Sebastian Wheldon claimed his first victory since Zandvoort in Race 2 of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) weekend at Paul Ricard.
The MP Motorsport driver inherited pole position after R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri was handed a post-qualifying three-place grid penalty and went on to convert the opportunity into victory. R-ace GP’s Rashid Al Dhaheri, who arrived in France leading the championship, finished sixth.
Kean Nakamura-Berta leaves Paul Ricard as the new championship leader after combining victory in Saturday’s opening race with a third-place finish in Race 2. The PREMA Racing driver now leads the standings by 13 points over joint second-placed Al Dhaheri and Wheldon.
Olivieri secured his second runner-up finish of the weekend and sits just seven points behind the pair in the championship. Alexander Abkhazava initially finished third after starting alongside Wheldon on the front row, but a five-second time penalty dropped the MP Motorsport driver to fifth.
Abkhazava takes the lead as Kostić retires
Abkhazava made the better start from the front row to take the lead from polesitter Wheldon. Reno Francot held onto third from the second row, ahead of Olivieri and Nakamura-Berta.
Wheldon reclaimed the lead during the opening lap, while Trident Motorsport’s Andrija Kostić was forced to retire after making contact with team-mate Kai Daryanani. The contact caused race ending damage to Kostić’s left-rear suspension and brought out the Safety Car.
Wheldon retakes control after the restart
After two laps behind the Safety Car, racing resumed with Wheldon leading Abkhazava. Francot immediately put the MP Motorsport driver under pressure, while Olivieri defended fourth from Nakamura-Berta and Salim Hanna.
Francot moved ahead of Abkhazava on Lap 4, but the MP Motorsport driver fought back one lap later to reclaim second. Olivieri then capitalised on the battle to overtake Francot for third, with Nakamura-Berta also moving ahead of the CL Motorsport driver. Behind them, Gabriel Gomez passed Hanna to move into sixth.
Olivieri moves into second as Wheldon builds his advantage
Francot’s race unravelled on Lap 6 when he spun and dropped to the back of the field. With 11 minutes remaining, Olivieri overtook Abkhazava to move into second and began closing in on Wheldon.
However, the MP Motorsport driver had already built an advantage of almost three seconds over the rest of the field. Wheldon continued to extend his lead over the closing stages and crossed the finish line to claim his first victory since Zandvoort.
The MP Motorsport driver finished 6.142 seconds clear of Olivieri, while Abkhazava initially crossed the line in third before his five-second penalty dropped him to fifth.
2026 FREC: Paul Ricard Race 2 results
- #98 Sebastian Wheldon – MP Motorsport
- #73 Emanuele Olivieri – R-ace GP
- #51 Kean Nakamura-Berta – PREMA Racing
- #78 Gabriel Gomez – Rodin Motorsport
- #15* Alexander Abkhazava – MP Motorsport
- #71 Rashid Al Dhaheri – R-ace GP
- #28 Zhenrui Chi – MP Motorsport
- #2 Alex Ninovic – Rodin Motorsport
- #8 Jan Przyrowski – RPM
- #19 Kabir Anurag – ART Grand Prix
- #60 Tomass Štolcermanis – PREMA Racing
- #88 Salim Hanna – PREMA Racing
- #3 Saqer Almaosherji – G4 Racing
- #4 Reza Seewooruthun – Rodin Motorsport
- #67 Marcus Sæter – G4 Racing
- #95 Alexandre Muñoz – ART Grand Prix
- #12 Yuki Sano – R-ace GP
- #55 Dion Gowda – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #33 Maksimilian Popov – Trident Motorsport
- #27 Mattéo Giaccardi – ART Grand Prix
- #11* Francisco Macedo – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #7 Andrea Dupé – Van Amersfoort Racing
- #99 Giovanni Maschio – RPM
- #24 Jules Roussel – CL Motorsport
- #23 Rahim Alibhai – G4 Racing
- #14 Noah Lisle – CL Motorsport
- #5 Miguel Costa – RPM
Not Classified:
- #69 Reno Francot – CL Motorsport
- #87 Kai Daryanani – Trident Motorsport
- #47 Andrija Kostić – Trident Motorsport
Penalties and notes
- #15 Alexander Abkhazava – MP Motorsport – 5 second time penalty for a false start
- #11 Francisco Macedo – Van Amersfoort Racing – 5 second time penalty for a practice start when leaving the grid on the formation lap
