Written by Sean McKean
In a tight championship fight, it was Leonardo Fornaroli who managed to take two crucial points for pole position in Monza. His second pole of the season extended his championship lead by three points.
As it unfolded
Qualifying started with a 13-minute session for Group A – all cars with even numbers – although it took four minutes for cars to start coming out of the pitlane.
As everyone exited the pit lane and got their tyres warmed up, the drivers started the textbook queue – not wanting to be the first one out. Inevitably, Laurens van Hoepen ran into the back of Kacper Sztuka. With debris from both cars left on the circuit, race control displayed the red flag.
The session continued with five minutes left on the clock.
Representative times finally started ticking away. Mari Boya set the pace with a 1:39.040, but Joshua Dufek went faster by two tenths. For the title contenders, Gabriele Minì sat in fourth, Browning in sixth, and Leonardo Fornaroli in seventh.
The second run saw Fornaroli jump to first by nearly four tenths followed by Minì in second. Browning did not improve on his lap.
Provisional Group A Results:
Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident)
Gabriele Minì (Prema Racing)
Santiago Ramos (Trident)
Joshua Dufek (AIX Racing)
Mari Boya (Campos Racing)
Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak (AIX Racing)
Luke Browning (Hitech GP)
Piotr Wiśnicki (Rodin Motorsport)
Noel León (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Max Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport)
Cian Shields (Hitech GP)
Noah Strømsted (Campos Racing)
Tommy Smith (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Kacper Sztuka (MP Motorsport)
Laurens van Hoepen (ART Grand Prix)
The odd-numbered cars followed for Group B with a similar “waiting-game” from Group A to start. The queue also continued with three minutes left in the session.
Christian Mansell led the grid on the first run, but he immediately backed off after a spin in sector one from Matías Zagazeta looked to cause a red flag. However, the red flag never came out, leaving Martinius Stenshorne as the only driver with a lap on the board.
The second run saw a massive bunch of cars cross the line together – subsequently leaving few improvements. Alex Dunne then took to the front row of the grid. The title contenders: Mansell in fourth, Dino Beganovic in fifth, and Arvid Lindblad in ninth.
Provisional Group B Results:
Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)
Sami Meguetounif (Trident)
Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing)
Christian Mansell (ART Grand Prix)
Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing)
Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport)
Joseph Loake (Rodin Motorsport)
Nikola Tsolov (ART Grand Prix)
Arvid Lindblad (Prema Racing)
Martinius Stenshorne (Hitech GP)
Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport)
Nikita Bedrin (AIX Racing)
Charlie Wurz (Jenzer Motorsport)
Sophia Floersch (Van Amersfoort Racing)
Matías Zagazeta (Jenzer Motorsport)
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