Photo: Spanish F4
MP Motorsport’s Keanu Al Azhari claimed two pole positions in Spanish Formula 4’s first qualifying session at Algarve.
Sainteloc Racing’s Yevan David laid down the first laptime four minutes in, a 1m49.975s, which was swiftly beaten by Rodin Motorsport’s Preston Lambert to the tune of 0.197 seconds.
Maciej Gladysz then crossed the line in 1m47.524s, and on his next two laps improved to 1m45.331s and then 1m45.192s. That last one was a shortlived benchmark, as Drivex School’s Francisco Macedo beat it by 0.159s a few seconds after.
There was then a flurry of improvements 10-and-a-half minutes into the session, starting with a 1m44.753s from Campos Racing’s Nathan Tye. His team-mate Jan Przyrowski outpaced him by 0.089s, then their other team-mate Ernesto Rivera almost immediately went a further 0.174s fater than that.
Six seconds later there was another change at the top, as Rodin’s Thomas Strauven went fastest by 0.094s.
Campos was mostly the team to beat on the next laps, with Strauven being usurped by Przyrowski who set a 1m44.227s. Rivera managed to go 0.066s faster than his team-mate, but ended the session in second as Al Azhari then trumped him by 0.185s.
Przyrowski got shuffled down to seventh in the last minutes as he failed to improve on his next five laps. MP pair Mattia Colnaghi and Rene Lammers went third and fourth fastest, Strauven found more pace to qualify fifth and Campos’s James Egozi was sixth. The top 10 was covered by 0.41s, and the top 25 by 0.989s.
MP’s points leader Lucas Fluxa was only 12th fastest, with Rodin’s Peter Bouzinelos struggling to 20th place.
Drivers’ second-best laptimes set race two’s grid, and it was super close at the top with 0.08s covering the top five. Al Azhari claimed pole by 0.063s over team-mate Griffin Peebles, with Rivera further 0.004s behind, Egozi 0.007s slower than him and Strauven in fifth. Fluxa will provisionally start the race from 11th place.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Keanu Al Azhari MP Motorsport 1m43.976s
2 Ernesto Rivera Campos Racing +0.185s
3 Mattia Colnaghi MP Motorsport +0.200s
4 Rene Lammers MP Motorsport +0.218s
5 Thomas Strauven Rodin Motorsport +0.222s
6 James Egozi Campos Racing +0.244s
7 Jan Przyrowski Campos Racing +0.251s
8 Griffin Peebles MP Motorsport +0.257s
9 Andres Cardenas Campos Racing +0.409s
10 Gabriel Gomez TC Racing +0.410s
Race 2 grid
1 Al Azhari 1m44.180s
2 Peebles +0.063s
3 Rivera +0.067s
4 Egozi +0.074s
5 Strauven +0.080s
6 Colnaghi +0.121s
7 Lammers +0.142s
8 Przyrowski +0.179s
9 Nathan Tye Campos Racing +0.240s
10 Cardenas +0.295s