Round six of the Formula Regional European Championship got underway this weekend at the iconic Italian venue of Imola. Honda Formula Dream Project and ART Grand Prix driver Taito Kato was back in action, energised after his podium in France last time out.
Conditions at Imola remained dry for the duration, allowing Kato to mount a consistent assault on the top ten throughout the weekend in what was a very tight field.
In the opening Combined Test of the weekend, Kato set the eighth fastest time of the weekend, 0.8seconds off the pace. By the second Combined Test later that afternoon, as the track temperature rose to a sweltering 51 degrees Celsius, Kato’s pace remained consistent to put him just 0.352 seconds off the pace, in fifth.
Kato’s speed continued into Saturday’s qualifying sessions, where he finished 4th fastest in Qualifying 1 and 7th fastest in Qualifying 2, each time 0.46seconds back. That put him eighth on the grid for race 1.
As the lights went out on Saturday’s first race, Kato wasted no time in gaining a position and moving up to seventh, before a safety car followed by a red flag after seven minutes brought a halt to proceedings.
With a bunched field, the race restarted after two stricken cars were retrieved from the circuit. As overtaking proved tricky, Kato remained in seventh but, only 2.7s off the lead at halfway distance, kept up the pressure on the cars ahead of him for much of the second half of the race. On the final lap he inherited a position owing to the misfortune of Jin Nakamura to take the chequered flag in sixth position.
Race two was a steeper hill for Kato to climb as he started 14th on the grid despite being just under 0.5seconds off pole, showing just how close the field was. Again he wasted no time in starting to make progress, gaining two places in the opening laps before climbing another three positions by the halfway point.
Holding that ninth position until the flag, Kato finished just 1.5seconds from seventh place, but still leaves round six with a strong haul of championship points to consolidate his top ten position in the overall standings.
Round seven is held at the Red Bull Ring at Spielberg, Austria, 6-7 September.