Free Practice-
Campos Racing’s Oliver Goethe was the man to beat in Free Practice around Imola, with the German driver’s 1:32.047 the time to beat in the opening session of the weekend.
Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Luke Browning finished in P2, 0.3s down on the top time while Mari Boya made it two Campos cars in the top three.
A very quiet opening 10 minutes gave way to some early laptimes, and it was Joseph Loake that went quickest for Rodin Motorsport. His 1:36.795 put him fastest in the initial stages before the rest of the field ventured out.
PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad lowered the benchmark to a 1:33.784 on his first lap, with ART Grand Prix driver Christian Mansell slotting into P2, 0.2s down.
There was a red flag with 24 minutes of the session to go after Campos Racing’s Sebastian Montoya found the barriers at the exit of Turn 15, running resumed with 18 minutes left.
Wurz’s teammate Max Esterson was next to take over in P1, before Browning put in a 1:32.367 to go comfortably quickest with just over 10 minutes to go.
Goethe closed the gap down to the leader to just under a tenth of a second before then going to the top of the times on his next effort.
A 1:32.047 put him 0.3s clear of the pack with five minutes left.
A second red flag quickly followed after Piotr Wisnicki slid into the barriers at Turn 9, with little time left, the session wasn’t restarted.
Qualifying-
Santiago Ramos saved his best for last to lead teammates Leonardo Fornaroli and Sami Meguetounif in an exciting Imola Qualifying session.
The Mexican’s 1:31.767 put him on pole in the final moments to top a Trident 1-2-3 result!
With tyre preparation laps completed, PREMA Racing’s Gabriele Mini led the way on a 1:32.598 ahead of compatriot Fornaroli. ART Grand Prix rookie Laurens van Hoepen filtered through in third, 0.172s down on the top effort.
There was a red flag with 10 minutes gone after Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin spun into the gravel at Turn 4.
The session resumed and Oliver Goethe took over at the top. The Campos Racing driver carried on his form from Practice to pip Mini and to take provisional pole by 0.081s.
Most drivers returned to the pits with just under half of the qualifying session remaining, but Fornaroli stayed on track and put in his personal best to go 0.3s clear in P1 on a 1:32.159. MP Motorsport’s Alex Dunne followed suit and move himself up to second, 0.141s behind with 12 minutes to go.
Dino Beganovic was the first to improve, just 0.003s quicker than Fornaroli’s earlier time. Teammate Arvid Lindblad then took over with a 1:32.109.
Into the final two minutes and there were green and purple sectors throughout the field. Fornaroli restored himself onto provisional pole to go 0.2s quicker than Lindblad.
The full top 10 are- P1: Ramos, P2: Fornaroli, P3: Meguetounif, P4: Lindblad, P5: Beganovic, P6: Mini, P7: Goethe, P8: Van Hoepen, P9: Browning and P10: Tramnitz.
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