Laurens Van Hoepen took Formula 2 pole position for the Montreal Feature Race, with Rafa Camara starting alongside him, and Gabriele Mini in reverse pole for the Sprint Race on Saturday.
Canada presented a new challenge for F2, as the series had not raced around the Montreal circuit before. Alex Dunne went fastest in the single practice session that F2 took part in. However, the times only count in qualifying, and with tyres the grid has yet to use around Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve, there were plenty of unknowns.
Noel Leon led the field onto the track under the warm Canadian conditions. The track offered the 22 drivers different conditions from their earlier practice, with Formula 1 practice taking place just before qualifying and further rubbing in the track.
Ritomo Miyata embarked on the first push lap of the session, setting the benchmark at 1:24.159s. However, as the field crossed the line, each driver posted faster times. Johsua Duerksen shot to the top of the timing sheets with a significantly faster 1:22.914s. While Dunne crossed the start-finish straight with a massive snap to end his lap, Gabriele Mini crossed the line with the fastest time. The Alpine junior managed a time of 1:22.615s.
Mini comes into the Canadian GP weekend second in the championship, equal on points to Rafael Camara and one point away from Nikola Tsolov in first. Yet, Tsolov wasn’t going to make the challenge for first too easy, besting Mini’s time by 0.2s.
Camara also threw his hat in the ring, putting in an impressive 1:22.025s, which solidified his place at the top of the timing sheets.
Pole still up for grabs
With just over 15 minutes left in the session, drivers were failing to post faster times than on their initial laps. Drivers began to file into the pit lane to put on new tyres and have a second fight for pole.
After a short break before the final stint, the 22 drivers left the pit lane. 10 minutes remained in the session when the grid went out during their push laps. Every margin makes a huge difference in F2, with one second covering first to 20th on the grid.
Just as drivers were preparing their tyres, Ollie Goethe, who sat 16th, came off the kerb in Turn 4. Which unsettled the MP car beneath him, sending Goethe into the wall. The rear of his car clipped the barrier, damaging the suspension and forcing Goethe to end his session.
A red flag was raised, stopping the timer in the session and allowing the rest of the field to still fight for pole. However, Goethe was left with a best-case starting place of 16th. Likely to drop further through the field. Luckily, the MP driver managed to stop his car by the side of the road, so the recovery was quick.
Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve had already shown how important precision was around a track with tight walls.
ART in the barrier
It showed its teeth again when Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak was embarking on his push lap, hitting the barrier at Turn 4. The ART driver destroyed the front wing and left side of his car, but climbed out of the car unscathed. Unfortunately for Inthraphuvasak, who sat fifth in the timings, his best time would also be deleted for bringing out a Red Flag.
While the clock stopped under the Red Flag, Camara was having his rear suspension checked after the Invicta brushed the wall on his laps. There were only five minutes left in the session. Making time of the essence, coming into the final laps.
As the light went green at the end of the pit lane, the remaining 20 drivers quickly made their way out onto the track. With a chance of another yellow flag looming, Noel Leon embarked on a push lap. Leon slid through Turns 3 and 4, brushing the wall where others had crashed earlier in the session.
Leon went fastest but only for a second as Tsolov crossed the line first. Tsolov’s time of 1:21.789s keeps him in contention for pole. Maritnius Stenshoirne looked to challenge for Pole, taking first on the timing sheets with a time of 1:21.744.
However, the session wasn’t over yet as Dunne put in a purple first sector. The Rodin driver is hoping to catch his teammate. Dunne crossed the line, taking the session’s chequered flag with a 1:21.709s, putting the Irishman in provisional pole.
Camara was pushing into the final sectors, moving into provisional pole. Laurens Van Hoepen was on a flying lap into the final corners. The Trident driver. managed to put a 0.2s gap to Camara, taking pole position as the session ended.
Van Hoepen and Camara took the front row for the Feature Race on Sunday. Dunne and Tsolov take the second row, with Stenshorne starting behind his teammate on the third row, with Duerksen alongside him. John Bennett took the best qualifying result of his F2 career, starting seventh, and Leon in eighth on row four. Rounding out the top ten was Rafael Villagomez and Mini, with Mini starting on reverse pole position for the Sprint Race tomorrow.
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