Grégoire Saucy took the first pole position of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season on Saturday morning, with the Swiss racer proving that his pre-season testing form was genuine as he secured top spot for Sunday’s second race at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari.
Saucy, racing for ART Grand Prix, was quick throughout pre-season testing, and he took pole position at Imola with a time of 1:38.139. The Swiss racer was lucky as seconds after he crossed the line, the red flags flew around the track as Monolite Racing’s Jasin Ferati found the gravel trap at Piratella.
When the session resumed there was very little time left for drivers to get around to start a flying lap. However, one driver who did take advantage of the time left was Hadrien David, with the R-ace GP driver doing enough to join Saucy on the front row of the grid.
Losing out on the front row slot was Prema Powerteam’s Paul Aron, who was shuffled down to third, while the Estonian’s team-mate David Vidales will be rueing yellow flags as he was forced to abandon a lap that looked as though it was going to move him up the order.
The Spaniard will start the first race of the season fourth on the grid but was on course to improve only for the third Prema driver, Dino Beganovic, to run wide at Rivazza to briefly bring out the yellow flags.
Zane Maloney took fifth on the grid for R-ace GP ahead of Arden’s Alex Quinn, with the Briton likely to be disappointed with a place on the third row after being inside the top three in both Friday practice sessions.
Despite his off earlier, Beganovic took seventh on the grid thanks to his final flying lap set after the red flag, while R-ace GP’s Isack Hadjar, ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini and Van Amersfoort Racing’s Mari Boya completed the top ten.
Thirty cars will take to the grid for the opening round of the season, with G4 Racing’s Bélen Garcia bringing up the rear of the field. Neither Thomas Ten Brinke nor Franco Colapinto are racing this weekend, with the former in quarantine after testing positive for COVID-19, and the latter racing in the European Le Mans Series at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain.
Another Qualifying session will take place later today to set the grid for race one, which takes place after Formula 1‘s Qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Qualifying 1 Result
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME/GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 26 | Grégoire Saucy | CHE | ART Grand Prix | 1:38.139 | 8 |
| 2 | 10 | Hadrien David | FRA | R-ace GP | +0.189 | 9 |
| 3 | 1 | Paul Aron | EST | Prema Powerteam | +0.208 | 9 |
| 4 | 12 | David Vidales | ESP | Prema Powerteam | +0.383 | 9 |
| 5 | 22 | Zane Maloney | BAR | R-ace GP | +0.395 | 9 |
| 6 | 21 | Alex Quinn | GBR | Arden Motorsport | +0.585 | 8 |
| 7 | 17 | Dino Beganovic | SWE | Prema Powerteam | +0.629 | 10 |
| 8 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | R-ace GP | +0.677 | 9 |
| 9 | 46 | Gabriele Mini | ITA | ART Grand Prix | +0.787 | 9 |
| 10 | 64 | Mari Boya | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.869 | 9 |
| 11 | 8 | William Alatalo | FIN | Arden Motorsport | +0.934 | 8 |
| 12 | 27 | Kas Haverkort | NED | MP Motorsport | +0.976 | 11 |
| 13 | 96 | Oliver Gøthe | DEN | MP Motorsport | +0.999 | 10 |
| 14 | 85 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRZ | DR Formula | +1.094 | 11 |
| 15 | 58 | Elias Seppänen | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +1.296 | 9 |
| 16 | 91 | Eduardo Barrichello | BRZ | JD Motorsport | +1.346 | 9 |
| 17 | 7 | Axel Gnos | CHE | G4 Racing | +1.351 | 8 |
| 18 | 19 | Andrea Rosso | ITA | FA Racing | +1.365 | 11 |
| 19 | 62 | Lorenzo Fluxá | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | +1.411 | 9 |
| 20 | 71 | Brad Benavides | USA | DR Formula | +1.454 | 8 |
| 21 | 41 | Emidio Pesce | ITA | DR Formula | +1.566 | 8 |
| 22 | 16 | Tommy Smith | AUS | JD Motorsport | +1.614 | 8 |
| 23 | 35 | Pietro Delli Guanti | ITA | Monolite Racing | +1.642 | 8 |
| 24 | 51 | Francesco Pizzi | ITA | Van Amersfoort Racing | +1.706 | 9 |
| 25 | 2 | Nico Göhler | GER | KIC Motorsport | +1.914 | 10 |
| 26 | 5 | Patrik Pasma | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +1.962 | 8 |
| 27 | 9 | Alexandre Bardinon | FRA | FA Racing | +2.295 | 11 |
| 28 | 14 | Nicola Marinangeli | ITA | Arden Motorsport | +2.606 | 9 |
| 29 | 13 | Jasin Ferati | CHE | Monolite Racing | +2.949 | 7 |
| 30 | 72 | Bélen Garcia | ESP | G4 Racing | +3.402 | 8 |
