FDA back on track

Petecof, Leclerc and Beganovic took part in their first official test of 2020 at the Mugello circuit. It was an encouraging start for the three Ferrari Driver Academy rookies.

It was an exciting moment when the Formula 4 and Formula Regional cars were fired up in the Mugello pits to kick off the much awaited two days of testing to start the 2020 season. Three Ferrari Driver Academy students took to the Tuscan track on Wednesday and Thursday, all making their first appearance of 2020: Gianluca Petecof and Arthur Leclerc will be racing in Formula Regional for the first time, while Dino Beganovic leaves behind a successful time in karts to make his Formula 4 debut.

Formula Regional. Right from the start, Gianluca demonstrated a good turn of speed. The Brazilian concentrated on getting to know the car, while the stopwatch soon confirmed he was at the top of the time sheet. Leclerc had to get to grips not only with the car, but also the Mugello track, which is very technical and requires a while to learn. At the end of the first day, Petecof was fastest in 1’42”309, while Leclerc was quickest on the last day in 1’42”406. The results were encouraging, with both drivers, who will be teammates at Prema, doing a good job.

Formula 4. Prema are also running Dino Beganovic. The 16-year-old Swede had been waiting a long time for his first official run in a single-seater on the eve of a season in which he will make his debut in the Italian Formula 4 series. Dino did over a hundred laps on the first day, his quickest in 1’48”358, gradually improving and ending up second fastest overall with a best of 1’47”707 on day 2. 

On track next week in Misano. The three FDA drivers will now have a few days to analyse all the data from this first track session of the year and then it won't be long until they will be donning race suits and helmets once more next week at Misano Adriatico, where both categories are testing again, at the circuit which hosts the opening round of the Formula 4 championship on 2 August.