Photo: ACI Sport
Gabriel Gomez topped both Italian Formula 4 qualifying sessions at Imola, but was denied a triple pole by Sasha Bondarev.
Gomez started the day by going fastest in free practice one, setting a 1m47.046s to lead US Racing team-mate Andrija Kostic by 0.041 seconds.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Dante Vinci was the initial pacesetter, bringing the pace down all the way from the 2m19s to the 1m48s over the first eight minutes.
He was also first into the 1m47s, before being usurped by Prema’s Kean Nakamura Berta.
VAR’s Maximilian Popov was next to the top, improving three times in four laps. A 1m47.153s then stood as the benchmark, which Gomez scrubbed 0.107s off with two improvements nine minutes apart.
PHM Racing’s David Cosma Cristofor also beat Popov, with Salim Hanna Hernandez (Prema), Kabir Anurag (US) and Enea Frey (Jenzer Motorsport) all within 0.2s of Gomez.
Sasha Bondarev pipped Prema team-mate Newman Chi by 0.088 seconds to be quickest in Italian Formula 4 practice at Imola. Nakamura and team-mate Bondarev were 10th and 16th.
All but US’s Maxim Rehm and Real Racing Team’s Luca Viisoreanu set personal bests in FP2.
Popov was fastest early on, and Anurag broke the 1m48s barrier first. Nakamura and Chi were very briefly on top, then US’s Luka Sammalisto.
Gomez and Prema’s Andrea Dupe lowered the pace before Chi moved back ahead with a 1m47.125s, then Gomez beat the FP1 pace with a 1m47.040s.
In successive laps, Nakamura made big gains and set a new 1m46.473s benchmark. But six drivers were able to beat that, the first of which was Bondarev who posted a 1m46.229s that would not be topped.
Chi got within 0.088s of him, Anurag was 0.118s off, and Hanna completed a top four covered by 0.188s. Gomez was fifth.
Maffi Racing’s Nathanael Berreby was the surprise pacesetter at the start of the first qualifying session, then another usual backmarker in Technorace’s Francesco Coppola.
Berreby’s team-mate Kirill Kutskov was first to go sub-1m50s, then Gomez and Anurag traded fastest laps. Bondarev beat both with a 1m46.840s, but Nakamura in his tow went even faster with a 1m46.676s.
There was only one other change at the top in the session’s second half, a 1m36.368s from Gomez. Bondarev improved to 1m46.57s to qualify second, ahead of team-mates Nakamura, Hanna and Sebastian Wheldon.
R-ace GP’s Alex Powell had another difficult day, 0.908s off pole in 12th place.
Berreby led the way again at the start of Q2, then Sammalisto. Viola Formula Racing’s Arthur Lorimier and Jenzer’s Reno Francot held provisional pole before a flurry of improvements in which Hanna, Nakamura and Powell lowered the pace.
They would not remained on top, as Bondarev set a 1m46.181s then improved to 1m46.106s. That was enough to earn him one pole, as although Gomez went 0.005s faster than him to claim first on the grid for race two, on second-best laptimes Bondarev came out on top for the race three grid.
Chi, R-ace’s Emanuele Olivieri and Popov beat Hanna and Powell was 12th again in Q2, but on second-best times Popov and Chi were third and fourth and title contenders Wheldon and Powell were ninth and 10th.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Gabriel Gomez US Racing 1m46.368s
2 Sasha Bondarev Prema +0.202s
3 Kean Nakamura Berta Prema +0.308s
4 Salim Hanna Hernandez Prema +0.391s
5 Sebastian Wheldon Prema +0.449s
6 Reno Francot PHM Racing +0.511s
7 Emanuele Oliveri R-ace GP +0.556s
8 Newman Chi Prema +0.601s
9 Maximilian Popov Van Amersfoort Racing +0.684s
10 Maxim Rehm US Racing +0.795s
Race 2 grid
1 Gomez 1m46.101s
2 Bondarev +0.005s
3 Nakamura +0.022s
4 Chi +0.240s
5 Olivieri +0.262s
6 Popov +0.305s
7 Hanna +0.324s
8 Enea Frey Jenzer Motorsport +0.328s
9 Artem Severiukhin Jenzer Motorsport +0.353s
10 Wheldon +0.369s
Race 3 grid
1 Bondarev 1m46.181s
2 Nakamura +0.037s
3 Popov +0.238s
4 Chi +0.261s
5 Olivieri +0.320s
6 Hanna +0.322s
7 Francot +0.323s
8 Gomez +0.343s
9 Wheldon +0.414s
10 Alex Powell R-ace GP +0.434s