Stenshorne secures pole position for the first Formula Regional European race at Mugello

At Mugello Circuit, the fifth round of the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine, it will be the Championship leader Martinius Stenshorne from R-ace GP starting from pole position in race 1. Alongside him on the front row, as the best of his group, is the Bolognese driver from Prema Racing, Andrea Kimi Antonelli.

Martinius Stenshorne on track during Formula Regional European qualifying at Mugello. (ACI Sport)

The qualifying session for Group A this morning quickly heated up. There was a succession of fast laps between Rafael Camara, the Brazilian driver from Prema Racing and former race winner, and two R-ace GP drivers, Martinius Stenshorne and Tim Tramnitz. The battle among the top 6 drivers in the first group was intense, as they all continued to improve their best times on the sectors of the Tuscan track. However, as usual in the series so far, everything was decided in the final lap.

Martinius Stenshorne secured pole position with a lap time of 1’42.305, followed closely by Tim Tramnitz, who led the session until the final stages, with a gap of only 2 hundredths of a second. Maya Weug claimed the third position right at the end, finishing 0.527 seconds behind, the incredibly fast driver from KIC Motorsport who has already climbed the podium this year with a Rookie win and sixth place overall in a race. She is certainly determined to reach the absolute podium starting from the third row in race 1.

Joshua Dufek, the Swiss driver from Van Amersfoort Racing, finished the first qualifying session in fourth place with a gap of 0.670. Roman Bilinski, the Polish ace from Team Trident, secured fifth place with a gap of 0.695.

Andrea Kimi Antonelli in the Formula Regional European pit lane at Mugello. (Sebastiaan Rozendaal / Dutch Photo Agency / ACI Sport)

Group B took to the track with the Norwegian driver’s benchmark to beat. The second session came into full swing more slowly than the previous one, with the first hot laps coming in the second half of the 15 minutes on track. Among the early leaders were Santiago Ramos from RPM, followed by the Dutch driver Kas Haverkort from Van Amersfoort Racing. It was then Andrea Kimi Antonelli who took the lead of the group, continuously improving his lap time to set the fastest time of the group with 1’42.422, an exceptional time that, however, didn’t take pole position away from Stenshorne. Haverkort finished the qualifying session in second place, 0.153 seconds behind, followed by Owen Tangavelou, the French driver from Trident, with a gap of 0.343. Lorenzo Fluxà, the Spanish driver from Prema Racing, secured fourth place with a gap of 0.346. Santiago Ramos closed the qualifying session in fifth place in the group, with a gap of 0.388.

Race 1 will take place today, Saturday, July 8, at 13:50. The second qualifying session will be held tomorrow, Sunday, July 9, with the two groups ready to battle from 8:30 onwards, followed by the final race of the weekend, starting at 16:20.

Both the qualifying sessions and the races of the weekend will be streamed live on the official Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine YouTube page.

Martinius Stenshorne

”It was a really good qualifying. It was really close between me and Tim today, but the car was on fire, I’m really happy. I think our speed is really good, the sector was really good as well, that’s why we are P1 and 2, and he was really close. I’m happy to come away P1, the speed is looking good, we will do the best and we will see.”

Andrea Kimi Antonelli

“Is always a pleasure to drive here in Mugello. It’s a really tough track, really technical and it is a big challenge. During yesterday’s practice we struggled a bit with the car, but I think this morning we made a big step. I think we still have a little bit of time to find, but we are in the good way, and we are positive for the race.”