Photo: FRAC
Ferrari junior Arthur Leclerc and Red Bull junior Isack Hadjar set the pole positions for Formula Regional Asian Championship’s last round at Yas Marina Circuit.
Mumbai Falcons’ Leclerc claimed pole for race one, clearing Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema’s Jak Crawford by almost three tenths of a second. Leclerc’s first pole in the series leaves him in a favourable position to clinch the title as points leader.
Hitech GP’s Gabriele Mini, who was on top of the times for most of qualifying one, dropped to fifth at the end after last minute improvements from his team-mate Isack Hadjar and Mumbai Falcons’ Dino Beganovic. The Ferrari junior moved up to third when the chequered flag had already fallen, ensuring himself a second-row spot for race one.
Pinnacle Motorsport’s Pepe Marti will start race one from sixth, just ahead of last weekend’s double polesitter Paul Aron. Patrik Pasma, Ollie Bearman and Dilano van’t Hoff completed the top 10
Qualifying two was red-flagged six minutes into the session to recover 3Y Technology by R-ace GP driver Lena Buhler’s car as she came to a halt in sector two. On-track action resumed shortly after.
A blistering lap from Hadjar earned the Frenchman race three pole as he bettered Crawford by 0.387s after the restart.
Mini would beat Crawford’s time by a tiny margin to momentarily go second, but the American was able to improve to regain second place, finishing the session 0.371s off pole.
Aron will share race three’s second row with Mini, with top rookie Marti starting just behind them. Leclerc only qualified sixth in Q2, followed by R-ace’s Lorenzo Fluxa.
FRegional European Championship race-winner Michael Belov repeated his qualifying struggles from previous round and will line up 14th in race one and 12th in race three.
Qualifying round-up
Q1
1 Arthur Leclerc Mumbai Falcons 1m49.943s
2 Jak Crawford Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +0.293s
3 Dino Beganovic Mumbai Falcons +0.367s
4 Isack Hadjar Hitech GP +0.438s
5 Gabriele Mini Hitech GP +0.444s
6 Pepe Marti Pinnacle Motorsport +0.534s
7 Paul Aron Abu Dhabi Racing by Prema +0.538s
8 Patrik Pasma Evans GP +0.628s
9 Ollie Bearman Mumbai Falcons +0.637s
10 Dilano van’t Hoff Pinnacle Motorsport +0.656s
Q2
1 Hadjar 1m49.499s
2 Crawford +0.371s
3 Mini +0.383s
4 Aron +0.645s
5 Marti +0.651s
6 Leclerc +0.688s
7 Lorenzo Fluxa 3Y by R-ace GP +0.838s
8 Beganovic +0.843s
9 Pasma +0.945s
10 Pierre-Louis Chovet BlackArts Racing +1.020s