FRECA: Doriane Pin battles changeable conditions in Monza season finale

Doriane Pin showed good pace in changing conditions at Monza, finishing both practice sessions inside the top-15, however misfortune struck in the pair of races, when Doriane late-race contacts put pay to a top-20 finish.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

Doriane Pin closed out her Formula Regional European Championship campaign with a best result of 21st position at Monza. The Iron Dames driver showed good pace throughout the weekend in both wet and dry conditions.

Pin finished both of Friday’s practice sessions inside the top-15, however misfortune struck in the pair of races. Doriane was forced to pit to repair damage in race one, before contact from a competitor in race two put pay to a top-20 finish.

Pin had enjoyed an encouraging debut campaign in the Formula Regional European Championship and was targeting a strong end to the season at Monza. The Iron Dames driver had secured four top-20 results with a best finish of 13th coming at Circuit Paul Ricard where she thrived in challenging conditions.

Although Doriane missed three rounds of the season due to injury and commitments in the F1 Academy Series, the French driver has taken significant steps forward in the second half of the campaign.

The event began with a four-hour pre-event collective test session on Thursday which was held in wet conditions. It was a productive session for the Iron Dames driver who set the 21st fastest time. Two further sessions were held on Friday with the first also in wet conditions.

An improvement from Pin saw her set the 13th fastest time, less than a quarter of a second from the top-10. Further encouragement was to be found in the second session, now held in drying conditions, where Doriane was 12th fastest after setting a lap of a 1:48.561.

Conditions had once again changed for qualifying on Saturday morning with heavy rain returning to Monza. Pin was drawn into Group B for qualifying, however an early red flag in Group A led to qualifying being cancelled due to deteriorating conditions. Therefore, grid positions were set from Friday’s practices times which saw Doriane line up from a strong 12th position.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

Due to the drivers not participating in qualifying earlier in the day, the first race of the weekend was started behind the safety car. Track conditions remained treacherous and all drivers fitted the wet weather tyres. It was a challenging start for Pin who lost 12th position on the run down to the Rettifilo chicane as Nikhil Bohra made his way ahead. The Iron Dames driver ended lap three, the first racing lap, in 17th position and was carrying some damage which was impacting her performance.

On lap four, Doriane was shuffled back to 24th position and was doing her best to maintain her position despite the damage to her car. After falling behind Enzo Deligny, both Noah Stromsted and Nikita Bedrin moved ahead as they continued their own recovery drives. Pin then pitted for a change of front wing and a good job from the team ensured she remained on the lead lap. Fixing the damage improved her pace and Doriane was now lapping on par with those inside the top-10.

A late-race safety car offered Pin the opportunity for a strong finish with the Iron Dame back up to 28th position after falling as low as 31st. The Formula Regional European Championship drivers were given just one lap to decide the results of race one and contact was made ahead of her.

Pin did a superb job to negotiate a number of spun and stopped cars, while also making some smart overtakes. As a result, she took the checkered flag in 21st position to complete a nice recovery drive in challenging conditions.

Photo credits: Dutch Photo Agency

Looking to end the season on a high, Pin was targeting a strong final qualifying session of the season. Conditions remained damp on Sunday morning with all drivers fitting the wet weather tyres. Doriane and her fellow Group B competitors were first on track and it was a close and competitive session. At the end of qualifying, the Iron Dames driver had set the 12th fastest time in her group.

The track was fully dry for the season finale with Pin lining up from 22nd position at Monza after a grid penalty for Nicola Lacorte ahead. Doriane made a good start and immediately gained a position on the run to the Rettifilo chicane before ending the first lap in 23rd position.

With a gap of over a second behind her, Pin could focus forward and began applying pressure to Lacorte ahead. After running less than a quarter of a second behind her rival, Pin’s progress was halted as the safety car was deployed following an incident for Romain Andriolo.

As the race resumed, the Van Amersvoort Racing machine of Brando Badoer received significant damage prior to the green flag. This was due to the concertina effect on the restart and therefore Doriane was now into 22nd position. The young French driver was quickly inside the top-20 as she benefited from a multi-car incident at the Rettifilo chicane, with the safety car then deployed for a second time.

The restart came on lap nine and after Roman Bilinski pitted for a change of front wing, Pin was into 19th position. Trident driver Ruiqi Liu then ran side-by-side with Pin through the Rettifilo chicane before continuing their battle into the La Roggia chicane. Contact was then made between the drivers with Pin spun around. Although she was able to rejoin the race, Doriane was now running in 25th position.

On lap ten, the RPM machine of Edgar Pierre also received contact at the Della Roggia chicane and a second incident on the exit of the first Lesmo brought the race to an early conclusion.

After Liu spun, he collected the KIC Motorsport machine of Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi with the Thai driver having nowhere to go. The damage to both cars was extensive and the race was red flagged. Pin had moved up to 25th position prior to these incidents and was promoted to 22nd after passing the trio of stopped cars, however with the race classified via countback Pin finished in 25th spot.

"Lots of incidents out there today, with hardly any laps under the green flag", Pin wrote. "But it’s been a memorable season with lots of learnings for the future."

Although it was a tough final weekend in the Formula Regional European Championship for Pin, she displayed good speed in both wet and dry conditions. The Iron Dames driver was set to score a top-20 result in race two, before contact with a rival dropped her down the field.

Pin will be aiming to finish the season on a high when she returns to the F1 Academy Series for their penultimate event of the year at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on the weekend of 30th November/1st December.