R-ace GP’s Stenshorne takes pole for FREC’s first Hungaroring race

Photo: Diederik van der Laan / Dutch Photo Agency

Martinius Stenshorne will start the first Formula Regional European Championship race of the weekend at the Hungaroring from pole after topping the second qualifying group on Saturday.

The 34-car field was split into two, and first to set the pace in Group A was Arden’s home hero Levente Revesz. Prema’s Lorenzo Fluxa went 4.882 seconds faster than him, then it was not until the final seven minutes of the group’s time on track that a truly representative pace was shown.

MP Motorsport’s Sami Meguetounif set a 1m41.869s to lead Monolite Racing’s Enzo Scionti by 0.145s, but they were shuffled down to third and fourth a short while later as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Joshua Dufek broke into the 1m40s and Race Performance Motorsport’s Santiago Ramos went second fastest.

R-ace GP’s Tim Tramnitz was the only driver to have got near Dufek’s pace with five minutes left to go, with VAR’s Kas Haverkort in third having also broken the 1m41s barrier.

Dufek was usurped with 77 seconds remaining on the clock, as Tramnitz set a 1m40.131s. Ramos went fourth fastest with a 1m40.507s, and they all looked to have more pace to unlock going into their final laps.

A 1m40.083s from Dufek returned him to the top, but Haverkort crossed the line in 1m39.995s, and Ramos went 0.018s faster than that to finish on top. Fluxa went fifth at the end, ahead of Meguetounif and Matias Zagazeta.

R-P-M’s Maceo Capietto was fastest for some time in Group B, before the pace improved by over six seconds with seven minutes to go. R-ace’s Stenshorne jumped from last to first with a 1m40.598s, putting him 0.138s ahead of Trident’s Owen Tangavelou

Capietto then reclaimed first place with a 1m40.100s, going 0.041s faster than Prema’s Rafael Camara, but Stenshorne’s next lap returned him to the top by 0.178s. Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli also jumped from ninth to third as they went into the final five minutes of qualifying, then got within 0.085s of Stenshorne with a minute-and-a-half to go.

Trident’s Roman Bilinski demoted Capietto to fourth in the final minute, then he went down to fifth as G4 Racing’s Michael Belov set a 1m39.786s to go top.

The chequered flag came out and Capietto rose back up to second place, and Antonelli pinched pole from Belov by 0.023s. Stenshorne crossed the line even later and set a 1m39.604s to snatch it from Antonelli, with their group comfortably faster than the earlier one.

Qualifying results