Mumbai Falcons make a stellar start to the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship
Sebastian Montoya, the son of Formula One driver and multiple Indy 500 winner, Juan Pablo Montoya, took pole position in the first race of his life.
Mumbai Falcons showed their mettle. (Pic Credit Mumbai Falcons)
Mumbai Falcons started the 2022 Formula Regional Asian Championship (FRAC) at the Yes Marina Circuit with a win and two podium finishes. The FIA’s F3 category event took place in Abu Dhabi with three races. One of the eight teams Mumbai Falcons won Monte Carlo (Monte Carlo) Arthur Leclerc, Dino Beganovic of Sweden (Dino Beganovic) And the young Colombian Sebastian Montoya (Sebastian Montoya) A strong team of
Race 1
Mumbai Falcons
Formula One driver and multiple Indy 500 winner Sebastian Montoya’s son, Juan Pablo Montoya, took pole position in the first race of his life, competing against stalwarts like Isaac Hadjar and Paul Aron. . His team drivers Arthur and Dino made it to the top six. Montoya made a strong start and was ahead in the race from start to finish. Despite two safety car periods, he took two very fast laps to outdo the others. After the third stoppage in the final stage, the race ended under the safety car and Montoya was declared the winner of the first FRAC race of his life.
Leclerc slips to podium finish
Arthur Leclerc, the younger brother of Ferrari Formula One star Charles Leclerc, took a podium finish (P3) after starting from 5th on the grid. At one point it looked like he would achieve a podium finish (P2), but hi-tech Grand Prix driver Gabrielle Mini came up with a lot of aggression.
Overtaking the young Monaco driver and took second place. Dino Beganovic started from seventh place on the grid to move to fifth spot.
Race 2
According to the reverse grid rule, Mumbai Falcon driver Montoya started from 10th position, Leclerc at 8th and Beganovic from 6th position. The trio drove the car at such a high speed that they came in the front pack from the middle. Leclerc, in particular, was driving like crazy and he was seen as a contender for a podium position.
Despite his better performance in the middle pack, Dino’s luck did not favor him and his car collided with Gabriele Mini’s car while overtaking from outside. Both the drivers were thrown out of the race after the collision. However, Montoya performed brilliantly and reached the fourth spot in the last stage, leaving behind two cars in one stroke. The Colombian racer may have missed out on a podium position, the transition from P10 to P4 is an extraordinary milestone for a first time racer. R-S GP’s Gabriel Bortoleto won the second race of the season. His teammates Lorenzo Fluxa and Arthur Leclerc followed him.
Pic Credit Mumbai Falcons
Race 3
The race was halted for some time after a collision between the vehicles of Abu Dhabi Racing driver Aamna Al Qubaisi and Evens GP racer Cem Bolukbasi. The red flag incident took some of the momentum of the Falcon drivers, but despite all the trouble, Leclerc did well in the race and came back in the front pack.
Image credit Mumbai Falcons
However, his brilliant move, which appeared a little late in the race, was also insufficient to secure a podium position and the Monaco drivers finished on P5 with some important points in the championship. Meanwhile, Montoya and Beganovic finished tenth and eleventh respectively.
Sohil Shah impresses in Formula 4
Meanwhile, on January 20, the Formula 4 series at the Yes Marina Circuit gave birth to a new Indian racing superstar. Sohil has been one of India’s most talked about young drivers for a long time, but in the Formula 4 UAE series, he has once again proved his mettle. This young Bangalore driver showed his speed to finish fifth in Race 1 and Race 2 among the best 27 junior competitors aspiring to be an F1 driver. Alas! After making an aggressive start in the race, the young Bangalore driver went wide at Turn One. The young driver of Mumbai Falcon fought bravely and opened his account by finishing 10th in a race full of red flags. In Race 2, Shah was demoted to P8 for making a mistake on the track. He finished tenth behind the front and middle pack. The Bangalore driver did some brilliant overtaking to reach the sixth position. But once again he got punished for violating the pitlane and had to be content with the tenth place.
Pic Credit Mumbai Falcons twitter
In Race 3, Shah finished on P15. He climbed up to 10th place but after the initial event, he reached the 25th place. The young racer’s overtaking ability was once again on display when he landed in a respectable position. The fourth and final race proved to be a misfortune for Shah and due to a mistake in the last stage, he had to retire prematurely in the race. Mumbai Falcons CEO Moid Tungekar was pleased with the team’s performance at the start of the season, “Despite several mechanical glitches, it’s definitely a pretty good start. We would like to thank Prema for Formula Regional and XCEL Motorsport for Formula 4. We hope to achieve more success in the races to come.” The 2022 Formula Regional Championship is not far away. The next three races will take place at the Dubai Autodrome on 29 and 30 January.
