Tramnitz sets the fastest lap in FRegional Europe practice at Imola

Photo: FRECA

R-ace GP’s Tim Tramnitz headed the times in practice for the opening round of the Formula Regional European Championship season at Imola.

Tramnitz’s best laptime of 1m39.036s, set in the afternoon session in which drivers are permitted to use push-to-pass, was the fastest across Friday’s two 50-minute sessions.

Trident’s Nikhil Bohra was an impressive second fastest, almost 0.3 seconds slower than Tramnitz, setting his best time on his final lap, having also been among the frontrunners in the morning.

Martinius Stenshorne (R-ace) and Andrea Kimi Antonelli (Prema) set identical times on their last laps, with Stenshorne taking third place by virtue of crossing the line 15 seconds before Antonelli.

Tramnitz moved to the top of the timing screens halfway through FP2 with a 1m39.966ss, becoming the first driver in the session to lap sub-1m40s. He did so just before almost everyone dived for the pits, with Antonelli second and G4 Racing’s Alessandro Giusti in third at the time.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Joshua Dufek was the only frontrunner to stay out, taking advantage of the clear track to jump Giusti for third.

Laptimes soon began to tumble once running resumed with 12 minutes remaining after a second red flag period caused by Giovanni Maschio.

VAR’s Kas Haverkort moved briefly to the front before a series of five successive sub-1m40s laps from Tramnitz meant he lowered the benchmark pace to 1m39.380s, then he improved by a further 0.3s.

Stenshorne and Antonelli took turns in second before Bohra pipped them both in the dying seconds of the session.

Trident’s Roman Bilinski was fifth fastest ahead of Haverkort, who had topped the times in FP1, held in much cooler conditions in the morning. FP1 ended six minutes early after a late red flag period prevented any last-minute improvements.

A 1m39.618s lap was what put Haverkort on top in FP1, ahead of Race Performance Motorsport’s Santiago Ramos who had set impressive times to feature in the leading group throughout, and ending up as his team’s fastest driver in both sessions.

Arden’s Joshua Duerksen – who caused the first of the afternoon’s red flags and then took no further part in that session – was second fastest in FP1, just ahead of Tramnitz.

Duerksen and R-P-M duo Maceo Capietto and Adam Fitzgerald were the only drivers whose fastest laps came in FP1.

Tramnitz and team-mate Stenshorne took turns at the front mid-session in the morning, before the Trident pair of Bilinski and Bohra swapped fastest times.

Prema’s Rafael Camara had been the first driver of the day to break the 1m40s barrier and held first place for over 13 minutes before being pushed back to fifth as FP1 was brought to a premature close. However the Ferrari junior, who set the pace in pre-season tests, could manage no better than 11th in FP2.

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