Goethe denies Fornaroli at Losail as F2 title contenders have mixed time

Photo: Red Bull

Oliver Goethe claimed his maiden Formula 2 pole under the floodlights at Losail, pipping points leader Leonardo Fornaroli.

ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins was first to the top in the 30-minute qualifying session, then Campos Racing’s Arvid Lindblad and Nikola Tsolov laid down a far quicker pace.

The first true flying lap came six minutes in from Martins, who posted a 1m38.518s.

Prema’s Sebastian Montoya beat that by 0.518 seconds, with team-mate Gabriele Mini and Goethe then occupying second place as Martins was shuffled down to fifth.

The first sub-1m38s lap was set by Invicta Racing’s Roman Stanek, then he was bettered by team-mate Fornaroli and DAMS’ Jak Crawford. The former posted a 1m37.850s, putting him on top by 0.113s, with Montoya and Goethe completing the top five and Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Dunne setting a 1m38.114s to go sixth fastest.

At this point Trident’s debutant James Wharton finally headed out, but he returned to the pits as the only driver not to complete a lap.

Martins reclaimed top spot shortly before qualifying’s 10-minute mark, setting a 1m37.512s to lead Mini by 0.227s. When MP’s drivers crossed the line they moved ahead, a 1m37.370s earning Goethe first place by 0.129s over Richard Verschoor.

Stanek then lowered the pace further to 1m37.189s, with Crawford trailing by 0.141s. Fornaroli was rapid in sector one, which set up the first sub-1m37s lap.

The DAMS drivers ended their first runs after that, with many following, while Martins and Goethe stayed out. Martins improved to 1m37.428s in fifth, and Goethe got within 0.075s of the provisional pole time by setting a 1m37.071s.

With eight minutes to go the second runs were underway for most, and Wharton was finally on track ready to lap at pace.

The first personal bests on the fresher tyres came from Hitech GP’s drivers, with Dino Beganovic lowering the pace to 1m36.826s. His team-mate Luke Browning was briefly fourgh before Crawford took the position, then Van Amersfoort Racing’s John Bennett surprised by setting a 1m37.034s that put him third.

Fornaroli went fastest again with five minutes to go, posting a 1m36.307s that put him 0.214s clear of Stanek and 0.223s ahead of Goethe. Martins and Dunne improved in fifth and sixth, with Crawford demoted to 10th behind Mini and Montoya.

That later became 12th as AIX Racing’s Joshua Duerksen and then Verschoor broke the 1m37s barrier, the pair slotting into sixth and fourth respectively.

There were big changes to the order with 90s to go too, as VAR’s Rafael Villagomez briefly jumped up to fifth, then Tsolov. Montoya set a 1m36.741s to rise to fourth, before the pole contenders crossed the line. A 1m36.115s from Goethe put him on top by 0.04s over Fornaroli, with Stanek 0.23s off pole in third.

Martins managed to beat Stanek, by 0.06s, and Dunne went fifth fastest in the final minute.

Crawford and Browning ended up qualifying 15th and 18th, but had reason to hope after title rival Fornaroli broke down on his cooldown lap. Verschoor, the other title contender, ended qualifying in 10th so will benefit from the sprint race’s reversed grid.

Qualifying results