Emanuele Olivieri transformed the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship title fight during Round 7 at Imola, moving from fourth in the Drivers’ standings and 20 points off the lead to first with a 20-point advantage over Sebastian Wheldon.
The R-ace GP driver opened his home weekend by taking pole, victory and the fastest lap in Race 1. Ninth in the reversed-grid Race 2 limited his gain as Wheldon finished eighth, but Olivieri responded with second behind Oleksandr Bondarev in Race 3. He consequently leaves the penultimate round on 200 points, 20 clear of Wheldon.
Meanwhile, previous championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta drops to third on 175 points, while Rashid Al Dhaheri sits fourth on 165. Reno Francot consolidated fifth after taking consecutive podiums, Salim Hanna climbed to seventh following his maiden win in Race 2, and Bondarev entered the standings in 14th after scoring 37 points during an extraordinary debut weekend.
Olivieri also mathematically secured the Rookie Championship, while R-ace GP strengthened its Teams’ Championship advantage despite MP Motorsport and several midfield teams making significant gains.
Olivieri turns 20-point deficit into 20-point FREC lead
Olivieri entered Imola fourth in the championship on 152 points, trailing Paul Ricard leader Nakamura-Berta by 20. However, the Italian immediately placed himself in a position to reverse that deficit by topping Free Practice and then claiming pole for Race 1.
He converted that pole into his second victory of 2026, repeatedly controlling Safety Car restarts while Wheldon applied pressure behind. Olivieri also recorded the fastest lap, completing a near-maximum opening race and simultaneously securing the Rookie Championship. (pitdebrief.com)
Race 2 placed the title contenders further down the order through the partially reversed grid. Olivieri recovered to ninth but lost one point to Wheldon, who finished eighth, leaving only two points between them heading into Sunday. However, Qualifying 2 and Race 3 decisively swung the weekend back towards Olivieri. He started alongside Bondarev on the front row and finished second, while Wheldon could only recover to 12th and failed to score. Olivieri therefore leaves Imola on 200 points, 48 more than he carried into the round and 20 ahead of Wheldon.
Wheldon remains second after mixed Imola weekend
Wheldon arrived at Imola second on 159 points, level with Al Dhaheri but officially ahead on countback. His opening race immediately strengthened his championship prospects when he finished only 0.189s behind Olivieri in second.
That result temporarily left Wheldon only three points behind the new championship leader. He then made another small gain in Race 2, passing Olivieri during the closing stages to finish eighth while his rival took ninth. The result reduced the deficit to two points before Sunday.
However, Qualifying 2 compromised Wheldon’s final race. After initially leading Group B, he eventually finished seventh in the group and started Race 3 from 13th. He could only gain one position during a Safety Car-heavy contest and finished 12th without points.
Wheldon still adds 21 points across Imola and reaches 180, but Olivieri’s 48-point weekend turns their two-point Sunday-morning gap into a 20-point margin heading to Hockenheim.
Nakamura-Berta drops from first to third
Nakamura-Berta suffered the largest championship setback among the leading four after entering Imola first on 172 points and 13 ahead of Wheldon and Al Dhaheri.
The PREMA Racing driver faced a difficult opening race after carrying a five-place grid penalty. He started 19th and recovered to 15th but remained outside the points while Olivieri and Wheldon scored heavily at the front.
Nakamura-Berta salvaged one point with 10th in Race 2 before improving to ninth in the finale. However, those returns could not match Olivieri’s victory and second place or Wheldon’s Race 1 podium.
The previous championship leader therefore adds only three points and leaves Imola on 175, dropping from first to third. He now trails Olivieri by 25 points and sits five behind Wheldon.
The reversal demonstrates how dramatically Imola reshaped the championship. Nakamura-Berta arrived 20 points ahead of Olivieri but leaves 25 behind him, producing a 45-point swing between the two PREMA and R-ace GP contenders.
Al Dhaheri falls to fourth after difficult opening race
Al Dhaheri also lost ground after arriving at Imola level with Wheldon on 159 points and only 13 behind Nakamura-Berta.
