Day 1-
Free Practice-
Zane Maloney made a strong start to his Monza weekend, finishing the practice session fastest of all, thanks to Rodin Motorsport driver’s time of a 1:32.285.
The Bajan driver was in strong form throughout and ended the session over a tenth clear of Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto, as Zak O’Sullivan rounded out the top three for ART Grand Prix.
However it was O’Sullivan who was fastest of all after the first set of laps on a 1:34.577 beating Oliver Bearman to the top time by 0.174s.
But after rounding the track for the second time, Maloney went to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:34.060 only for Trident’s Richard Verschoor to eclipse him by 0.048s.
The Rodin driver later set a time of 1:33.664 to return to P1 with Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron now his nearest rival, 0.076s behind.
The fastest time changed hands again, as Maloney went fastest once more. Moments later though, Dennis Hauger’s lap of 1:33.209 put him on top for the first time in the session.
The majority of the grid opted to pit with 20 minutes but returned to the track a few minutes later with Joshua Duersken now fastest on a 1:32.953, two-tenths clear of Verschoor in second.
Rodin were showing good pace and while Maloney jumped to second, he was pushed down to third by his teammate Ritomo Miyata who went fastest on a 1:32.946.
As we headed into the final 10 minutes of the session, times began to tumble as both Bearman and Bortoleto went quickest. However it was Maloney again who ended up on top thanks to a 1:32.532.
As we entered the final couple of minutes, the red flags were waved as Roman Stanek collided into the barrier at Serraglio. The session was not restarted leaving Maloney on top ahead of Bortoleto and O’Sullivan.
Qualifying-
Zane Maloney left it late in the day to seal pole position at a dramatic Monza qualifying. The Rodin Motorsport driver completed a lap of 1: 32.160 to win out in a battle with fellow title contenders Isack Hadjar and Paul Aron.
It was a slow start to the session as while the rest of the field chose to stay in the pit lane, Roman Stanek decided to go out on track, The Trident driver completed a lap of 1:34.992 just as most of the grid made their way out on the circuit.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli was next to set a lap, and he lowered the benchmark to 1:32.941 with Enzo Fittipaldi going closest to the PREMA Racing driver’s time in second, 0.256s off top spot.
Practice pace setter Maloney had been on a good lap and was about to cross the line but the red flags were waved with the marshals needing to clear a polystyrene board from the track.
The session resumed with 16 minutes left on the clock, but as the times started to pour in once more, the red flags were out for a second time.
This time it was Gabriel Bortoleto stuck in the gravel at the second Lesmo. The Invicta Racing driver had not set a lap and will now start both races from the back of the grid, a blow to his title challenge.
The action resumed with only seven minutes left to go as the drivers poured out of the pitlane with just eight out of 22 having set a representative lap time.
A flurry of laps followed soon after with Hadjar going to the top of the timesheets on a 1:32.249 while Aron followed him across the line to go second.
But Maloney was on a charge and went fastest in the middle sector before beating the Campos Racing driver to the top spot 0.089s.
The drivers pushed on for a second set of laps and while there were some improvements, no-one could match Maloney’s time giving him his first pole position.
The full top 10 are- Pole: Maloeny, P2: Hadjar, P3: Aron, P4: Hauger, P5: Martins, P6: Antonelli, P7: Marti, P8: Bearman, P9: Cordeel and P10: Fittipaldi.
Day 2-
It was a fast start for pole-sitter Enzo Fittipaldi but a slow getaway for fellow front row starter, Amaury Cordeel dropped down to fourth before reaching Turn 1.
However, Fittipaldi went wide at Turn 1, giving Josep Maria Marti the chance to take the lead from the Van Amersfoort Racing driver at the Curva Grande with Martins watching on in third.
But there was drama at the back of the field as Zak O’Sullivan made contact with debutant Oliver Goethe on the run to Turn 1.
The ART driver was then involved in another collision moments later as he and Andrea Kimi Antonelli collided heading into the first chicane.
O’Sullivan was out of the race while the PREMA Racing driver pitted with a puncture and front wing damage.
Marti led the pack away as we resumed racing on Lap 4, following a Safety Car, but Fittipaldi was able to use the tow to get ahead on the main straight.
Fittipaldi struggled for the rest of the lap as Martins and Bearman got ahead of him, demoting him to P4.
