Antonelli flies to FREC pole at Paul Ricard ahead of impressive Masson

Photo: Niels Broekema / DPPA

Mercedes-AMG Formula 1 junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli returned to the front to take pole for Formula Regional European Championship race two at Paul Ricard.

The Prema driver emerged on top of a thrilling battle in Group B to record a best time of 1m59.013s.

Antonelli will be joined on the front row by Sainteloc Racing’s Esteban Masson who snatched top spot in Group A with his final lap as R-ace GP’s Tim Tramnitz and Martinius Stenshorne failed to improve.

The G4 pairing of Alessandro Giusti and Michael Belov again set the early pace in Group B, out on track before Group A, before the pace quickened in the final six minutes.

Prema’s Lorenzo Fluxa and ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen, supported by Nyck de Vries this weekend, took turns at the top of the times, before Giusti and Belov reasserted themselves at the front.

Antonelli had been gradually building up speed before jumping to the top with a 1m59.398s, and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Kas Haverkort went 0.114 seconds slower to slot into second.

After cooling their tyres for a lap to allow a final flying lap, the G4 drivers ran line astern with Belov setting a personal best in sector one. A mistake in the final sector ruined his lap, leaving him eighth in the group, but Giusti improved to 1m59.238s to go fastest.

Behind them on track, Antonelli was flying, going fastest in the first sector before setting a 1m59.013s to head the group.

Haverkort improved, demoting Giusti to third as he lapped 0.143s slower than Antonelli.

Race Performance Motorport’s Santiago Ramos, van Hoepen and Arden’s Joshua Duerksen were among those to improve on their final lap to complete the top six.

Prema’s Rafael Camara was the first driver in Group A to set a sub-2m00s lap, with just under five minutes remaining, as Tramnitz and Stenshorne moved up to second and third.

Camara had been on course to go faster still on his next lap, going fastest in the first two sectors, but exceeding track limits at turn six meant his laptime was deleted.

Tramnitz and Stenshorne did improve, and Tramnitz went top with a 1m59.361s that was 0.064s faster than points leader Stenshorne’s previous effort.

Stenshorne made a small mistake at turn three next time by and aborted his lap, while Tramnitz was 0.165s down.

Masson, on form all weekend on his third outing with Sainteloc, was quickest in sector one and set a 1m59.329s to edge Tramnitz by 0.032s.

Despite also improving on his final lap, Camara had to settle for fourth, 0.023s slower than Stenshorne.

Behind him, fellow Ferrari junior Maya Weug continued her recent strong qualifying form to take fifth in the group.

Qualifying results