FIA Formula 2 championship leader Théo Pouchaire clinched his second pole position in the 2023 season at Monza.
Kush Maini from Campos Racing was the first to set the pace 12 minutes into the session with a time of 1m32.882s, placing him 0.108 seconds ahead of Jack Doohan from Virtuosi Racing, with Richard Verschoor from Van Amersfoort Racing just 0.001s behind in third.
However, Maini’s moment at the top was brief, as Victor Martins from ART Grand Prix, the practice pacesetter, clocked in at 1m32.423s, and Isack Hadjar from Hitech GP and Roman Stanek from Trident also surpassed Maini’s benchmark.
Championship contender Frederik Vesti initially secured the fifth-fastest time, several positions ahead of his title rival, Pourchaire. However, he later dropped down to eighth as the ART GP driver then lowered the pace to 1m32.328s.
Ollie Bearman claimed the second spot with a time of 1m32.487s, as Martins’ best lap was invalidated. Hadjar improved to 1m32.535s, securing the third position. Martins’ next-best effort, a 1m32.538s, placed him fourth.
After a short interlude those drivers who did return to the track all bunched up, missing the opportunity to immediately improve their lap times. However, Trident driver, Stanek managed to snatch third place from Hadjar by a mere 0.001s.
Despite not improving his time, Pourchaire secured pole position with a comfortable 0.159s advantage over the rookie Bearman.
Pourchaire Will be pleased with his days work, the championship leader has a solid gap between him and primary rival Vesti for Sundays Feature Race.