On to Lap 5 and the battle for P2 commenced, as Bearman got ahead of Martins into the Roggia chicane.
Bearman was showing great pace and was right on the back of Marti heading to Turn 1 at the start of Lap 7.
A few laps on Martins overtook Marti for P2 heading to Turn 1.
Marti though was not giving up on the position and made a late lunge on the Frenchman heading into Turn 1. Both drivers ran wide but kept the position, as Fittipaldi and Duerksen closed in as Lap 9 got underway.
Bearman’s lead was over two seconds as we started Lap 10, but the fight for the podium was heating up. Marti was now being attacked by Fittipaldi, and the VAR driver took P3 into the first corner.
Campos were struggling as Isack Hadjar lost out to a charging Gabriel Bortoleto, who after starting from last, claimed P12 down the main straight.
The battle for the points was incredibly tight and Aron shut the door on Crawford into the first chicane, allowing Hauger to take P8 from the DAMS Lucas Oil driver at the Curva Grande.
On to Lap 17, Fittipaldi ran wide at the exit of the Roggia chicane, giving Marti and Maloney the chance to close right in on him.
He held them off until Turn 1 on the following lap before Marti dived down the inside to take P4.
As the same time, Maloney and Aron made contact at the same corner forcing the Hitech driver to pit with front wing damage.
Back at the front, the top three had separated themselves from the rest of the field as Bearman crossed the line to take his second consecutive victory at Monza.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bearman, P2: Martins, P3: Duerksen, P4: Marti, P5: Maloney, P6: Crawford, P7: Fittipaldi, P8: Bortoleto, P8: Hauger and P10: Hadjar.
Day 3-
It was a brilliant start from pole for Maloney, likewise for third-placed Paul Aron, although it was a slow getaway for Championship leader Isack Hadjar.
However, there was drama at Turn 1 as Josep Maria Marti locked up into the corner following his fast start, sending him into the back of Aron, who was out of the race following the contact.
The Safety Car was called upon and with the track cleared, racing resumed on Lap 3 as Maloney led Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Just behind them, Hadjar, who had dropped to fifth, made up one position after getting ahead of the fast-starting AIX Racing car of Joshua Duerksen only for the AIX driver to retake the position down the main straight on lap 5.
As Lap 6 got underway, Maloney had a lead of over a second a half to Bearman, while Duerksen was on the charge, getting ahead of Antonelli heading into Turn 1.
Just as some of the drivers came out of the pit lane, the Safety Car was called upon with Dennis Hauger having spun at Turn 1 following contact with Ritomo Miyata.
Significantly, Bortoleto was now the net race leader having started in P22 with Verschoor behind and Maloney third in the queue of those to have made their mandatory pit stop.
We returned to racing on lap 11 of 30 with the MP Motorsport debutant Oliver Goethe leading Invicta’s Kush Maini.
As the drivers got ready to start Lap 13, Maloney made a significant move as he got ahead of Verschoor heading to parabolica.
This then put him right on the back of Bortoleto, but only briefly as the Brazilian got ahead of Juan Manuel Correa heading to Turn 1.
Bortoleto and Maloney were picking their way through the filed as the former got ahead of Goethe for P2, while the latter pulled off another move at the Parabolica on Correa.
On to Lap 19 and Maloney was losing time to Bortoleto in the battle for the race win as he struggled to get past Goethe.
He eventually made the move heading into the Ascari chicane later in the lap, but he was now over four seconds behind Bortoleto.
The two PREMA drivers went wheel to wheel into Turn 1 with Antonelli getting ahead at the exit of Turn 2. Bearman tried to stay on the outside but dipped a tyre in the gravel, giving Duerksen the chance to go around him.
The Italian was on the charge and got ahead of Martins down the main straight to get up to P5, with Goethe having finally pitted and dropped to P16.
Martins then lost another place a lap later with Duersken getting ahead under braking into Turn 1.
Maini came in on Lap 29, leaving Bortoleto out front by himself for the final two laps before crossing the line to take his second victory of the season.
The full top 10 are- P1: Bortoleto, P2: Maloney, P3: Verschoor, P4: Antonelli, P5: Duerksen, P6: Martins, P7: Bearman, P8: Villagomez, P9: Crawford and P10: Fittipaldi.
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