Practice-
Rafael Camara made a positive start to his Imola weekend by topping the timesheets in Free Practice.
The Trident driver’s 1:33.091 proved the time to beat ahead of the MP Motorsport duo of Alessandro Giusti and Tim Tramnitz.
Domingues improved to a 1:34.891 but was followed across the line by PREMA Racing’s Noel Leon, who went fastest on a 1:34.740.
Nicola Lacorte set the pace at his home race with a 1:35.682 early on for DAMS Lucas Oil, before the Van Amersfoort Racing driver, Ivan Domnigues, pushed him down to P2 with a 1:35.564.
Track conditions continued to improve and the laps got faster still, and this time it was Brando Badoer on top for PREMA with a 1:34.162, a tenth quicker than his teammate Leon.
But then came the Championship leader, Camara, and he went fastest on a 1:33.433, the Trident driver over seven-tenths faster than Badoer.
However, Camara was joined in the top two by Giusti. The MP rookie went to second, 0.245s behind, with Stenshorne third.
Camara continued to improve and lowered the time to beat to a 1:33.353.
Tramnitz was right behind the Brazilian at the line and wound up 0.254s off P1.
After a quick trip to the pit lane, the drivers were back out on the track and Camara again improved to a 1:33.091. However, Giusti was even closer this time around, just 0.074s behind his Trident rival.
The Red Flags were out with less than three minutes to go, after Ugo Ugochukwu spun into the gravel at the exit of the Villeneuve chicane, before making slight contact with the barrier.
With not much time left, the session was not resumed with Camara fastest ahead of the MP pairing of Giusti and Tramnitz.
Qualifying-
Rafael Camara made it three consecutive pole positions to start the 2025 season after leaving it late to take the top spot from Van Amersfoort’s Santiago Ramos at a dramatic Imola Qualifying.
The Trident driver completed a 1:32.206 with his final lap of the day to take pole, beating Ramos by over two-tenths, with his teammate Noah Stromsted ending up thrd.
Camaraa picked up from where he left off in Free Practice to go up to P1 early on.
Several drivers were able to improve on their next flying attempts, but the majority of the grid opted to abort those laps, choosing to pit for a second set of medium tyres instead.
With just over 16 minutes remaining, the drivers returned to the track and there were improvements across the board, as several climbed up the timesheets.
But it was Badoer who went fastest on a 1:32.894, to eclipse Camara by just 0.015s.
The Italian completed his lap at the right time as the Red Flags were waved moments later, with Campos Racing’s Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak stuck in the gravel at Acque Minerali.
Running resumed with just over 11 minutes to go and 25 out of remaining 29 drivers went out, as all three Trident drivers remained in the pit lane alongside Callum Voisin.
As the times came through, Ramos went fastest on a 1:32.442 for Van Amersfoort Racing, with Tuukka Taponen his closest challenger in P2, 0.092s.
But as they completed their laps, the quartet in the pit lane returned to the track, and Camara completed his final attempt to go to provisional pole with a 1:32.306.
The Brazilian beat Ramos by 0.236s to seal the first Aramco Pole Position Award as Stromsted also left it late to go to third.
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