Salim Hanna Takes FREC Victory at Imola
- therookiereporters
- 50 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The Prema Racing driver managed to convert his pole position into a first race victory for the reverse grid race at Imola.
The reverse grid sees Salim Hanna start on pole alongside CL Motorsport’s Jules Roussel on the front row. All five lights were lit and a great start for the pole sitter, who after two corners had to defend from Jules Roussel.
Newcomer for the weekend, Oleksandr Bondarev managed to hold onto third place. Francot managed to make a move on Anurag into fourth. Olivieri, the Rookie Champion, managed to make a move on both Nakamura-Berta and Munoz, now up in the points positions.
Bondarev made it up into second place. Further down the grid, wheel to wheel went Wheldon and Giaccardi, Wheldon managing to keep position. The Trident of Popov went off into the gravel and was stuck. Yellow flags were waved and the safety car was deployed, with drivers under Full Course Yellow conditions. Popov’s teammate Kostic also ended up being out of the race.
With the race back underway, Bondarev made his way to the back of Salim Hanna but wasn’t able to get to the race lead yet. After the restart, Olivieri made his way into eighth and ahead of Sebastian Wheldon.
At the front of the grid, it was a three way battle between Francot, Roussel and Anurag with Francot in a provisional podium place.
Aston Martin junior, Zhenrui Chi went off into the gravel, yellow flags were waved, and he managed to get back on track. The other car off was Yuki Sano who was stuck in the gravel. Back under safety car conditions the race was.
On the restart, Hanna was charging down Tamburello, keeping the race lead. The gap started to shrink between Bondarev and Hanna. Slightly further down the grid a move made by Olivieri allowed Wheldon to get back in front.
One of the G4 was in the grass, the car of Almaosherji who was pushed off by Dupé. The final restart with a single lap left, with Salim Hanna leading yet again.
Crossing the line victorious was Prema Racing’s Salim Hanna. Second place saw Formula Regional European Championship debutant Oleksandr Bondarev and rounding off the podium places was Reno Francot.
Article written by Ria Wiktor ©️ Ria Wiktor 2026
