In a thrilling qualifying session at Hungaroring, Martinius Stenshorne of R-ace GP emerged as the first poleman for the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine Hungarian round. The battle took place in Group B, the second group to hit the track on Saturday morning. Stenshorne showcased his skills and quickly took the lead, but Michael Belov of G4 Racing momentarily claimed the top spot. However, as the chequered flag waved, Stenshorne, the last driver to cross the finish line, reclaimed the pole position with an outstanding lap time of 1’39.604.
Andrea Kimi Antonelli from Prema Racing secured P2 in Group B, thus earning himself a spot on the second row for Race 1. Antonelli set the fastest lap at the end of the session, with a gap of 0.159 seconds. Belov settled for P3, trailing behind with a gap of 0.182. Rafael Camara of Prema Racing took P4 in Group B, with a gap of 0.263, closely followed by Macéo Capietto of RPM at 0.287.
Roman Bilinski, talented Trident driver from Poland, delivered an impressive performance, securing P6 in the first qualifying session at Hungaroring. Bilinski’s lap time trailed the pole-sitter by 0.488 seconds. Victor Bernier of MP Motorsport achieved P7 in Group B, with a gap of 0.620, closely followed by Esteban Masson representing Saintelòc Racing at 0.647. Behind Bernier and Masson, two more French drivers, Owen Tangavelou of Trident and Alessandro Giusti of G4 Racing, rounded out the top 10 with gaps of 0.739 and 0.780 respectively.
In Group A, Santiago Ramos of RPM continued to display incredible speed, building on his impressive performance from the previous day’s collective tests where he set the fastest lap. Ramos secured P1 in his group for the first row of Race 1, stopping the clock at 1’39.977. Kas Haverkort of Van Amersfoort Racing clinched P2 with a mere 0.018-second gap on the stopwatch, while Joshua Dufek, the Swiss driver from Van Amersfoort Racing, put up a strong fight for the top spot but settled for P3 with a 0.106-second gap from Ramos. Championship leader Tim Tramnitz took fourth place with a gap of 0.154 seconds, and P5 went to Lorenzo Fluxà of Prema Racing, trailing behind the leader by 0.347 seconds.
Sami Meguetounif of MP Motorsport secured sixth place with a gap of 0.585, followed by Matias Zagazeta at 0.709. However, Zagazeta was penalized after the session and had to drop 2 grid positions for Race 1 due to impeding Tom Lebbon’s (Arden Motorsport) fast lap. Laurens Van Hoepen of Art Grand Prix claimed P8 with a gap of 0.741, while Marcus Amand, also representing Art Grand Prix, finished in eighth place with a gap of 0.763. Dilano Van T’Hoff of MP Motorsport rounded out the top 10 in Group A, trailing by 0.889 seconds.
The stage is set for an exciting race at Hungaroring, with Martinius Stenshorne, at his second pole position this year, and Santiago Ramos leading the pack from the front row. The drivers will soon battle it out on the track to prove their skills and determination in Race 1, in a track that already proved in the past the crucial role of qualifying.
Race 1 is live today, Saturday, June 17, at 13:20, lasting for 30 minutes plus one lap.
The weekend will then resume on Sunday, June 18, where another great for qualifying is expected with Group B taking to the track first this time, from 9:00 to 9:15 and Group A from 9:20 to 9:35. The thrilling finale of the weekend will take place at 16:30, featuring a 30-minute plus one lap duration.
Motorsport enthusiasts can catch all the qualifying sessions and both the races of the weekend live on the official Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine YouTube page (@formularegionaleubyalpine), or attend the event in person. Info and ticket are available on Hungaroring official website, here: https://hungaroring.hu/site/en/races/international-gt-open.
Martinius Stenshorne: “it was really nice to get the second pole of the season and also it was nice to bounce back after Barcelona’s round. Luckily we had the collective test which was in total 4 hours, so I had time to get used to the track. Qualifying is really important, I will try to get the job done in the race.”
Santiago Ramos: “it is a great feeling after being so close for the last couple of races and now we finally got it, being P1 in the group. I’m very happy with that. The connection we have between the Team and myself is really good, we are pushing ourselves forward, our goal is to keep working together and keep making better results every time.”
