as Hanna spins
Rodin Motorsport’s Gabriel Gomez consequently inherited fourth ahead of Salim Hanna. However, Hanna’s race was also affected after contact with Alex Ninovic sent him into a spin at the exit of the final corner at the end of Lap 2, dropping the PREMA Racing driver to the back of the field.
Nakamura-Berta reclaimed the lead on Lap 3, before Abkhazava moved into second shortly afterwards. Olivieri overtook Wheldon on Lap 7 to move into third before closing in on Abkhazava.
The pair then battled for second place, with Olivieri eventually completing the move with just over two minutes remaining on the clock. At the same time, Gomez overtook Wheldon to move into fourth.
Nakamura-Berta went on to cross the finish line more than four seconds clear of Olivieri, with Abkhazava completing the podium. Gomez finished fourth ahead of Wheldon, while Ninovic crossed the line in sixth.
MP Motorsport’s Zhenrui Chi finished seventh, ahead of PREMA Racing’s Tomass Stolcermanis and R-ace GP’s Yuki Sano, with CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot completing the top 10.
Post-race penalties shake up the order
Following the race, Ninovic received a 10-second penalty for causing a collision with Hanna. The Rodin Motorsport driver therefore dropped from fifth to 10th in the final classification.
Sano was also handed a three-place grid penalty after gaining an advantage over Francot by leaving the track and rejoining, dropping from ninth to 12th.
Stolcermanis received a penalty for his collision with Ninovic, falling from eighth to 15th in the final classification.
Further penalties were issued to Trident Motorsport’s Andrija Kostić and Kai Daryanani, who finished 23rd and 24th respectively, as well as CL Motorsport’s Noah Lisle, who ended the race in 25th.
2026 FREC: Paul Ricard Race 1 results
- #51 Kean Nakamura-Berta – PREMA Racing
- #73 Emanuele Olivieri – R-ace GP
- #15 Alexander Abkhazava – MP Motorsport
- #78 Gabriel Gomez – Rodin Motorsport
- #98 Sebastian Wheldon – MP Motorsport
- #28 Zhenrui Chi – MP Motorsport
- #69 Reno Francot – CL Motorsport
- #67 Marcus Sæter – G4 Racing
- #2* Alex Ninovic – Rodin Motorsport
- #8 Jan Przyrowski – RPM
- #12* Yuki Sano – R-ace GP
- #19 Kabir Anurag – ART Grand Prix
- #33 Maksimilian Popov – Trident Motorsport
- #60* Tomass Štolcermanis – PREMA Racing
- #95* Alexandre Muñoz – ART Grand Prix
- #4 Reza Seewooruthun – Rodin Motorsport
- #88 Salim Hanna – PREMA Racing
- #5 Miguel Costa – RPM
- #55 Dion Gowda – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #23 Rahim Alibhai – G4 Racing
- #99 Giovanni Maschio – RPM
- #7 Andrea Dupé – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #47* Andrija Kostić – Trident Motorsport
- #87* Kai Daryanani – Trident Motorsport
- #14* Noah Lisle – CL Motorsport
- #71 Rashid Al Dhaheri – R-ace GP
- #24 Jules Roussel – CL Motorsport
- #11 Francisco Macedo – Van Amersfoort Racing
Not Classified:
- #27 Mattéo Giaccardi – ART Grand Prix
- #3 Saqer Almaosherji – G4 Racing
Penalties and notes
- #2 Alex Ninovic received a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision
- #12 Yuki Sano received a 5 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis received a 10 second time penalty for causing a collision
- #95 Alexandre Muñoz received a 5 second time penalty for a false start
- #47 Andrija Kostić received a 5 second time penalty for leaving the track and gaining a lasting advantage
- #87 Kai Daryanani received a 5 second time penalty for leaving the track without a justifiable reason
- #14 Noah Lisle received a 5 second time penalty for a race mode violation
