Iron Dames Doriane Pin and Marta García tackled the sixth round of the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine in Imola, overcoming mixed weather. Pin was on the verge of breaking into the top ten and battling for points before a technical issue, while García navigated through the field in a very wet second race and gained 11 positions from the start, achieving her second-best result of the season.
Iron Dames Doriane Pin and Marta García tackled the sixth round of the 2024 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine at the Autodromo Enzo and Dino Ferrari in Imola, overcoming challenging conditions—particularly in a very wet second race—both making significant progress with strong drives through the field.
Pin was on the verge of breaking into the top ten and battling for points when, unfortunately, she was forced to pit under the safety car and retire due to a technical issue. Despite this, she once again showcased her potential for points, building on a big step forward from the previous round at Circuit Paul Ricard, which preceded her second victory in the all-female F1 Academy.
Marta García made steady progress throughout the weekend at Imola, a demanding circuit she was visiting for the first time in her career. The inaugural F1 Academy champion, in her first year in FRECA, secured another top-20 finish—her fifth of the season—with an impressive recovery drive in race 2 during heavy rain. The Valencian made no mistakes, navigating through the field and gaining 11 positions from the start, achieving her second-best result of the season.
This weekend also marked García's return to single-seaters after making her sports car racing debut two weeks prior in the ELMS-supporting Ligier European Series, where she secured a victory in only her second start.
At Imola, she resumed her learning-focused season in FRECA, showing great form on the second day after a tricky Saturday.
Doriane Pin had a solid start to the weekend, finishing P16 in the first session with a time of 1:41.139. Marta improved her time by four-tenths between the two practice sessions as she learned the track.
On Saturday morning, both drivers were drafted in Group B for qualifying. Pin entered the top ten in group for most of the session and continued to improve but eventually went off into the gravel at the Villeneuve chicane, unfortunately ending her session prematurely. She finished P13, while Marta secured P14.
Rafael Camara topped Group A - narrowly faster than Alessandro Giusti, who led Group B - and secured pole position for the first race of the weekend. Pin lined up P25, and García would start from P29.
As the lights went out for race 1, Rafael Camara made a strong getaway from pole position, while Taponen had a great launch from fourth, quickly moving into P2. Giusti, who had started from the front row, slipped down to fifth after a chaotic opening lap. However, Camara’s lead was soon under threat as he was handed a five-second penalty for a jump start, throwing the lead battle wide open.
For Doriane Pin, the race began with a solid start from P25 on the grid. She immediately gained ground, rising to P23 by the first lap, showcasing her ability to capitalize on opportunities in the midfield. Marta García, starting from P29, also got away cleanly, gaining one position early on and settling into P28.
As the field began to spread out, Pin found herself battling in a tightly packed midfield, going wheel-to-wheel with Pierre Edgar and Nikhil Bohra. Her progress was interrupted by a safety car on lap 3, which was deployed to clear the stranded cars of Domingues, Bedrin, and Peugeot, all of whom had ended up in the gravel after a series of incidents.
Following the safety car restart, Pin was on the attack, pushing to gain further ground. She briefly lost positions to Bohra and Giovanni Maschio during the intense action but fought back. On lap 7, Pin regained her momentum, retaking the position from Maschio when he made a mistake and ran wide at Tamburello, allowing her to slot back ahead.
Meanwhile, Marta García was also having a solid race. After opening a gap to Veselaho, she began to pressure Romain Andriolo ahead of her. As the laps ticked down, García made steady gains, overtaking Andriolo and beginning to close in on Maya Weug in the battle for P24.
In the final laps, Pin pushed hard to break into the top 20, hunting down Pierre Edgar. Despite putting in strong laps, she couldn’t quite make the pass and ultimately crossed the line in P21, just outside the top-20.
García, having gained positions steadily throughout the race, finished P24, putting a gap of over three seconds between herself and Andriolo behind her. Both drivers showed improved pace and fighting spirit in the opening race of the weekend, showing flashes of their potential.
On Sunday morning, Group B went out first for qualifying, with all three female drivers in the group. Pin was in the top ten early on and climbed to P7 by the end of the session. García secured P14. Camara topped the overall times with a 1:39.171, giving him pole for race 2. The strong performance was Pin's secodn best qualifying of the season after her first top ten at Le Castellet, which showed an ecouraging trend in qualifying; she would start from P14, and Garcia from P28.
Race 2 saw a dramatic shift in conditions, with rain falling about an hour before the start and making the track extremely treacherous. The drivers faced a wet and slippery Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, with visibility and grip severely compromised. The chaos began immediately, as championship contenders Taponen and Camara collided at Tamburello on the opening lap. Their crash allowed Alessandro Giusti to seize the lead, followed closely by Noah Stromsted and Zachary David.
Doriane Pin, starting from P14, made a strong start and managed to hold her position despite the tricky conditions. Marta García, starting from further back in P28, had an excellent opening lap, charging through the field to climb up to P23 by the end of the first lap, gaining five places in just a few corners. The challenging conditions quickly led to multiple incidents, and a safety car was deployed with several cars stranded on track.
Once the safety car made its way back into the pits, Pin made an aggressive restart, overtaking Teophile Nael in the first corner and immediately setting her sights on Brando Badoer ahead. Her confidence in the wet was evident, as she carved her way through the pack, making bold moves and keeping a consistent pace despite the chaos around her. Doriane moved up to P12 as Evan Giltaire encountered trouble and retired, putting her in contention for a potential top-ten finish.
García, meanwhile, was also steadily making her way through the field, despite losing a place to Lacorte. With championship leader Camara now behind her after his recovery from the earlier collision, García held her ground, only giving way to the charging Brazilian while maintaining her focus on the cars ahead.
Another safety car was deployed on lap 5 to clear Giltaire’s stranded ART Grand Prix car, bunching the field up again. At this point, Pin was just outside the points, and with more positions to gain, it seemed that her maiden point-scoring finish was within reach. However, just as she was about to fight for tenth, heartbreak struck: the young Frenchwoman was forced to pit behind the safety car due to a technical issue, ending her race prematurely.
The neutralization ended with just over six minutes left on the clock. On the restart, Giusti maintained his lead, while further back, García was on the move. She continued her charge through the field, breaking into the top 20 and eventually moving up to P19 as several drivers ahead made mistakes or were caught up in incidents. One of the most notable incidents was the collision between Deligny and Peugeot at turn 1, which triggered yet another safety car period.
In the closing laps, García kept her cool and briefly ran in P16 after overtaking several cars, but Domingues eventually found a way past, dropping her back to P17. Despite this, García’s drive from P28 to P17 was a remarkable achievement in such challenging conditions, gaining 11 positions from the start.
Alessandro Giusti took the win, ahead of Noah Stromsted and James Wharton, after a hectic race 2 at Imola. Despite the early collision, Rafael Camara managed to recover from the back of the field to finish ninth.
Marta García’s P17 finish marked another positive step forward - her fifth top-20 of the season, and her best result since her top-15 finish at Spa. Although Pin’s race ended in disappointment, her pace and potential throughout the weekend were also an encouraging sign, particularly in qualifying and the early stages of race 2.
Both drivers showed strong progression over the weekend, with Garcia delivering a standout recovery drive in race 2. Next up will be the Red Bull Ring in just one week, where they will aim for further improvement and another chance at points. For Marta, it will be a more familiar track, as she secured her first victories last year in F1 Academy on the Austrian circuit.
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