His weekend suffered an immediate setback when contact with Tomass Štolcermanis eliminated both drivers on the opening lap of Race 1. As Olivieri won and Wheldon finished second, Al Dhaheri left the first contest without adding to his total.
The R-ace GP driver responded with sixth in Race 2, collecting valuable points while the leading championship pair finished eighth and ninth. However, 10th in Race 3 produced only another single point.
Al Dhaheri consequently reaches 165 points and drops from third to fourth. He trails Olivieri by 35, Wheldon by 15 and Nakamura-Berta by 10.
Francot strengthens fifth with double Imola podium
Francot remains fifth but significantly increases his advantage over the rest of the midfield after one of his strongest weekends since Zandvoort.
The CL Motorsport driver finished fifth in Race 1 before returning to the podium in Saturday afternoon’s reversed-grid contest. He overtook teammate Jules Roussel for third and secured his first podium since May.
Francot then backed that result up with another third place in Race 3. He remained close to Bondarev and Olivieri throughout the repeated Safety Car restarts but found few opportunities to move forward at a circuit where overtaking remained difficult.
His Imola results take him from 90 to 123 points. Francot remains fifth but now sits 38 clear of sixth-placed Alexander Abkhazava.
Abkhazava retains sixth as Hanna climbs
Abkhazava continues to hold sixth after scoring strongly in the opening two races. Fourth in Race 1 added 12 points, while seventh in Race 2 provided another four. However, his Race 3 ended without a score after contact during the final contest.
The MP Motorsport driver nevertheless reaches 85 points, strengthening his hold on sixth.
Hanna made greater progress immediately behind. The PREMA driver opened the weekend with eighth before converting reverse-grid pole into his maiden FREC victory in Race 2. He controlled three Safety Car restarts and kept debutant Bondarev behind to become the ninth different winner of the 2026 season.
Although Hanna retired from Race 3, his weekend moves him to 74 points and seventh in the standings, ahead of Alex Ninovic and Zhenrui Chi.
Munoz climbs into top 10 after Race 1 podium
Alex Ninovic occupies eighth on 63 points, while Chi remains ninth on 61 following a difficult Imola round for both drivers.
The largest movement around them came from Alexandre Munoz. The ART Grand Prix rookie started Race 1 from third and retained the position to claim his second podium of the campaign following his Spa victory.
Munoz failed to score in Race 2 but added four points with eighth in the finale. He consequently moves to 56 points and climbs into 10th overall, one ahead of Yuki Sano.
Sano remains on 55, while Maksimilian Popov’s sixth-place finish in Race 3 takes the Trident driver to 50. Gabriel Gomez follows on 48 after failing to add to his total during the weekend.
Bondarev enters standings with 37-point debut
Bondarev delivered the most dramatic new entry into the Drivers’ Championship after joining Van Amersfoort Racing for Imola.
The Ukrainian immediately showed his potential by topping the opening Pre-Event Test session before finishing 10th in his first FREC race and scoring one point.
Race 2 transformed his weekend. Starting third, Bondarev passed Roussel for second and remained within four tenths of Hanna at the finish, collecting nine points and Rookie honours.
He then claimed overall pole for Race 3 and converted it into victory, controlling three restarts to defeat Olivieri by 0.443s. The win made Bondarev the 10th different race winner of the season and gave Van Amersfoort Racing its first victory of 2026.
Bondarev therefore scores 37 points on debut and enters the overall standings in 14th, immediately ahead of Štolcermanis and Jan Przyrowski.
Štolcermanis and Roussel make significant gains
Štolcermanis leaves Imola on 32 points, level with Przyrowski but ahead in the official classification. His fourth-place finish in Race 3 supplied the majority of his weekend gain after an opening-lap retirement in Race 1 and 11th in Race 2.
Roussel also produced a major step forward. The CL Motorsport driver scored ninth in Race 1, fourth in Race 2 and fifth in Race 3, increasing his championship total to 28 points.
