Photo: FRME
R-ace GP’s Tuukka Taponen took both poles in Formula Regional Middle East’s two 15-minute qualifying sessions at Yas Marina Circuit.
It was not until almost six minutes into Q1 that the first laptimes come in, and even longer for a representative pace to be set. Xcel Motorsport’s Yaroslav Veselaho achieved that feat, then Sainteloc Racing’s Matteo de Palo lowered the pace to 1m51.210s seven minutes in.
His team-mates Theophile Nael and Pedro Clerot, and Mumbai Falcons duo Rafael Camara and Ugo Ugochukwu, also managed to lap sub-1m52s before Q1’s halfway mark and then not long after that Evans GP’s John Bennett went to the top with a 1m51.109s and MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino went third fastest with a 1m51.362s.
Pinnacle Motorsport’s Mari Boya was the first driver to lap in the 1m50s, but was only in first place for just over half a minute before de Palo set a 1m50.641s.
There was more change at the top in the final five minutes, as R-ace’s Martinius Stenshorne and PHM Racing’s Taylor Barnard went one-two. With three-and-a-half minutes to go, Taponen jumped from outside of the top 10 into first place with a 1m50.003s, and Nael went second fastest.
Boya improved to sit fourth, and practice pace-setter Costa Toparis (who did not set a laptime in the session’s first half) went straight into seventh place with his first proper effort.
But more improvements were to come, and with a minute remaining Barnard took back fourth. After the chequered flag Stenshorne improved to take second, but then Barnard improved and snatched the position back. After both of them, Taponen crossed the line and improved to an unbeatable 1m49.874s.
Boya then improved to third, with Stenshorne shuffled down to fourth ahead of Nael and de Palo. Toparis ended up in 13th.
Veselaho and Alexander Abkhazava traded fastest laps through the first half of Q2, with Mumbai Falcons’ Arvid Lindblad eventually breaking their hold at the top by setting a 1m50.888s.
Barnard and Camara soon beat him, then Nael and Boya did too and Nael lowered the pace to 1m50.190s. Camara and Lindblad had their laps deleted, but both rebounded. Camara set a 1m50.219s and Lindblad set a 1m50.545s to sit second and fourth respectively with five minutes remaining.
Nael brought the pace down further, setting a 1m49.879s, and Barnard returned to second place with a 1m50.020s while Boya improved in fourth.
Taponen’s first flying lap came in with just over four minutes to go and he went straight to the top by 0.077 seconds. Stenshone waited another minute-and-a-half and his first flyer put him eighth, then Mumbai Falcons’ James Wharton went from 25th to third with a 1m49.970s set with less than two minutes left of Q2.
Stenshorne improved to fifth at the same time, and at the top Barnard lowered the pace to 1m49.722s. But he would not stay there as after the clock hit zero Taponen took back pole by 0.07s. Wharton improved but stayed in fourth behind Nael, and Ugochukwu improved to sixth.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Tuukka Taponen R-ace GP 1m49.874s
2 Taylor Barnard PHM Racing +0.396s
3 Mari Boya Pinnacle Motorsport +0.439s
4 Martinius Stenshorne R-ace GP +0.491s
5 Theophile Nael Sainteloc Racing +0.522s
6 Matteo de Palo Sainteloc Racing +0.738s
7 Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak PHM Racing +0.770s
8 Rafael Camara Mumbai Falcons +0.825s
9 Ugo Ugochukwu Mumbai Falcons +0.846s
10 Valerio Rinicella MP Motorsport +0.886s
Race 3 grid
1 Taponen 1m49.652s
2 Barnard +0.070s
3 Nael +0.227s
4 James Wharton Mumbai Falcons +0.235s
5 Stenshorne +0.396s
6 Ugochukwu +0.479s
7 Boya +0.483s
8 Camara +0.567s
9 Rinicella +0.624s
10 Arvid Lindblad Mumbai Falcons +0.893s