OLIVER GOETHE TAKES FIRST EVER POLE IN FORMULA 2
Oliver Goethe earned his first FIA Formula 2 pole position with a lap time of 1:36.115 for. Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli had been on top for most of Qualifying, but Goethe beat him by just 0.040 seconds. Victor Martins from ART Grand Prix finished third.
At the start, Sebastián Montoya set the first fast time. Then Roman Stanek and Fornaroli from Invicta Racing went quicker. Jak Crawford briefly split them, but Fornaroli took P1 with a 1:37.850 on the first runs.
Martins then moved to the top with a 1:37.512, until MP Motorsport teammates Goethe and Richard Verschoor took over the first two spots.
Stanek hit back with a 1:37.189, and Fornaroli again went fastest with a 1:36.996.
As some drivers pitted after their first runs, Goethe got close to Fornaroli, ending up just 0.075 seconds behind.
In the final 10 minutes, everyone went out again on fresh Soft tyres. Dino Beganovic set a provisional pole time of 1:36.826.
Fornaroli responded with a 1:36.307 to return to P1. Stanek moved to second, 0.214 seconds behind, while Goethe went ahead of Beganovic into third.
On their last laps, both Goethe and Fornaroli improved, but Goethe found a little more time and took pole with a 1:36.115, beating Fornaroli by 0.040 seconds.
Martins improved to P3, followed by Stanek, Alexander Dunne, Montoya, Nikola Tsolov, Rafael Villagómez, Joshua Duerksen, and Verschoor in P10.
Crawford, sitting in 15th with 10 seconds left, started a final lap but couldn’t improve. Championship rival Browning also struggled and ended up 18th.
The second-to-last Formula 2 Sprint Race of the season will start at 19:20 local time on Saturday under the lights in Lusail, where the fight for the Championship continues.
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