Photo: Prema
Ferrari junior Rafael Camara claimed his first Formula Regional European Championship pole at Spa-Francorchamps.
The Prema driver did actually top qualifying for the season opener at Imola, but yellow flag infringements meant he lost his fastest lap and so he has had to wait until round four to actually start a race from pole.
Camara was in the faster Group A in the second qualifying session at Spa, and it was Group B who headed out first on what was deemed a wet track.
ART Grand Prix’s series returnee Hadrien David laid down the early pace, with Prema’s Andrea Kimi Antonelli then posting a 2m16.696s benchmark.
He was shuffled down to fifth as others improved on the drying track, with Race Performance Motorsport’s Maceo Capietto going to the top by being the first into the 2m15s, but returned to first place with his third flying lap as he set a 2m15.808s.
With three minutes to go he was toppled again as R-ace GP’s Tim Tramnitz went fastest by 0.132 seconds, and KIC Motorsport’s Maya Weug improved in third to sit 0.013s off Antonelli’s pace.
Tramnitz’s final lap extended his advantage to 0.254s, while Antonelli had improved in the first sector, gone fastest of anyone in the second and then encountered traffic and yellow flags in the final corners which cost him a shot at pole and is now under investigation.
Prema’s Lorenzo Fluxa was first to the top the times in Group A, and the drying of the track was proven as Martinius Stenshorne beat team-mate Tramnitz’s Group B benchmark on just his second lap.
His 2m15.472s effort kept him on top until Camara set a 2m15.282s with just over three-and-a-half minutes left of qualifying, and on his final lap Stenshorne failed to match Camara despite improving to 2m15.396s.
When Camara met the chequered flag he lowered the pace to 2m15.110s, while R-P-M’s Santiago Ramos moved past Fluxa and Arden’s Joshua Duerksen into third in their group.
It means Camara and Tramnitz will share the front row for race one today, while title rivals Stenshorne and Antonelli are on row two.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Group B | Group A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rafael Camara | Prema | 2m15.110s | |
| 2 | Tim Tramnitz | R-ace GP | 2m15.554s | |
| 3 | Martinius Stenshorne | R-ace GP | 2m15.396s | |
| 4 | Andrea Kimi Antonelli | Prema | 2m15.808s | |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | R-P-M | 2m15.443s | |
| 6 | Maya Weug | KIC Motorsport | 2m15.821s | |
| 7 | Lorenzo Fluxa | Prema | 2m15.500s | |
| 8 | Maceo Capietto | R-P-M | 2m15.970s | |
| 9 | Joshua Duerksen | Arden | 2m15.625s | |
| 10 | Victor Bernier | MP Motorsport | 2m16.250s | |
| 11 | Kirill Smal | Monolite Racing | 2m15.813s | |
| 12 | Joshua Dufek | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m16.274s | |
| 13 | Nikhil Bohra | Trident | 2m15.829s | |
| 14 | Roman Bilinski | Trident | 2m16.359s | |
| 15 | Tom Lebbon | Arden | 2m15.893s | |
| 16 | Mikhael Belov | G4 Racing | 2m16.377s | |
| 17 | Kas Haverkort | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m16.045s | |
| 18 | Owen Tangavelou | Trident | 2m16.651s | |
| 19 | Alessandro Giusti | G4 Racing | 2m16.138s | |
| 20 | Hadrien David | R-ace GP | 2m16.660s | |
| 21 | Matias Zagazeta | R-ace GP | 2m16.265s | |
| 22 | Dilano van’t Hoff | MP Motorsport | 2m16.834s | |
| 23 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 2m16.378s | |
| 24 | Sami Meguetounif | MP Motorsport | 2m16.894s | |
| 25 | Marcus Amand | ART Grand Prix | 2m16.524s | |
| 26 | Emmo Fittipaldi | Sainteloc Racing | 2m16.992s | |
| 27 | Esteban Masson | Sainteloc Racing | 2m16.681s | |
| 28 | Levente Revesz | Arden | 2m17.301s | |
| 29 | Niels Koolen | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m16.802s | |
| 30 | Giovanni Maschio | Monolite Racing | 2m17.492s | |
| 31 | Lucas Medina | Sainteloc Racing | 2m17.054s | |
| 32 | Alex Partyshev | KIC Motorsport | 2m17.540s | |
| 33 | Enzo Scionti | Monolite Racing | 2m17.182s | |
| 34 | Adam Fitzgerald | R-P-M | 2m17.565s |