June 2, 2026 – Fresh from Zandvoort, R-ace GP headed straight to Spa-Francorchamps for the third round of the FREC season. Despite challenging weather conditions, the team made the most of the Belgian weekend and continued its upward trajectory. Strong qualifying pace, two more podium finishes and the championship lead for Rashid Al Dhaheri: a highly positive weekend all around.
Friday: Free Practice and Qualifying 1
On Friday morning, Emanuele Olivieri (#73) topped the Free Practice 1 timesheets with a best lap of 2:12.906. Rashid Al Dhaheri (#71) finished 11th, while Yuki Sano (#12) ended the session in 25th place.
Later in the afternoon, the trio delivered an excellent qualifying performance for Race 1. Rashid Al Dhaheri set the fastest time in his group with a lap of 2:14.523, while Yuki Sano secured P3, just ahead of his Italian teammate Emanuele Olivieri.
Saturday: Race 1
Following a violent storm and heavy rainfall at Spa-Francorchamps, Race 1 was moved to the afternoon slot originally allocated to Race 2, which was subsequently cancelled.
Rashid Al Dhaheri, Yuki Sano and Emanuele Olivieri lined up P2, P6 and P8 respectively on the starting grid. When the lights went out, Al Dhaheri held on to second place while Sano moved up to fifth. Behind them, Olivieri dropped to P9 following contact.
With the track still damp, the Safety Car was deployed several times due to incidents and off-track excursions.
Al Dhaheri launched several attacks and even briefly took the lead of the race. However, the battle remained intense and, despite a strong final-lap challenge, the Emirati driver crossed the line in second place. Further back, both Sano and Olivieri enjoyed strong recovery drives to finish P4 and P6 respectively.
Sunday: Qualifying 2 and Race 3
The sun returned to Spa-Francorchamps on Sunday. Rashid Al Dhaheri once again claimed pole position in his qualifying group during the second qualifying session, setting a lap time of 2:13.24. Emanuele Olivieri finished third in the session, while Yuki Sano faced a more difficult outing and ended up P9.
The race got underway early in the afternoon, with Al Dhaheri starting from P2, Olivieri from P6 and Sano from P18. By lap two, both Al Dhaheri and Olivieri had lost one position, while Sano had climbed to 16th.
Al Dhaheri took the chequered flag in third place, scoring enough points to move into the lead of the Drivers’ Championship. Olivieri finished P8, while Sano came home in P16.
The weekend concludes on a positive note, marking another step forward for the team.
The next stop is Monza on June 20–21 for Round 4 of the championship.
To watch the races, click here.