F2 News: Dunne takes Monaco pole away from Martins by 0.003s

Alexander Dunne (pictured) claimed his maiden Formula 2 and Aramco Pole Position Award with a last-gasp lap in Monte Carlo.

The Rodin Motorsport driver earned P1 with a 1:21.142, quicker than ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins’ earlier time by just 0.003s. Leonardo Fornaroli wound up third for Invicta Racing after finishing second in Group B.

GROUP A

The even-numbered cars kicked off the first segment, and with warm-up laps completed, Martins picked up his pace immediately to put in a 1:21.792 for the top spot by over a second. Gabriele Minì was P2 for PREMA Racing, with Joshua Duerksen a further four-tenths back in third.

Arvid Lindblad cut that gap down to just under three-tenths on his first effort for Campos Racing, going to second. Minì found more time but remained third with his improvement moments later.

Into the final five minutes and Lindblad became the first driver to displace Martins from the top spot, going to provisional pole momentarily until Richard Verschoor secured P1 with a 1:21.520.

Martins had to abandon his second attempt after cutting the Nouvelle Chicane, but he moved back to provisional pole after a cool down lap, setting a 1:21.145.

On to the final attempts, Martins couldn’t improve but he had done enough to retain the top spot in Group A, finishing up 0.375s ahead of Verschoor in P2, and 0.398s clear of Lindblad in third. Minì and Kush Maini of DAMS Lucas Oil rounded out the top five in Group A.

GROUP B

With the target set, the odd-numbered cars followed out of the pitlane, and just as the first flying laps were set to get underway, the Red Flags were waiving.

Rafael Villagómez found the barriers at the final corner after a squabble for track position with Rodin Motorsport’s Alexander Dunne.

Once the Van Amersfoort Racing car was recovered, the Stewards confirmed the incident would be investigated after the session, and Qualifying resumed with 12:05 left on the clock.

Preparation laps complete, Dunne set the pace with a 1:21.781 to go to P1 ahead of Leonardo Fornaroli of Invicta Racing. Luke Browning followed across the line, and he filtered through in third for Hitech TGR.

As the session ticked into the final three minutes, the next set of laps arrived, and the Championship leader improved onto a 1:21.437. Sebastián Montoya found more time also, moving PREMA Racing up to second in Group B.

With less than a minute to go, Dunne found a session-best first and second sector time and a final sector good enough to set a 1:21.142 to steal pole at the very end.

Fornaroli improved to second position, but third-placed driver Montoya driver spun to bring out the yellow flags in the final sector. Jak Crawford followed with Browning in fifth in Group B.

The Sprint Race is set to get underway on Saturday afternoon at 14:15 local time.