He consequently climbs into 18th, one point ahead of Marcus Sæter. Dion Gowda reaches 25 after finishing seventh in Race 3, while Kabir Anurag moves to 20 after scoring sixth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2.
2026 FREC Drivers’ Standings after Round 7 at Imola
- Emanuele Olivieri — R-ace GP — 200 points
- Sebastian Wheldon — MP Motorsport — 180
- Kean Nakamura-Berta — PREMA Racing — 175
- Rashid Al Dhaheri — R-ace GP — 165
- Reno Francot — CL Motorsport — 123
- Alexander Abkhazava — MP Motorsport — 85
- Salim Hanna — PREMA Racing — 74
- Alex Ninovic — Rodin Motorsport — 63
- Zhenrui Chi — MP Motorsport — 61
- Alexandre Munoz — ART Grand Prix — 56
- Yuki Sano — R-ace GP — 55
- Maksimilian Popov — Trident Motorsport — 50
- Gabriel Gomez — Rodin Motorsport — 48
- Oleksandr Bondarev — Van Amersfoort Racing — 37
- Tomass Štolcermanis — PREMA Racing — 32
- Jan Przyrowski — RPM — 32
- Reza Seewooruthun — Rodin Motorsport — 30
- Jules Roussel — CL Motorsport — 28
- Marcus Sæter — G4 Racing — 27
- Dion Gowda — Van Amersfoort Racing — 25
- Kabir Anurag — ART Grand Prix — 20
- Saqer Almaosherji — G4 Racing — 15
- Francisco Macedo — Van Amersfoort Racing — 10
- Kai Daryanani — Trident Motorsport — 10
- Andrea Dupé — Van Amersfoort Racing — 8
- Mattéo Giaccardi — ART Grand Prix — 6
- Miguel Costa — RPM — 4
- Andrija Kostić — Trident Motorsport — 0
- Kyuho Lee — CL Motorsport — 0
- René Lammers — CL Motorsport — 0
- Rahim Alibhai — G4 Racing — 0
- Enea Frey — CL Motorsport — 0
- Giovanni Maschio — RPM — 0
- Noah Lisle — CL Motorsport — 0
- Thomas Strauven — CL Motorsport — 0 points.
Olivieri therefore takes a 20-point advantage over Wheldon into the finale, while Nakamura-Berta sits another five points behind. Al Dhaheri remains 35 from the lead, leaving the championship’s leading four separated by considerably more than the 20 points that covered them entering Imola.
Olivieri seals 2026 FREC Rookie Championship
Olivieri’s Imola weekend also mathematically secured the Rookie Championship before the overall title battle concludes.
He entered the round already holding a 104-point advantage over Gabriel Gomez. Victory and fastest lap in Race 1 pushed that margin beyond reach, allowing the R-ace GP driver to secure the Rookie crown while simultaneously taking the overall championship lead.
Olivieri now holds 200 points in the Rookie classification, 144 ahead of new second-placed Munoz. The ART Grand Prix driver’s Race 1 podium and Race 3 points take him to 56, allowing him to move ahead of Gomez, who remains on 48.
Bondarev enters fourth on 37 points after his podium and victory, with Štolcermanis fifth on 32 and Sæter sixth on 27.
Bondarev transforms Rookie order on debut
Bondarev’s arrival also reshaped the classification immediately behind the already-crowned champion. His one point from Race 1, nine from Race 2, 25 for the Race 3 victory and two for pole give him 37 from his first weekend. He therefore enters the Rookie standings only 11 points behind Gomez and 19 behind Munoz.
Štolcermanis remains fifth after moving onto 32 through his Race 3 fourth place, while Sæter stays sixth with 27. Kyuho Lee and Rahim Alibhai remain scoreless.
Although the class title has already gone to Olivieri, the battle behind him remains much closer heading into Hockenheim.
2026 FREC Rookie Standings after Round 7 at Imola
- Emanuele Olivieri — R-ace GP — 200 points
- Alexandre Munoz — ART Grand Prix — 56
- Gabriel Gomez — Rodin Motorsport — 48
- Oleksandr Bondarev — Van Amersfoort Racing — 37
- Tomass Štolcermanis — PREMA Racing — 32
- Marcus Sæter — G4 Racing — 27
- Kyuho Lee — CL Motorsport — 0
- Rahim Alibhai — G4 Racing — 0 points.
