Gabriele Mini Heads all ART Grand Prix Front Row for Imola Opener

Gabriele Mini took his maiden Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine pole position on Saturday, with the Italian heading ART Grand Prix team-mate Mari Boya.

With thirty-six entrants again on the entry list, Qualifying was again split into two groups, and Mini was the man to beat in Group A, and the 2020 Italian Formula 4 champion ended with a best time of 1:39.526 to head the session.

Dino Beganovic, a race winner in the opening weekend of the series at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza two weeks ago, was only 0.064 seconds behind Mini in Group A, just ahead of his Prema Racing team-mate Paul Aron, while R-ace GP’s Gabriel Bortoleto was fourth ahead of Trident’s Italian acer Leonardo Fornaroli.

Group A’s session was ended a few seconds early as FA Racing’s Victor Bernier brought out the red flags after a spin.

Group B saw Boya hit top spot, but the Spaniard’s time of 1:39.755 meant he was unable to better the time set by Mini in Group A, thus giving the Italian pole position for the opening race.

Sebastián Montoya was the best rookie in Qualifying, with the Prema Racing driver ending just 0.018 seconds behind Boya, while Kas Haverkort ended third in Group B for Van Amersfoort Racing.

Joshua Dürksen secured his best Qualifying result of the season with fourth in Group B for Arden Motorsport, while fifth in the group was Trident’s Tim Tramnitz.

Hadrien David will start eleventh for R-ace GP ahead of team-mate Lorenzo Fluxá, with Joshua Dufek thirteenth for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of Race Performance Motorsport’s Pietro Delli Guanti.

Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari Race 1 Qualifying Result