Nakamura-Berta Storms to Victory at Race 1 in Monza
- therookiereporters
- 3 hours ago
- 2 min read
Kean Nakamura-Berta takes his second victory of his 2026 campaign at a chaotic start to the first race of the Formula Regional European Championship at Monza.
An amazing start for pole sitter Nakamura-Berta keeping the lead into the first corner with Olivieri close behind. However Andrea Dupé stalled the car at the start and there was a massive crash from the midfield at the first corner taking two of the Rodin Motorsport cars, as well as a Vans Amersfoort, Trident and ART Grand Prix car with it which triggered a yellow flag not even a minute into the race. Now Nakamura-Burta was leading from Salim Hanna.but coming out of the second chicane it was Sebastian Wheldon who ran wide, but managed to get the car back onto track. The incident at the first corner then triggered a safety car confirming the drivers out of the race were Reza Seeworuthun, Alex Ninovic, Francisco Macedo, Maksimilian Popov, Matteo Giaccardi and the R-ace GP of Yuki Sano.
Going back to green flags with 21 minutes left saw Salim Hanna in second place under pressure from the R-ace GP of Emanuele Olivieri but Hanna managed to maintain position. Al Dhaheri ran wide and went through the gravel at the Second Lesmo but managed to rejoin below the top 10. Off at the gravel through Ascari went Abkhazava and Francot but both drivers were able to rejoin the race.
In the first corner, it was the G4 Racing car of Rahim Alibhai that spun on his debut at the Temple of Speed and Curva della Roggia saw contact between the two championship leaders - Wheldon and Al Dhaheri.
With 6 minutes and a lap to go Olivieri managed to make the overtake on Nakamura-Berta but not for long as Nakamura-Berta got the place back not even a minute later.
Taking the chequered flag it was Nakamura-Berta who got a win from pole - now his second win of his 2026 campaign. It was the R-ace GP of Emanuele Olivieri who took second place and the final podium place was achieved by Salim Hanna.
Following this race, it’s Kean Nakamura-Berta who leads the championship by a single point from Sebastian Wheldon.
Ian Salvestrin spoke with two-time race winner Nakamura-Berta after the race.
IS - “Kean Nakamura-Berta, great start to the weekend, race win and back in the championship lead, how was that?”
KN-B - “Yeah, you know, it was really great to bounce back on top. Been quick from the start.and a bit of a shaky moment throughout the championship so far but we bounced back well, the team have been doing an Incredible job and I’m just happy they’re rewarded for that really, two cars on the top three, it’s really good for the teams championship and of course P1 for me but you know, the championship stuff is at the end of the year. It’s just going out every race and enjoying it and doing my best really.”
Article Written by Ria Wiktor ©️ Ria Wiktor 2026
