Sebastian Wheldon emerged fastest across Friday’s two Free Practice sessions at Zandvoort as the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) weekend began in earnest at the Dutch venue.
The MP Motorsport driver, who had already ended Thursday’s Collective Tests fastest overall, carried that pace into Free Practice 1. His 1:30.114 in the morning remained unbeaten for the rest of the day, with rising afternoon temperatures preventing the field from improving in Free Practice 2.
With the second round of the eight-event season taking place at the 4.259km Zandvoort circuit, the two sessions offered the final preparation before Saturday Qualifying and race action.
2026 FREC Round 2: Zandvoort: Free Practice 1: Wheldon remains the driver to beat
Wheldon set the pace early in the opening 50-minute session, first moving to the top with a 1:31.096 before improving after a brief red-flag period. His eventual benchmark of 1:30.114 put him 0.314s clear of Francisco Macedo, who emerged as his closest challenger for Van Amersfoort Racing.
Macedo’s 1:30.428 was enough for second place, ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Reza Seewooruthun, who completed the top three with a 1:30.471. Prema Racing’s Kean Nakamura-Berta followed in fourth, narrowly ahead of team-mate Salim Hanna.
Hanna had briefly moved into second late in the session with a 1:30.617, but was shuffled back to fifth as the final runs played out. Gabriel Gomez was sixth for Rodin Motorsport and led the rookie runners, ahead of Emanuele Olivieri, Alexander Abkhazava, Alex Ninovic and Andrea Dupé.
Free Practice 1 results
- Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport) — 1:30.114
- Francisco Macedo (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:30.428 — +0.314
- Reza Seewooruthun (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:30.471 — +0.357
- Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing) — 1:30.484 — +0.370
- Salim Hanna (Prema Racing) — 1:30.584 — +0.470
- Gabriel Gomez (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:30.598 — +0.484
- Alexander Abkhazava (MP Motorsport) — 1:30.629 — +0.515
- Zhenrui Chi (MP Motorsport) — 1:30.726 — +0.612
- Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:30.739 — +0.625
- Andrea Dupé (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:30.760 — +0.646
- Kabir Anurag (ART Grand Prix) — 1:30.860 — +0.746
- Dion Gowda (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:30.868 — +0.754
- Matteo Giaccardi (ART Grand Prix) — 1:31.013 — +0.899
- Miguel Costa (RPM) — 1:31.104 — +0.990
- Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) — 1:31.131 — +1.017
- Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP) — 1:31.189 — +1.075
- Maximilian Popov (Trident Motorsport) — 1:31.336 — +1.222
- Jules Roussel (CL Motorsport) — 1:31.366 — +1.252
- Tomass Štolcermanis (Prema Racing) — 1:31.371 — +1.257
- Jan Przyrowski (RPM) — 1:31.429 — +1.315
- Reno Francot (CL Motorsport) — 1:31.491 — +1.377
- Yuki Sano (R-ace GP) — 1:31.528 — +1.414
- Saqer Al Maosherji (G4 Racing) — 1:31.824 — +1.710
- Andrija Kostić (Trident Motorsport) — 1:31.847 — +1.733
- Kai Daryanani (Trident Motorsport) — 1:31.866 — +1.752
- Marcus Sæter (G4 Racing) — 1:31.887 — +1.773
- Thomas Strauven (CL Motorsport) — 1:31.954 — +1.840
- Alexandre Munoz (ART Grand Prix) — 1:32.470 — +2.356
- Giovanni Maschio (RPM) — 1:32.595 — +2.481
- Rahim Alibhai (G4 Racing) — 1:33.382 — +3.268
2026 FREC Round 2: Zandvoort: Free Practice 2: Macedo strikes late to top afternoon running
In contrast to the morning session, Free Practice 2 proved slower as track temperatures rose. Macedo delivered the decisive lap with less than a minute remaining, posting a 1:31.285 to put Van Amersfoort Racing on top of the afternoon order.
Championship leader Reno Francot briefly headed the session at his home circuit following a red-flag interruption, but ultimately finished second for CL Motorsport. His 1:31.336 left him just 0.051s behind Macedo.
Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic was third with a 1:31.351, ahead of ART Grand Prix rookie Alexandre Munoz, who placed fourth overall and led the rookie classification. Seewooruthun completed the top five, ensuring he remained a regular presence near the front across both Friday sessions.
Hanna was sixth for Prema Racing, followed by CL Motorsport’s Thomas Strauven and Rodin Motorsport rookie Gomez. Marcus Sæter and Nakamura-Berta completed the top 10, while 20 cars finished within one second of Macedo’s benchmark.
Free Practice 2 results
- Francisco Macedo (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:31.285
- Reno Francot (CL Motorsport) — 1:31.336 — +0.051
- Alex Ninovic (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:31.351 — +0.066
- Alexandre Munoz (ART Grand Prix) — 1:31.436 — +0.151
- Reza Seewooruthun (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:31.479 — +0.194
- Salim Hanna (Prema Racing) — 1:31.485 — +0.200
- Thomas Strauven (CL Motorsport) — 1:31.680 — +0.395
- Gabriel Gomez (Rodin Motorsport) — 1:31.711 — +0.426
- Marcus Sæter (G4 Racing) — 1:31.738 — +0.453
- Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing) — 1:31.738 — +0.453
- Rashid Al Dhaheri (R-ace GP) — 1:31.842 — +0.557
- Dion Gowda (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:31.884 — +0.599
- Saqer Al Maosherji (G4 Racing) — 1:31.941 — +0.656
- Miguel Costa (RPM) — 1:32.024 — +0.739
- Kai Daryanani (Trident Motorsport) — 1:32.076 — +0.791
- Tomass Štolcermanis (Prema Racing) — 1:32.088 — +0.803
- Andrea Dupé (Van Amersfoort Racing) — 1:32.089 — +0.804
- Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP) — 1:32.133 — +0.848
- Andrija Kostić (Trident Motorsport) — 1:32.153 — +0.868
- Jules Roussel (CL Motorsport) — 1:32.179 — +0.894
- Rahim Alibhai (G4 Racing) — 1:32.303 — +1.018
- Kabir Anurag (ART Grand Prix) — 1:32.367 — +1.082
- Yuki Sano (R-ace GP) — 1:32.412 — +1.127
- Matteo Giaccardi (ART Grand Prix) — 1:32.477 — +1.192
- Jan Przyrowski (RPM) — 1:32.667 — +1.382
- Maximilian Popov (Trident Motorsport) — 1:32.679 — +1.394
- Sebastian Wheldon (MP Motorsport) — 1:33.005 — +1.720
- Alexander Abkhazava (MP Motorsport) — 1:33.202 — +1.917
- Zhenrui Chi (MP Motorsport) — 1:33.271 — +1.986
- Giovanni Maschio (RPM) — 1:33.447 — +2.162
Wheldon leads the field into Qualifying
Although Macedo ended FP2 fastest, Wheldon’s morning lap remained the overall benchmark from Friday Practice. Macedo’s consistency across both sessions placed him among the strongest contenders heading into Qualifying, while Seewooruthun also showed front-running pace with third in FP1 and fifth in FP2.
Behind them, Prema Racing featured regularly near the top with Nakamura-Berta and Hanna, while Rodin Motorsport placed both Seewooruthun and Ninovic inside the top five in at least one session. Among the rookies, Gomez led FP1, while Munoz took rookie honours in FP2.
Track action resumes on Saturday with the first Qualifying session at 08:55 CEST, split into two 15-minute segments for Groups A and B. The opening 30-minute race of the weekend will follow at 16:45 CEST.
Both Qualifying sessions and the race will be broadcast by 78 broadcasters across more than 200 territories, including ACI Sport TV, with live streaming also available on the championship’s official YouTube channel, @fiaformularegionaleu.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Wheldon maintained MP Motorsport’s momentum at Zandvoort by setting the fastest lap of Friday Practice, but Macedo’s late FP2 effort confirmed Van Amersfoort Racing as a major threat.
With 20 cars covered by less than one second in the afternoon session, Qualifying is set to be tightly contested. The battle for early Round 2 momentum remains open heading into Saturday.
