James Wharton leaves Paul Ricard with a remarkable comeback

It was a decent start to the weekend for James Wharton, as the #13 Prema driver achieved solid results during the Paul Ricard Collective Tests on Friday. With times that put him in P7 and P3 respectively, his speed, both in long-runs and single laps, looked promising for this French round of the Formula Regional European Championship.

Fresh off his maiden FRECA victory in the last round at Mugello, Wharton finished third in his Q1 qualifying group, securing an overall 6th position on the starting grid. Saturday’s Race 1 was relatively uneventful for Wharton, who maintained his sixth position to the chequered flag, despite his efforts to close the gap to the drivers ahead.

Luck wasn’t on James’ side for Qualifying 2, as another driver crashed into him during the warm-up lap, leaving Wharton with a punctured tyre. Consequently, James wasn’t able to set a competitive time, forcing him to start in P24 while most of his championship rivals lined up in the first few rows of the grid.

Heavy rain forced a Race 2 start behind the Safety Car, which led the field for the first ten minutes. When the race finally went green, Wharton quickly gained ten positions, showing great confidence despite the challenging track conditions. With ten minutes remaining, the Safety Car was deployed again, allowing Wharton to close the gap ahead. At the restart, the #13 Prema gained more positions to finish the race in tenth place. A bittersweet single point rewarding a remarkable comeback.

«Another weekend where luck was not quite on our side. We struggled with pace in the last race, but I feel like we maximized what we had. We just need to keep pushing and figuring out what we can do better as we move forward. We have a long break to keep working hard, and hopefully, we'll come back a lot stronger in Imola», James Wharton said.

With the Paul Ricard round wrapped up, James Wharton was awarded nine more championship points, and now sits in fifth place in the drivers' standings. FRECA will resume at Imola after the summer break, from September 6th to 8th. James, however, will be back on track already this week at Silverstone for the upcoming GB3 Championship round, from July 26th to 28th.