Hitech TGR’s Dino Beganovic drove himself to pole during a chaotic Qualifying session in Italy. The 21-year-old made the decision to get out on track early and put his lap time in, which he later benefitted from when the red flag was waved, and the session was not resumed.
The session started with all twenty two cars taking to the track, all aiming to qualify on that vital pole position. Struggling with tyre temperature and track grip, many of the first laps were below the fastest time set in Free Practice.
After the first round of flying laps, Alex Dunne found himself at the top of the timings. The Rodin Motorsport driver put in a strong 1:27.827 to start the session, but Victor Martins wasn’t far behind, crossing the line with a 1:27.887.
Oliver Goethe was first to exit the track, struggling to control the MP Motorsport car beneath him. He was handed a track limits violation and seemingly compromised the lap of his teammate Richard Verschoor.
The fight for pole pressed on but tyre wear began to become more apparent, with many drivers diving into the pits. This left time for Invicta Racing’s Leonardo Fornaroli to put in a lap time which lifted him to P2 on the board, whilst Lindblad struggled to control his car during his flying lap.
Whilst all drivers poured into the pitlane, an incident was noted from the Villeneuve Chicane, with Lindblad and Goethe being noted for impeding. This was reported over the radio by Goethe, claiming a Campos had impeded him, however race control later decided there was no further investigation needed.
All cars once again took to the track, with some holding back or jumping up the queue to avoid being caught up and slowed down by the lines forming before the starting straight. Purple sectors poured onto the boards until we saw the Alpine Academy car of Kush Maini on the grass with a damaged car from losing the car on a curb and hitting the barrier. This brought out the red flag with 5:59 left on the clock.
As the red flag halted the action, attention was brought to the other drivers struggling with grip and control around the track. Luke Browning had a moment at Turn 4, cutting across the grass but he wasn’t the only one to struggle at the first corners, with Campos Racing driver Martà also finding himself driving through a gravel trap.
All green flag preparations were put to a stop when Race Control announced that the session would not resume. Dino Beganovic had been lucky to cross the line and put himself on pole position before the red flag, and will go on to become the first driver to receive the Aramco Pole Position Award later today.
While Beganovic celebrated, other drivers were not so lucky. Verschoor found himself with some work to do from down in 19th, and many championship contenders hadn’t managed to surface into the Top 10.
Image: Formula Motorsport Limited
