Photo: FRME
Evan Giltaire and Freddie Slater claimed a pole apiece in Formula Regional Middle East qualifying at Yas Marina Circuit.
Pinnacle Motorsport’s Hiyu Yamakoshi was fastest early in the first of two 15-minute qualifying sessions, then six minutes in points leader Giltaire moved to the top with a 2m03.928s. He led R-ace GP’s Ugo Ugochukwu and Enzo Deligny.
Approaching the halfway point, Origine Motorsport’s Zhongwei Wang lowered the pace to 2m01.005s. He was quickly beaten by Evans GP’s cameoing Matteo De Palo, who set a 1m58.960s, and his team-mate Kai Daryanani went third fastest.
Giltaire returned to the top going into the final five minutes, as he improved to 1m49.944s. Ugochukwu set a 1m50.469s, and ART Grand Prix’s Taito Kato was marginally slower than him to briefly hold third place.
Mumbai Falcons’ Slater got close to Giltaire with a 1m50.084s, and ART GP’s Kanato Le demoted Ugochukwu to fourth by setting a 1m50.464s. PHM Racing’s Brando Badoer rose to sixth, ahead of R-ace’s Akshay Bohra and Deligny.
Ugochukwu returned to third on his next lap, improving to 1m50.247s, and Deligny set a 1m50.641s to hop up to sixth. A 0.003-second gain meant Slater remained in second, and team-mate Rashid Al Dhaheri posted a 1m50.479s to get into the top five with three minutes to go.
Most drivers failed to set personal bests next time by, then went on cooldown laps, alhough Origine Motorsport’s Ruiqi Liu got into ninth with a 1m50.663s.
There was time for one more flying lap for most drivers, but some opted to pit and only a few improved. Deligny set a 1m50.563s in sixth and Badoer improved to 1m50.599s in eighth, then R-ace’s Jin Nakamura suffered a dramatic engine failure before getting back to the pits.
He was 17th fastest, sandwiched between Yamakoshi and Mumbai Falcons’ Doriane Pin, and Sainteloc Racing’s FRME returnee Nikita Bedrin was 11th. The top 14 were covered by 0.893s.
Slater’s engine was examined before Q2 began, and there was drama before anyone set a flying lap as Bohra broke down. Red flags waved six minutes in, and the clocked was paused before the session restarted.
Evans GP’s drivers were the first to embark on flying laps following that, and De Palo set a 1m50.144s to lead team-mate Aaron Cameron by 0.388s. Daryanani was 1.128s behind, but improved to 1m50.915s next time by. His team-mates did not get gaster, and with two-and-a-half minutes to go Giltaire moved to the top with a 1m49.719s.
Al Dhaheri was just 0.008s slower than him, then both were jumped by Slater who lowered the pace by 0.347s. Ugochukwu slotted into fourth, ahead of Yamakoshi, Kato and Pinnacle’s Ernesto Rivera.
De Palo improved to seventh with a minute remaining, then a 1m49.936s lifted Deligny to fifth. The chequered flag waved, and Cameron was first to cross the line in 15th and was one of just two improvers. Al Dhaheri, De Palo, Giltaire, Rivera and Slater pitted, with the top 10 settled.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Evan Giltaire ART Grand Prix 1m49.944s
2 Freddie Slater Mumbai Falcons +0.137s
3 Ugo Ugochukwu R-ace GP +0.303s
4 Kanato Le ART Grand Prix +0.520s
5 Rashid Al Dhaheri Mumbai Falcons +0.535s
6 Enzo Deligny R-ace GP +0.619s
7 Taito Kato ART Grand Prix +0.621s
8 Brando Badoer PHM Racing +0.655s
9 Ruiqi Liu Origine Motorsport +0.719s
10 Akshay Bohra R-ace GP +0.731s
Race 3 grid
1 Slater 1m49.372s
2 Giltaire +0.347s
3 Al Dhaheri +0.355s
4 Ugochukwu +0.379s
5 Deligny +0.564s
6 Hiyu Yamakoshi Pinnacle Motorsport +0.629s
7 Kato +0.635s
8 Matteo De Palo Evans GP +0.679s
9 Ernesto Rivera Pinnacle Motorsport +0.713s
10 Le +0.725s