Olivieri leads Munoz by 144 points and has already mathematically secured the Rookie title.
R-ace GP extends Teams’ Championship lead
R-ace GP entered Imola with 366 points and a 77-point advantage over MP Motorsport. Olivieri supplied the majority of its Round 7 gains through victory, ninth and second, while Al Dhaheri added points in Races 2 and 3.
The team consequently reaches 420 points, adding 54 across the round.
MP Motorsport also scored strongly, particularly through Wheldon and Abkhazava, and moves from 289 to 326. However, its 37-point gain falls short of R-ace GP’s return.
As a result, the championship leader actually increases its advantage from 77 to 94 points heading into the final round.
PREMA retains third as CL Motorsport surges
PREMA Racing remains third on 281 points after Hanna’s Race 2 victory and Nakamura-Berta’s smaller scoring returns. The team adds 29 points across Imola but falls further behind MP Motorsport, with the gap between second and third increasing to 45 points.
Behind them, CL Motorsport made one of the largest gains of the entire weekend. Francot collected fifth and two third-place finishes, while Roussel scored in all three races.
CL adds 53 points to rise from 98 to 151, moving ahead of Rodin Motorsport and into fourth. Rodin remains on 141 after a scoreless weekend and consequently drops to fifth.
Only 10 points now separate the two teams.
ART and Van Amersfoort make major Imola gains
ART Grand Prix also transformed its position through Munoz, Anurag and Giaccardi. Munoz supplied a Race 1 podium and Race 3 points, while Anurag finished sixth in Race 1 and fifth in Race 2. Giaccardi also scored in the opener. ART consequently moves from 43 to 82 points, nearly doubling its total and climbing from seventh after Paul Ricard to sixth.
Van Amersfoort Racing enjoyed an even larger jump through Bondarev’s remarkable debut and Gowda’s Race 3 points. The team adds 43 points to reach 80, moving from ninth to seventh and sitting only two points behind ART.
Trident Motorsport follows on 60 after Popov’s Race 3 sixth place, while G4 Racing remains ninth on 42 and RPM completes the standings on 36.
2026 FREC Teams’ Standings after Round 7 at Imola
- R-ace GP — 420 points
- MP Motorsport — 326
- PREMA Racing — 281
- CL Motorsport — 151
- Rodin Motorsport — 141
- ART Grand Prix — 82
- Van Amersfoort Racing — 80
- Trident Motorsport — 60
- G4 Racing — 42
- RPM — 36 points.
R-ace GP therefore holds a 94-point lead over MP Motorsport, while PREMA sits 45 points behind second. Further back, CL Motorsport has moved 10 clear of Rodin, while only two points separate ART Grand Prix and Van Amersfoort Racing.
Imola transforms the 2026 FREC title fight
Round 7 completely changed the championship picture that emerged from Paul Ricard. Nakamura-Berta arrived at Imola leading on 172 points, with Wheldon and Al Dhaheri 13 behind and Olivieri another seven back. Only 20 points covered the leading four.
Olivieri now leaves the circuit with 200 points and a 20-point advantage, having turned his own 20-point deficit into an equally large lead. Wheldon remains his nearest challenger on 180, Nakamura-Berta has slipped to third on 175 and Al Dhaheri sits fourth on 165.
The weekend also delivered major milestones elsewhere. Hanna became a first-time FREC winner in Race 2, while Bondarev followed second place on Saturday with pole and victory on Sunday during his debut round. Francot returned to consistent podium contention, and Munoz strengthened his position as the nearest classified Rookie behind champion Olivieri.
R-ace GP also heads towards Hockenheim in an increasingly commanding Teams’ Championship position. While Imola demonstrated again how quickly the Drivers’ title can swing, Olivieri now carries the strongest advantage any of the leading contenders has held entering the final round.
