Camara takes FREC race one pole at Red Bull Ring, Stenshorne in 20th

Photo: FRECA

Prema’s Rafael Camara claimed his second Formula Regional European Championship pole position at the Red Bull Ring.

The Ferrari junior commanded the faster group A and will start race one from first place, with G4 Racing’s Alessandro Giusti alongside him to complete the front row after being the benchmark driver in Group B.

Camara was the first driver to set a competitive laptime halfway through Group A’s 15-minute qualifying session, after several tyre warm-up laps.

R-ace GP’s Tim Tramnitz moved to the top of the times with a 1m26.408s, as all drivers improved their pace five minutes from the end. Camara followed with his team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli in third, 0.109 seconds off of Tramnitz’s fastest lap.

Camara reclaimed first place with just over three minutes left on the clock, lowering the pace to 1m26.128s. Tramnitz improved twice, but was unable to beat Camara and finished qualifying 0.132s behind him.

Monolite Racing’s series returnee Hadrien David briefly went up to fourth, but his lap was deleted for exceeding track limits. Later on, he would improve again to be seventh fastest in the group.

G4’s Michael Belov was in third place as the chequered flag waved, only for Antonelli to beat his laptime moments later. MP Motorsport’s Sami Meguetounif and Trident’s Owen Tangavelou were fifth and sixth after being in the group top 10 for the whole session.

It was also a slow start to qualifying in group B, with the first competitive laptimes being set only five minutes from the end. Giusti provided the first benchmark, a 1m26.879s, ahead of Race Performance Motorsport’s Santiago Ramos and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Kas Haverkort.

Several drivers then traded top spot as laptimes improved. Sainteloc Racing’s Esteban Masson went fastest with three minutes to go, then Giusti moved back ahead before Ramos and Haverkort lowered the pace further.

Meanwhile, KIC Motorsport’s Ivan Klymenko had come to a halt as his rear-right suspension failed as he exited turn one. However, he was able to take his car to a safe spot in the run-off area and no yellow flags were waved.

A late 1m26.359s effort put Giusti back on top, but it wasn’t enough to achieve pole as he was 0.231s slower than Camara. Prema’s Lorenzo Fluxa was second fastest in the group, whereas Haverkort, who had his last lap which was good enough for second deleted, was third ahead of Ramos.

Antonelli’s closest title rival Martinius Stenshorne endured a difficult qualifying. The R-ace GP driver could only go 10th fastest in group B, putting him 20th on the grid, and was never higher than eighth place during the session.

Qualifying results