Alexander Smolyar claimed his maiden Formula Renault Eurocup pole in a wet Sunday qualifying session at the Monza season opener.
The SMP-supported R-ace GP driver came out on top in a battle with MP Motorsport duo Lorenzo Colombo and Victor Martins, who set identical times as they came up 0.054s short at the chequered flag.
Colombo – whose race one pole was wasted when he was spun around at the first corner – spent a while on top of the times in the middle of the session, before Smolyar and then Martins went fastest with 10 minutes remaining.
After a full-course yellow and red flag to retrieve the car of Alessio Deledda at the first chicane, Colombo went quickest again with two and a half minutes to go.
Smolyar, who finished last in Saturday’s opening race after front wing damage, then claimed pole with 30 seconds left on the clock with a 2m02.812s, lowering the benchmark by 0.289s.
While Smolyar then went straight on at the first chicane, Colombo and then Martins joined him in going underneath the 2m03s barrier but had to settle for second and third respectively.
Piastri, who joined team-mate Smolyar in needing a pit-stop for damage in race one, claimed fourth place, edging Saturday podium finisher Kush Maini (M2 Competition) by 22 thousandths.
While race one debut winner Ugo de Wilde could only manage 14th, his JD Motorsport team-mates Leonardo Lorandi and Joao Vieira took sixth and ninth respectively.
They were separated by the third R-ace and MP drivers respectively, Caio Collet and Amaury Cordeel.
Patrik Pasma beat Arden team-mate Sebastian Fernandez to 10th place, while the team’s third driver Frank Bird ended the session in the gravel as 15th fastest.