Home Formula RegionalFRegional European Championship Mercedes junior Aron quickest in FREC qualifying at the Red Bull Ring

Mercedes junior Aron quickest in FREC qualifying at the Red Bull Ring

by Bethonie Waring

Photo: Diederik van der Laan / DPPA

Paul Aron took pole position for the first Formula Regional European Championship race of the weekend at the Red Bull Ring.

The Prema driver topped the times in the first qualifying group with a 1m26.737s lap, which would not be beaten in Group B.

He lines up alongside Eduardo Barrichello on the front row for Saturday’s race, while championship leader Dino Beganovic and closest rival Gabriele Mini will start fifth and sixth respectively.

Beganovic topped the times after the first laps were completed in Group A, but the pace rapidly dropped as rubber was laid down on the track. Sebastian Montoya, Aron and FREC returnee Pierre-Louis Chovet all took turns at the top before Beganovic jumped to the head of the order again with a 1m27.104s lap.

He improved on that to become the first driver to go sub-1m27s, but he was bettered moments later by Race Performance Motorsport’s Chovet and then Aron.

Chovet slotted into second in the group, putting him third on the grid for race one.

The improvement in laptimes wasn’t as drastic in Group B. R-P-M’s Owen Tangavelou went quickest early on with a 1m28.024s lap, but was soon knocked off the top spot by Arden’s Joshua Durksen.

Hadrien David briefly was in first place midway through the session, before Duerksen’s team-mate Barrichello went quickest with a 1m27.044s. The lap wouldn’t be bettered by anyone else.

Mini was second quickest, just 0.065s off Barrichello’s pace, before a final flying lap by Tangavelou knocked him down to third.

Maceo Capietto was fourth quickest in Group A and lines up alongside David, while Montoya and Sami Meguetounif will complete the top 10 on the grid.

Qualifying results

Pos Driver Team Group A Group B
1 Paul Aron Prema 1m26.737s
2 Eduardo Barrichello Arden 1m27.044s
3 Pierre-Louis Chovet R-P-M 1m26.889s
4 Owen Tangavelou R-P-M 1m27.088s
5 Dino Beganovic Prema 1m26.941s
6 Gabriele Mini ART Grand Prix 1m27.109s
7 Maceo Capietto Monolite Racing 1m27.149s
8 Hadrien David R-ace GP 1m27.124s
9 Sebastian Montoya Prema 1m27.166s
10 Sami Meguetounif MP Motorsport 1m27.206s
11 Joshua Dufek Van Amersfoort Racing 1m27.275s
12 Gabriel Bortoleto R-ace GP 1m27.258s
13 Tim Tramnitz Trident 1m27.307s
14 Leonardo Fornaroli Trident 1m27.325s
15 Kas Haverkort Van Amersfoort Racing 1m27.404s
16 Joshua Duerksen Arden 1m27.358s
17 Laurens van Hoepen ART Grand Prix 1m27.472s
18 Lorenzo Fluxa R-ace GP 1m27.590s
19 Dilano van’t Hoff MP Motorsport 1m27.534s
20 Matias Zagazeta G4 Racing 1m27.702s
21 Roman Bilinski Trident 1m27.708s
22 Esteban Masson ART Grand Prix 1m27.714s
23 Victor Bernier FA Racing by MP 1m27.728s
24 Noel Leon Arden 1m27.757s
25 Hamda Al Qubaisi Prema 1m27.751s
26 Francesco Braschi FA Racing by MP 1m27.924s
27 Mari Boya MP Motorsport 1m27.790s
28 Nicola Marinangeli Monolite Racing 1m28.151s
29 Levente Revesz Van Amersfoort Racing 1m27.824s
30 Sebastian Ogaard KIC Motorsport 1m28.258s
31 Santiago Ramos KIC Motorsport 1m28.233s
32 Gillian Henrion G4 Racing 1m28.259s
33 Pietro Armanni Monolite Racing 1m28.235s
34 Nicolas Baptiste FA Racing by MP 1m28.281s
35 Tereza Babickova G4 Racing 1m29.116s
35 Piotr Wisnicki KIC Motorsport 1m28.440s