Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
GB3 champion Alex Ninovic scored his ninth and 10th poles of the season in the series’ first ever qualifying sessions at Monza.
It did not take long for the Rodin Motorsport driver to reach the summit in Q1, posting a 1m47.516s to displace Hitech GP’s early leader Deagen Fairclough, but he was soon eclipsed by Reza Seewoorthun who lapped 0.336 seconds quicker.
Xcel Motorsport’s Kabir Anurag edged out Fairclough by 0.086s to lead with a more representative 1m44.977s, and Xcel Motorsport’s Patrick Heuzenroeder lowered the pace by another second to hold the advantage when the session was red-flagged.
There was enough time remaining for Ninovic to respond once the track returned to green, his late effort of 1m43.930s eclipsing Heuzenroeder by just 0.004s to clinch race one pole. Fairclough took third ahead of Gianmarco Pradel – ensuring the top four in the championship locked out the front two rows.
Maxim Rehm was fifth on his debut for Hillspeed, and Xcel’s Jack Sherwood took sixth ahead of Rehm’s team-mate and fellow debutant Newman Chi and Rodin’s Abbi Pulling.
Anurag was again an early pace-setter in Q2, before Ninovic registered a 1m44.083s to lead his team-mate Pradel by 0.070s. Heuzenroeder soon beat that time by 0.4s, while Pradel improved to reclaim second.
But again, Ninovic was not to be denied as he flew to a 1m43.406s to take another pole – his eighth out of the last nine qualifying sessions. JHR Developments’ Noah Lisle shuffled back Heuzenroeder a further place late on to form an all-Australian top three.
Fairclough was 0.052s further behind in fourth, with Chi fifth ahead of Seewoorthun, Pradel and Lucas Fluxa.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Alex Ninovic Rodin Motorsport 1m43.930s
2 Patrick Heuzenroeder Xcel Motorsport +0.004s
3 Deagen Fairclough Hitech GP +0.325s
4 Gianmarco Pradel Rodin Motorsport +0.440s
5 Maxim Rehm Hillspeed +0.478s
6 Jack Sherwood Xcel Motorsport +0.498s
7 Newman Chi Hillspeed +0.571s
8 Abbi Pulling Rodin Motorsport +0.594s
9 Kabir Anurag Xcel Motorsport +0.700s
10 Reza Seewooruthun Argenti w/ Prema +0.813s
Race 2 grid
1 Ninovic 1m43.406s
2 Noah Lisle JHR Developments +0.235s
3 Heuzenroeder +0.237s
4 Fairclough +0.289s
5 Chi +0.363s
6 Seewoorthun +0.412s
7 Pradel +0.422s
8 Lucas Fluxa Hillspeed +0.546s
9 Pulling +0.555s
10 Anurag +0.596s