F3: Santiago Ramos starts from pole at Imola

Santiago Ramos set the fastest time in Formula 3 qualifying at Imola. For the Mexican Trident driver, who is spending his debut season in the youth series, this is the best result of his career. Together with him, one of the two leaders of the personal classification, Leonardo Fornaroli, will start from the front row during Sunday’s race.

Before the start of the qualifying session it was announced that the results would not correspond to the placement of the riders at the start. Nikola Tsolov and Callum Voisin each lose three positions because they drove too fast during Friday training under red flags.

The riders didn’t delay and took to the track as soon as the 30-minute qualifying countdown started. After two warm-up laps the riders started attacking with full force.

After the first fast lap, Gabriele Mini topped the time table with a time of 1:32.598 s, a tenth ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli.

When most drivers were driving their second fastest lap, red flags appeared on the track. The reason was that Callum Voisin spun and flew away at the exit of the Tamburello corner. The driver and equipment were not injured, but it took stewards some time to free the car from the gravel. For Voisin, the session ended there.

The break lasted five minutes, after which the qualifying battle resumed. The riders again completed two warm-up laps and only then began their fast attempts.

Oliver Goethe surpassed Mini’s result and topped the protocol. Matias Zagazeta went off the track exiting turn six, but retained control of the car and was able to return to the asphalt.

In addition to Goethe, Mini’s result was improved by Sami Megetunif. The Trident driver briefly moved up to second place before Fornaroli and Alex Dunne finished their laps with first and second fastest times respectively.

Less than ten minutes before the end of qualifying, the riders set off for the decisive attempt. Dino Beganovic topped the time list, but Arvid Lindbland improved his time almost immediately. Mini improved his time, but not his position, falling behind the top four.

In the second fast lap, first Fornaroli and then Santiago Ramos improved Lindbland’s result. Sami Megetunif showed the third fastest time.

Individual leader Luke Browning qualified tenth. Nikita Bedrin set the fifteenth fastest time.

The starting grid for the sprint has been reversed: the drivers in the first twelve places will start tomorrow in reverse order. Noel Leon will therefore start from pole on Saturday. Tim Tramnitz will start the race with him from the front row.