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Summer of Success and Improvement for the Junior Programme

It’s been a busy couple of weekends for our Junior Drivers so we’re here to catch you up on what they’ve been up to.

We’ve seen plenty of progress, success and milestone moments for our Juniors in recent weeks. Racing across different corners of Europe.

Kimi’s F2 Breakthrough

For Kimi Antonelli, he enjoyed two standout Formula 2 results at Silverstone and Budapest. On the Saturday of the British Grand Prix, Kimi took a dominant victory in tricky damp conditions to take his maiden F2 win in the Sprint.

It was a brilliant performance – crossing the line more than eight seconds clear of his nearest rival despite a late Safety Car. After a weekend off, he then returned to action with the back-to-back in Budapest and Spa.

On the Hungarian GP weekend, he went one further by scoring his first F2 Feature Race win. He charged through the field on the Soft tyre late in the race to take the lead and score his second F2 victory of the season.

Spa was a tougher weekend, with a non-scoring P6 in the rain-shortened Sprint and P9 in the Feature. But nonetheless there’s plenty to celebrate for Kimi heading onto the summer break. “It’s been an intense month of racing,” said Kimi. “The last couple of races have gone pretty well. I’m happy with the improvements from my side and the team as well.

“The Sprint in the wet in Silverstone, I started P1. While Hungary was in the dry starting P7. So very different conditions, starting positions and two very different races.

“Silverstone was so special as it was my first F2 win. And the conditions were so difficult as they were changing every lap. But Budapest I fought really hard and we showed really good pace through the race. That was important for me and the whole team.

“I’ll be spending some days at the kart track during my summer break, as we get closer to the second part of the season. But before that I’m going on holiday to the US with some friends which is going to be really fun.”

Doriane in FRECA Action

For Doriane Pin, her last outing in F1 Academy came during the Spanish GP weekend last month, but since then, she’s made her return to the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine.

Racing for the Iron Dames, she made solid progress at Mugello, before she took another step forward the weekend after at Paul Ricard.

At her home weekend in France, she suffered a DNF in the rainy first race. But in the second, she qualified P8 – her best of the season – and scored her best result of the year so far with P14.

Doriane will be back racing in F1 Academy in Zandvoort after the summer break.

Positive Progress in F4

Alex was also racing at Mugello and Paul Ricard in Italian F4. In Mugello, he scored three points-finishes and two rookie race wins. While in Paul Ricard he was P4 and P9 in the opening two races (taking a rookie win in the former) but retired from the final race of the weekend.

Yuanpu Cui’s British F4 season took him across the British channel to Zandvoort early this month. He was P12 in race one, before finishing P5 and P7 in the following two events.

Karting Success

Over in the karting scene, Luna Fluxa showed good speed in the Champions of the Future weekend in Sweden, as did Kenzo Craigie and new Junior Programme recruit James Anagnostiadis.

Meanwhile, Luna went on to win both her finals in dominant fashion at the Champions of the Future Academy third round in Italy last weekend. It was a strong result for Luna, extending her lead in the OK championship. James also won his OKJ final on Sunday in the same series.

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