EVAN GILTAIRE BEATS FREDDIE SLATER FOR POLE POSITION IN RACE 1
Evan Giltaire has denied Freddie Slater of pole position for race 1 after a fantastic lap in Group B, which put him 4 tenths ahead of the British driver.
Group A had the drivers in the odd positions of the standings, such as the championship leader Freddie Slater, Deligny and Al Dhaheri.
The track was much colder than yesterday counting 6°C, drivers had to warm up their tires for more laps than usual, as there are no tire blankets in FRECA.
While warming up the tires, almost the whole Group A used to lock up the tires at both turn 4 and turn 8 (Ascari chicane), which caused many of them to run off the track and go to the gravel.
It was on the last two minutes that real and comparative times started to be set on the timesheets. Freddie Slater and Taito Kato looked like they were the fastest all over the weekend in this group, and indeed they finished first and second respectively.
Rashid Al Dhaheri qualified third in his group, making it a good result for the Emirati driver, who has struggled with qualfiying pace this season. Enzo Deligny and Jack Beeton closed the top 5, consequently sealing the top 10 combining the times with Group B.
Group B had the drivers sitting in uneven positions on the standings, such as Matteo de Palo, Pedro Clerot, and so on.
Conditions were not much different from Group A. However, there was a bit more grip, which allowed the drivers to avoid locking up. They also settled for track position much earlier than the Group A, in order to have more shots at push laps.
As usual, fastest laps were being set on the latest part of the session. Pedro Clerot and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi were initially fighting for the Group pole.
Evan Giltaire however, went to P1 with 5 seconds to go, but it was not enough to beat Slater’s time, as he was two tenths behind.
He managed to start another lap, and improved it by 6 tenths, getting pole position for race 1 ahead of Pedro Clerot and Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi. Championship contender Matteo de Palo qualified behind his team mate Bhirombhakdi and will start only 7th.
The top 10 is: Giltaire, Slater, Clerot, Kato, Bhirombhakdi, Al Dhaheri, De Palo, Deligny, Beeton and Przyrowski.
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