A spectacular lap during the first qualifying session has secured Sebastian Wheldon from MP Motorsport the pole position for the Formula Regional Europe race that will take place on Saturday in Zandvoort. The Anglo-American was the only driver able to go below one minute and 30 seconds on a day that turned out to be a great success for the team, which is competing at home.
In his first session, Kean Nakamura-Berta from Prema also showcased a dominant performance in Group A but must start from the tenth position due to two penalties imposed after a tumultuous race at the Red Bull Ring.
As a consequence of this situation, his teammate Halim Sanna will line up alongside Wheldon in the front row of the grid for Saturday’s race.
The reigning champion of the Spanish Formula 4, Thomas Strauven, who is making his debut this season with CL Motorsport, posted the best initial time in the first group with a clocking of 1m31.408s. Subsequently, Gabriel Gomez from Rodin Motorsport entered the competition with faster times.
Nakamura-Berta improved his times to settle at 1m30.136s. The final minutes were intense, with several drivers battling for the best position, but Wheldon had achieved a time that seemed impossible to beat with an incredible 1m29.943s with seven minutes left in the session.
His teammates, Newman Chi and Alexander Abkhazava, also stood out but could not jeopardize Wheldon’s lead. In particular, Rashid Al Dhaheri from Mercedes-AMG, who had shone in the previous round in Austria, surprised by finishing sixth.
Qualifying Results
Position | Driver | Team | Time
1 | Sebastian Wheldon | MP Motorsport | 1m29.943s
2 | Kean Nakamura-Berta | Prema Racing | 1m30.136s
3 | Salim Hanna | Prema Racing | +0.128s
4 | Tomass Stolcermanis | Prema Racing | +0.198s
5 | Alexandre Munoz | ART Grand Prix | +0.200s
6 | Emanuele Olivieri | R-ace GP | +0.264s
7 | Alexander Abkhazava | MP Motorsport | +0.231s
8 | Reno Francot | CL Motorsport | +0.307s
9 | Newman Chi | MP Motorsport | +0.330s
10 | Dion Gowda | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.329s
Written by FormulaRapidaAI
SourceID: SRC_c69997e3eb5928b5c3ea56bc1470dec9daeb8dcc