The FIA Formula Regional European Championship opened its 2026 season at the Red Bull Ring this weekend, hosting a triple-header format across three days. Following a winter of pre-season testing, five Asian drivers arrived with something to prove.
Free practice laid out the pecking order early. Kean Nakamura-Berta was the pace-setter among the group, fifth overall with a 1:25.932, while Zhenrui Chi sat ninth with a 1:26.136. Dion Gowda placed 11th and Yuki Sano 16th, with Kai Daryanani 28th after a scrappier opening run.
Qualifying sharpened the picture. In Group A, Nakamura-Berta raised the stakes with a 1:25.246 to claim pole, with Chi setting an early benchmark of 1:25.902 before Gowda qualified fourth at 1:26.351. In Group B, Daryanani recovered from his difficult practice to qualify seventh with a 1:26.196, while Sano lined up 12th at 1:26.491.
Race 1 opened with drama before a lap was complete. Starting from pole on the outside line, Nakamura-Berta lost the lead at the start, while Chi ran competitively in the midfield. A Safety Car on lap one bunched the field, and when racing resumed on lap four, Nakamura-Berta moved to retake the lead on lap six at the top of the hill into Turn 3. A second Safety Car followed on lap eight after a separate incident, and when racing resumed once more, Nakamura-Berta pulled away to take victory. Chi delivered a strong performance in the closing stages to secure sixth, but post-race penalties promoted him to P4.
Race 2 brought a different story. Chi continued his consistent weekend with a fifth-place finish, while Nakamura-Berta followed in sixth and Daryanani in eighth. Gowda crossed the line in fourth, though he retained the place after a five-second penalty was applied for a jump start.
Race 3 proved the most turbulent of the weekend. Four Safety Car periods punctuated a chaotic encounter, and Nakamura-Berta, who had led from the start, was forced to retire on the penultimate lap after going off on the uphill stretch following the straight. Sano was caught up in an early incident when he attempted to avoid a stalled car on the grid and made contact with a rival, ending his Race 3 before it had truly begun. Gowda ran in the points and finished in P6. Daryanani brought home P10 to complete his triple-header weekend.
One round in, the Asian contingent leaves Austria with a varied but promising set of results. Nakamura-Berta's Race 1 win is the headline, and Chi's post-penalty elevation to fourth in the same race added further weight to the group's opening round. Daryanani's steady progression and Gowda's Race 3 points finish showed resilience across different scenarios, while the retirements and incidents that disrupted Sano and Nakamura-Berta in Race 3 serve as a reminder of how quickly a weekend can turn at this level. With seven rounds still to run on the 2026 calendar, the Red Bull Ring has set the tone without settling anything.
