Kato takes second FRECA podium of the season in Paul Ricard
Taito Kato drove a strong opening race at Paul Ricard to climb from sixth on the grid to secure his second FRECA podium finish of the season

The fifth round of the Formula Regional European Championship (FRECA) was held at the French Paul Ricard circuit and marked the halfway point of the 2025 season.
Honda Formula Dream Project and ART Grand Prix driver Taito Kato's weekend started strongly as the Honda Racing School Suzuka graduate was immediately quick, going fifth fastest in the first collective test, just 0.165s adrift of the top in an incredibly tight session.
Kato took another step to qualify third in Group A, 0.3seconds adrift. In Qualifying 2 Kato remained just 0.3seconds off the top spot of Group A, putting him sixth fastest.
In the opening race, Kato really excelled. Starting from sixth on the grid, by the end of the opening lap he had already climbed to fourth, and by the end of lap two he had gained another position to sit third. There he remained until the flag, resisting pressure from behind, to claim his second podium of the FRECA season, matching his best result since Race 2 at Spa, round two, back in May. “I’m really happy to be back on the podium after Budapest. We improved a lot this weekend despite limited practice" he said after the flag.
In race two, Kato was 0.357seconds from pole, but such was the tight nature of the field, that equated to 12th position on the grid. In conditions which were once again dry, he dropped a position to 13th on lap two before setting about climbing his way forward again.
The red flags came out and halted proceedings at one-third distance, before the race was then restarted behind the safety car. The track went green with 14mins remaining on the clock, and Kato remounted his challenge. Posting the 9th fastest lap of the race, he climbed back to 11th before losing a position on the penultimate lap to cross the line 12th. Kato received a post-race penalty for leaving the track and gaining an advantage however, so was finally classified 13th.
The next round of the Formula Regional European Championship gets underway on 1-3 August at Italy's Imola circuit for round six of a total of ten in the 2025 season.
* PENALTIES
*: DROP 1 POSITION STEWARDS DECISION
**: DROP 2 POSITION STEWARDS DECISION (CAR #5: 2 PENALTIES)
















© Dutch Photo Agency