Colnaghi claims pole as 0.913s covers top 28 in Spanish F4 qualifying

Photo: MP Motorsport

MP Motorsport’s Mattia Colnaghi claimed pole in the second Spanish Formula 4 qualifying session at Jarama on Sunday morning.

It was a closely contested session, with the top 28 drivers in the 35-car field covered by 0.913 seconds and with only 0.087s between Colnaghi and team-mate Lucas Fluxa in second place.

There was 20 minutes of track action, and Drivex School’s Matus Ryba initially set the pace with a 1m34.217s lap that put him 0.043s ahead of Fluxa.

Rodin Motorsport’s Thomas Strauven moved to the top five minutes in, setting a 1m32.700s to go 0.343s faster than Drivex’s Mikkel Pedersen. Fluxa improved in third, his team-mate Rene Lammers went fourth fastet and Drivex’s Juan Cota was 0.754s behind in fifth.

Daniel Nogales left it lightly late to do his second lap, and when he completed it he went into second place, 0.327s behind Strauven. The provisional poleman’s advantage was cut again six-and-a-half minutes in, as Campos Racing’s Andres Cardenas got within 0.011s of his pace.

Many improved on their next laps, although some chose to pit instead, with Cota lapping 0.096s off top spot and team-mate Francisco Macedo rising to sixth with a 1m32.999s. Ryba and Fluxa were now in ninth and 10th, behind Campos’s Enzo Tarnvanichkul and Rodin’s Peter Bouzinelos.

A new name appeared on top eight minutes in, as Campos’s Ernesto Rivera lowered the pace to 1m32.088s. His team-mates Jan Przyrowski and James Egozi were 0.16s and 0.287s slower repectively in second and third.

Moments later Campos filled the top six places, as Tarnvanichkul went second fastest, Nathan Tye jumped to fourth and Cardenas improved in fifth. When Strauven’s next lap came in the improvement only brought him up to third, 0.133s off pole, and he went into the session’s second half in fifth as Cardenas got within 0.002s of Rivera and Przyrowski improved in fourth.

With eight-and-a-half minutes remaining he was demoted to sixth by Egozi, and two minutes after that Fluxa went fourth fastest having dropped out of the top 25.

Two more contenders joined the pole battle after that, with Cram Motorsport’s Adam Hideg and Sainteloc Racing’s Matteo Quintarelli going third and fourth fastest. Fluxa set a new fastest lap with four minutes to go, a 1m31.908s, and with two-and-a-half minutes left Conaghi jumped from 19th to third.

His next lap then put him on pole, as Przyrowski and Strauven reversed their fall down the order by improving and slotting into fifth and sixth. Przyrowski gained another spot on his last lap, with 0.185s covering the top four.

Early pacesetter Ryba ended up qualifying 30th, 1.13s off the pace.

Qualifying results