Home Formula RegionalFRegional European Championship Tramnitz sets the fastest lap in FRegional Europe practice at Imola

Tramnitz sets the fastest lap in FRegional Europe practice at Imola

by Roger Gascoigne

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.

Free practice results
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Tim Tramnitz R-ace GP 1m39.036s 38
2 Nikhil Bohra Trident 1m39.324s +0.288s 33
3 Martinius Stenshorne R-ace GP 1m39.328s +0.292s 37
4 Andrea Kimi Antonelli Prema 1m39.328s +0.292s 35
5 Roman Bilinski Trident 1m39.428s +0.392s 34
6 Kas Haverkort Van Amersfoort Racing 1m39.543s +0.507s 39
7 Victor Bernier MP Motorsport 1m39.611s +0.575s 35
8 Owen Tangavelou Trident 1m39.649s +0.613s 33
9 Joshua Duerksen Arden 1m39.704s +0.668s 22
10 Sami Meguetounif MP Motorsport 1m39.717s +0.681s 34
11 Santiago Ramos R-P-M 1m39.721s +0.685s 36
12 Rafael Camara Prema 1m39.836s +0.800s 36
13 Laurens Van Hoepen ART GP 1m39.853s +0.817s 38
14 Alessandro Giusti G4 Racing 1m38.870s +0.834s 36
15 Michael Belov G4 Racing 1m39.875s +0.839s 33
16 Lorenzo Fluxa Prema 1m39.878s +0.842s 35
17 Joshua Dufek Van Amersfoort Racing 1m39.905s +0.869s 38
18 Matias Zagazeta R-ace GP 1m39.913s +0.877s 37
19 Maceo Capietto R-P-M 1m40.028s +0.992s 36
20 Maya Weug KIC Motorsport 1m40.347s +1.311s 37
21 Charlie Wurz ART GP 1m40.499s +1.463s 38
22 Marcus Amand ART GP 1m40.522s +1.486s 37
23 Dilano van’t Hoff MP Motorsport 1m40.543s +1.507s 37
24 Emmo Fittipaldi Jr Sainteloc Racing 1m40.633s +1.597s 37
25 Shannon Lugassy KIC Motorsport 1m40.710s +1.674s 38
26 Alexander Partyshev KIC Motorsport 1m40.728s +1.692s 37
27 Tom Lebbon Arden 1m40.883s +1.847s 33
28 Levente Revesz Arden 1m41.303s +2.267s 34
29 Enzo Scionti Monolite Racing 1m41.400s +2.364s 36
30 Adam Fitzgerald R-P-M 1m41.552s +2.516s 36
31 Giovanni Maschio Monolite Racing 1m41.890s +2.854s 27
32 Niels Koolen Van Amersfoort Racing 1m42.322s +3.286s 38
33 Lucas Medina Sainteloc Racing 1m42.962s +3.926s 31