F2 | Qualifying | Bahrain GP | Fornaroli secures first pole in the category - Motorsport

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Reigning F3 champion Leonardo Fornaroli came out on top as he secured pole position in qualifying at the Bahrain GP, full qualifying report and results below.

Green lights went out at the end of the pitlane for qualifying as ART GP’s Ritomo Miyata led the F2 grid out onto the track.

First fast-laps of the session

Whilst other drivers headed out on track, several drivers remained in the pits. Newly appointed Williams junior Victor Martins set the early benchmark with a 1:45.110. However, it did not take long for the reigning F3 champion, Leonardo Fornaroli, skyrocketed to the top of the timings with a 1:44.642.

The track was busy as the first set of fast-laps came through, however several drivers decided remain in the pits.

Alex Dunne in his Rodin was inevitably fast as well as his mighty sector 1 was noted by many. Gabriele Mini was next to set off on his flying lap, however the Italian driver was still seemingly off the pace as he could only go into P5.

After half the grid completed their first flying laps, remaining drivers, which included Campos Racing pair, decided to finally head out on their first flyers. Fornaroli had sat at the top comfortably for awhile by now.

Track limits catching some drivers out

Troubles at T13 for drivers had caught out Rafael Villagómez, Sebastian Montoya and Amaury Cordeel, who had their lap times deleted.

Fresh-off his FP1 session for Williams, Luke Browning puts his Hitech in P4 with a 1:45.035.

Richard Verschoor’s next lap moved him into P2 with a 1:44.976. However, it did not take long before Pepe Martí’s impressive first flying lap skyrocketed him into P2 with a 1:44.865 and a purple sector 3.

The track slowly quietened down as drivers headed back into the pits for a new set of soft tyres for their last run in qualifying.

Final minutes and flying laps

Fornaroli remained comfortable at the top as drivers headed back out for the final runs in qualifying. Cameras in the pitlane captured the DAMS team momentarily struggling to get Kush Maini’s car fired up, luckily enough he joined the field again.

As 5 minutes were left on the clock, Victor Martins was first across the line to start the final laps of qualifying. A purple sector 2 and 3 took Martins to the top. Verschoor improved on his last lap as well but was quite a distance away from the French driver. Browning joined the top 2 momentarily as he went 2nd with a 1:44.292. However, it was Fornaroli’s unbelievable one-lap pace who denied Martins’ a pole position as he went back to the top with a 1:44.008.

A reversed top 10 will see Joshua Dürksen start on pole for the Sprint race tomorrow. Both PREMAs of Mini and Montoya missed out on the top 10.