Dino Beganovic took FIA F2 pole in Imola after red flag ended session early, while Rafael Camara took top honours in F3.
F2:
Dino Beganovic timed his Qualifying lap perfectly to beat the Red Flags and the rest of the field to earn his first pole position in Formula 2. The Hitech TGR driver logged a 1:27.418 to lead PREMA Racing’s Sebastián Montoya and ART Grand Prix driver Victor Martins, with the top three separated by just 0.006s.
Arvid Lindblad got the ball rolling with a 1:28.175 to lead the pack but he was pipped by Martins and Alexander Dunne in short order, the Irishman continuing from where he was in Practice. The Rodin Motorsport driver’s 1:27.827 was later beaten by Lindblad who moved back up to the top by going 0.012s quicker on his next attempt.
Martins improved too, and he put ART on top with a 1:27.424. After a brief spell back in the pitlane, drivers returned to the track with 10 minutes to go in the session and conditions improving. Montoya hit the front next for PREMA, but his time was bettered by Beganovic by just 0.003s.
The Swede got his 1:27.418 in just before the Red Flags were waving. Kush Maini suffered a spin into the barriers at Tamburello. With the clear up of the DAMS Lucas Oil car not able to be completed in time, the session was not resumed.
It put Beganovic on pole and meant he was the first winner of the Aramco Pole Position Award in F2, ahead of Montoya and Martins. Leonardo Fornaroli completed a late lap in the initial runs to wind up third fastest for his first home event of the season, while Dunne completed the top five.
Lindblad and Luke Browning followed in sixth and seventh places, while MP Motorsport’s Oliver Goethe was eighth. Maini finished ninth ahead of DAMS teammate Jak Crawford in 10th.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1923388517700317588
UPDATE: Maini’s fast lap was deleted for causing red flag which dropped him to 13th as teammate Crawford moved up by one place to ninth and Ritomo Miyata was up to 10th to secure sprint race pole.
F3:
Rafael Câmara made it three consecutive Pole Positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort Racing’s Santiago Ramos at dramatic Imola Qualifying. The TRIDENT driver completed a 1:32.206 with his final lap of the day to take pole, beating Ramos by over two-tenths, with his teammate Noah Stromsted ending up third.
Câmara picked up from where he left off in Free Practice to go up to P1 early on. The TRIDENT rookie’s 1:32.909 was 0.233s quicker than PREMA Racing’s Brando Badoer in second. Several drivers were able to improve on their next flying attempts, but the majority of the grid opted to abort those laps, choosing to pit for a second set of Medium tyres instead.
With just over 16 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the track and there were improvements across the board, as several climbed up the timesheets. But it was Badoer who went fastest on a 1:32.894, to eclipse Câmara by just 0.015s. The Italian completed his lap at the right time as the Red Flags were waved moments later, with Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stuck in the gravel at Acque Minerali.
Running resumed with just over 11 minutes to go and 25 out of remaining 29 drivers went out, as all three TRIDENT drivers remained in the pit lane alongside Callum Voisin. As the times came through, Ramos went fastest on a 1:32.442 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Tuukka Taponen his closest challenger in P2, 0.092s.
But as they completed their laps, the quartet in the pit lane returned to the track, and Câmara completed his final attempt to go to provisional pole with a 1:32.206. The Brazilian beat Ramos by 0.236s to seal the first Aramco Pole Position Award as Stromsted also left it late to go to third. Taponen wound up in fourth for ART Grand Prix ahead of Rodin Motorsport’s Louis Sharp and Roman Bilinski.
They were followed by the PREMA pairing of Ugo Ugochukwu and Noel León, with Nikola Tsolov and Mari Boya in P9 and P10 for Campos, respectively. Tim Tramnitz ended up in 11th for MP Motorsport ahead of teammate Bruno del Pino.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1923376229916258442
[The story is as per press release]
