QUALIFYING: Goethe denies Fornaroli pole in Lusail

Oliver Goethe claimed his maiden FIA Formula 2 Aramco Pole Position Award, logging a 1:36.115 for MP Motorsport.

Championship leader Leonardo Fornaroli had been fastest for much of the Qualifying session but was bested by just 0.040s to wind up second, ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins in third.

PREMA Racing’s Sebastián Montoya set the early pace before the Invicta Racing duo of Roman Stanek and then Fornaroli went quicker still. The pair were split by Jak Crawford, but it was the Championship leader that went to P1 on a 1:37.850 after the first laps.

Martins delivered a 1:37.512 to go to the top on his second attempt, until MP Motorsport teammates Oliver Goethe and Richard Verschoor went 1-2.

Stanek put Invicta back on top with a 1:37.189, but teammate Fornaroli once again went quickest of all, this time laying down a 1:36.996.

Several drivers began to peel into the pitlane to bring their first run to a close, but Goethe went to within 0.075s of Fornaroli on his third flying lap, improving to P2.

Into the final 10 minutes and everyone returned to the track with fresh Soft tyres, and Dino Beganovic delivered a time good enough for provisional pole on a 1:36.826.

Fornaroli was flying behind though, and he went back to P1 on a 1:36.307. Stanek cut the gap down to 0.214s in P2, while Goethe delivered the third-quickest time to go ahead of Beganovic.

Goethe though found enough time go in front of Fornaroli as both drivers improved on their final attempts, just 0.040s between them in favour of the MP driver as he set a 1:36.115.

Martins found another move forward as he went to P3 ahead of Stanek, Alexander Dunne, Montoya, Nikola Tsolov, Rafael Villagómez, Joshua Duerksen and Verschoor in P10.

Down in 15th with 10 seconds to go, Crawford began his final flying lap with enough time on the board to go again. but couldn’t improve. Likewise, fellow Championship contender Browning found himself out of the top 10 and down in P18.

The penultimate Formula 2 Sprint Race of the season is set to get underway at 19:20 local time on Saturday under the floodlights in Lusail. Who will take a step closer to Championship glory?