Round seven of the Formula Regional European Championship was held over the weekend at the Austrian Red Bull Ring circuit, pitting the field against the fast and sweeping 4.3km venue.

ART Grand Prix and Honda Formula Dream Project driver Taito Kato’s weekend got off to a strong start amid the hottest conditions of the weekend, with a track temperature of 27.5 degrees Celsius. In the two Collective Tests he was eighth and seventh fastest respectively, building nicely upon his sixth and eighth place finishes last time out at Imola, Italy. 

On one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, with a sub 1m 30sec lap, Kato finished the second Collective Test just 0.252seconds from the front of the field. Indeed he was just 0.002seconds from sixth fastest, indicating a promising start to his weekend.

As the temperature fell throughout the weekend though, Kato’s pace fell further from the front – 0.534s off the pace in the Qualifying 1 session, and then 0.842s from the front of the A Group in Qualifying 2.

That translated into 12^th on the grid for the weekend’s opening race, on the outside of the sixth row. With a track temperature of 21.5 degrees Celsius, Kato was able to find more pace to set a fastest lap within 0.6seconds of the overall fastest lap, but embroiled in mid-field battles was unable to progress, crossing the line in 14^th, less than a second from his starting place of 12^th.

Qualifying for the second race of the weekend in 20^th, Kato had a mountain to climb. But digging deep, he found a little more pace again to sit just 0.5seconds off the pace, allowing him to climb to another 14^th place finish in what was ultimately a challenging weekend.

Three rounds of the championship remain in 2025, and next up for the FRECA field is Round 8 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 20-21 September.

© ACI Sport