Practice-
Ugo Ugochukwu set the pace in the opening session of the Melbourne weekend, the Campos Racing driver completing a 1:34.607 to top the times in Free Practice.
Rodin Motorsport’s Brando Badoer was second to Ugochukwu, 0.427s behind with TRIDENT’s Noah Stromsted in third.
Bruno del Pino led the way early on for Van Amersfoort Racing with a 1:36.589 before PREMA Racing’s Louis Sharp eclipsed that by 0.511s.
As track conditions improved, several drivers took to the top though, with Stromsted, Jose Garfias, Brad Benavides and Alessandro Giusti all going to P1, until Ugochukwu took over on a 1:34.859.
Entering the final 20 minutes of the session, the Campos Racing driver continued to lead the way ahead of Stromsted, who had closed within 0.197s, while teammate Theophile Nael went to third.
Ugochukwu then lowered the benchmark time on his next flying lap, completing a 1:34.607 to lead the field by nearly four and a half tenths.
After a brief stint in the pitlane, the drivers returned to the track for the final 10 minutes, with Rodin’s Badoer jumping up to P2 and Pedro Clerot going to seventh.
With just over five minutes left to go, the red flags were waved with Mattia Colnaghi having stopped on track at Turn 1.
There was not enough time to restart to the session, leaving Ugochukwu on top by 0.429s ahead of Badoer, Stromsted, Nael and Alessandro Giusti.
Qualifying-
Theophile Nael took the first Aramco Pole Position Award of the season, narrowly beating Campos Racing teammate Ugo Ugochuwku to take P1 in a dramatic Melbourne Qualifying.
With his final lap of the day, the French driver completed a 1:34.187 to fight off Ugochukwu for pole by just 0.021s. This gives the Spanish team a 1-2 start for Sunday’s Feature Race, with Trident’s Freddie Slater in third.
Ugochukwu had picked up where he left off in Free Practice, going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:34.208 which put him 0.430s clear of Noah Stromsted in P2 after the first set of laps.
The drivers then pushed on for their second attempts, but before they could set their times the red flags were shown as Matteo de Palo was in the barrier at the exit of Turn 10.
With the Trident car cleared, the teams sent their drivers out on to the track on new sets of tyres. Having set the fastest middle sector, Ugochukwu hit a polystyrene board and sustained front wing damage.
The Campos driver returned to the pitlane and stayed in P1 albeit with James Wharton cutting his lead to 0.413s – the Melbourne-native going up to second for PREMA Racing.
There were nine minutes left when the majority of drivers went out on track for their final push laps, all with new sets of tyres.
Ugochukwu was back out, with his Campos fitted new front wing. But he did not improve, with Slater going up to second 0.061s behind.
Several drivers were looking to push on late on, with Maciej Gladysz going up to third for ART Grand Prix.
He was demoted to P4 moments later as Nael, having come out of the pitlane later than the rest of the field, went to pole, beating his teammate, Ugochukwu by just 0.021s.
Nicola Lacorte then climbed up to fifth for DAMS, ahead of Mattia Colnaghi, Taito Kato and home favourite Wharton. Brando Badoer was ninth for Rodin Motorsport ahead of Stromsted in P10.
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