First pole position in Formula 2 for the Palermo-born driver, in his debut race as a full-time driver!
POLE POSITION for Gabriele Minì! The season begins brilliantly for the young Palermo talent, who will start from pole in Sunday’s Feature Race. Next to him on the grid will be Victor Martins of ART, undoubtedly the favorite heading into this season.
Jak Crawford qualifies third, but the American driver will have to serve a 10-place grid penalty, as will Alex Dunne, who finished the session in an excellent fifth place after losing most of the practice session due to an incident.
The second row will therefore consist of Richard Verschoor’s MP and Roman Stanek’s Invicta. It’s a shame for the other Invicta of our Leonardo Fornaroli, who finished tenth after leading the session for much of the time. The Piacenza-born driver wasn’t fortunate during his second stint on tires: he had to slow down during his first attempt due to a yellow flag caused by Kush Maini, and then he ended the session with a spin at turn 12.
However, Fornaroli will start from pole position in tomorrow’s Sprint Race, where he will be joined by Joshua Durksen of AIX Racing, who continues to show great speed after his surprising debut season.
F2 Qualifying in Australia: session recap.
8:00 – Here is the final standings of the first qualifying session of this Formula 2 season!
7:57 –Temporary pole position for Gabriele Minì: 1:29.286 for the Palermo-born driver! Leonardo Fornaroli is still out, but the Piacenza-born driver spins at turn 12! The first pole position in Formula 2 for Gabriele Minì is confirmed, in his debut race as a full-time driver!
7:54 – First attempt completed for everyone: Martins reclaims the first position with a time of 1:29.523, ahead of Crawford and Minì. Remember, Crawford is among the penalized drivers, so the Palermo-born driver would be in the front row. Meanwhile, Kush Maini spins at the penultimate corner, forcing Fornaroli to lift off. The Piacenza-born driver finds himself in sixth place.
7:49 – All drivers, except for Esterson, return to the track for their final attempt.
7:45 – At the halfway point of the session, the standings are as follows:
7:43 – Most of the drivers return to the pits, but not Leonardo Fornaroli, who stays out and lowers his time further to 1:29.948, becoming the first driver of the weekend to break the 1:30 barrier. Meanwhile, Meguetounif rises to 14th, but he will be penalized.
7:40 – Second attempt: great lap from Leo Fornaroli, who moves into first position with a time of 1:30.136. Just 42 thousandths behind is his compatriot Gabriele Minì, creating an incredible temporary all-Italian front row. Third is Crawford, ahead of Martins, while Durksen continues to impress, posting the sixth-fastest time.
7:37 – First attempt for everyone: Martins takes the lead with a time of 1:31.012, closely followed by the two Italians, with Minì ahead of Fornaroli. Fourth is the other Invicta of Roman Stanek. However, these times are likely to drop further.
7:35 – A yellow flag immediately: Goethe spins at the penultimate corner, likely due to contact with Esterson. Both drivers return to the pits.
7:30 – Green light! The first qualifying session of the season begins! Dunne is at the wheel of his Rodin as expected.
7:29 – First qualifying session of the Formula 2 season (HERE are the results from free practice): there is great anticipation for the Italian drivers Leonardo Fornaroli and Gabriele Minì, who were standout performers in Formula 3 last year. In this night’s free practice session, Victor Martins was the fastest, starting his third season in Formula 2 with the ART team, though this will be his first season without the support of the Alpine Academy.
However, this morning’s session was marked by two red flags: one in particular was caused by a violent crash involving Alex Dunne’s Rodin, who will also have to serve a 10-place grid penalty in both the Feature Race and the Sprint Race. We will have to see if the McLaren Academy Irish driver will be able to take part in qualifying, considering both the damage to his car and a slight wrist pain.
PHOTO: FIA Formula 2, Prema Team, Invicta Racing, Leonardo Fornaroli, Alex Dunne.