David Vidales will start the opening race of the 2021 Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine season from pole position after coming out on top of a busy but close second Qualifying session at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Saturday.
The Spaniard, driving for Prema Powerteam, took top spot in the session with a lap of 1:37.860, with the top four in the session covered by less than a tenth of a second.
The weather looked for a while to be closing in, with spots of rain falling at parts of the Imola track, but the precipitation held off long enough for everyone to get through without too much drama. Save for a few trips through the gravel trap and run off areas, it was a relatively clean session, with only traffic to worry about for the thirty drivers.
Paul Aron made it a Prema Powerteam one-two on the front row, with the Estonian missing out on pole position by just 0.044 seconds. Arden’s Alex Quinn will start third after his final lap saw him move up from sixth, with the Briton being joined on the second row by R-ace GP’s Hadrien David. Such was the closeness of the session, David was only 0.098 seconds away from the pole time!
Grégoire Saucy, who had claimed pole position for Sunday’s second race by topping the first session earlier in the day, couldn’t replicate his performance in the second session, but the ART Grand Prix driver still finds himself in a competitive fifth for race one.
He will be joined on row three by the third Prema Powerteam driver, Dino Beganovic, while row four is filled by R-ace GP’s Isack Hadjar and ART Grand Prix’s Gabriele Mini. The top ten is rounded out by Arden’s William Alatalo and R-ace GP’s Zane Maloney.
Less than a second separated pole position to seventeenth placed Oliver Gøthe of MP Motorsport, while just over two and a half seconds separate first to last. Bélen Garcia will unfortunately fill that position at the back of the grid, although the G4 Racing driver was not that far away from the pace. She also survived a wild trip across the gravel trap at Tamburello mid-way through the session.
Qualifying 2 Result
| POS. | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME/GAP | LAPS |
| 1 | 12 | David Vidales | ESP | Prema Powerteam | 1:37.860 | 10 |
| 2 | 1 | Paul Aron | EST | Prema Powerteam | +0.044 | 10 |
| 3 | 21 | Alex Quinn | GBR | Arden Motorsport | +0.052 | 11 |
| 4 | 10 | Hadrien David | FRA | R-ace GP | +0.098 | 9 |
| 5 | 26 | Grégoire Saucy | CHE | ART Grand Prix | +0.303 | 10 |
| 6 | 17 | Dino Beganovic | SWE | Prema Powerteam | +0.436 | 9 |
| 7 | 6 | Isack Hadjar | FRA | R-ace GP | +0.459 | 9 |
| 8 | 46 | Gabriele Mini | ITA | ART Grand Prix | +0.503 | 10 |
| 9 | 8 | William Alatalo | FIN | Arden Motorsport | +0.533 | 11 |
| 10 | 22 | Zane Maloney | BAR | R-ace GP | +0.608 | 10 |
| 11 | 64 | Mari Boya | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.660 | 10 |
| 12 | 85 | Gabriel Bortoleto | BRZ | DR Formula | +0.735 | 10 |
| 13 | 19 | Andrea Rosso | ITA | FA Racing | +0.794 | 9 |
| 14 | 51 | Francesco Pizzi | ITA | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.798 | 11 |
| 15 | 27 | Kas Haverkort | NED | MP Motorsport | +0.833 | 11 |
| 16 | 62 | Lorenzo Fluxá | ESP | Van Amersfoort Racing | +0.838 | 11 |
| 17 | 96 | Oliver Gøthe | DEN | MP Motorsport | +0.967 | 11 |
| 18 | 41 | Emidio Pesce | ITA | DR Formula | +1.033 | 9 |
| 19 | 91 | Eduardo Barrichello | BRZ | JD Motorsport | +1.044 | 9 |
| 20 | 5 | Patrik Pasma | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +1.062 | 11 |
| 21 | 58 | Elias Seppänen | FIN | KIC Motorsport | +1.104 | 11 |
| 22 | 35 | Pietro Delli Guanti | ITA | Monolite Racing | +1.165 | 11 |
| 23 | 14 | Nicola Marinangeli | ITA | Arden Motorsport | +1.385 | 10 |
| 24 | 16 | Tommy Smith | AUS | JD Motorsport | +1.418 | 10 |
| 25 | 71 | Brad Benavides | USA | DR Formula | +1.523 | 11 |
| 26 | 7 | Axel Gnos | CHE | G4 Racing | +1.756 | 9 |
| 27 | 2 | Nico Göhler | GER | KIC Motorsport | +1.900 | 11 |
| 28 | 13 | Jasin Ferati | CHE | Monolite Racing | +1.912 | 11 |
| 29 | 9 | Alexandre Bardinon | FRA | FA Racing | +2.227 | 10 |
| 30 | 72 | Bélen Garcia | ESP | G4 Racing | +2.554 | 11 |
