Armstrong and Lawson struggle as Vips takes maiden F2 pole in Imola

| Photographer Credit: Red Bull Media

Hitech Grand Prix’s Jüri Vips took the first pole position of his FIA Formula 2 Championship career on Friday evening, as he mastered the difficult conditions at the Imola Circuit, Italy, setting a lap time of 1:40.221. Kiwi drivers Marcus Armstrong and Liam Lawson will start ninth and 14th, both struggling in the wet. Lawson held third fastest time for much of the session but slipped to 14th as others improved in drying conditions.

The Estonian driver will start Sunday’s Feature Race from the head of the pack and will have fellow Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa for company on the front row. The Japanese driver missed out on pole by just over one-tenth of a second.

More rain hit the track prior to the start of the session, forcing the drivers to use wet tyres as they departed the pit lane.

Ralph Boschung, who set the pace in the afternoon practice session, was the first driver to lay down a marker but after the opening round of laps, it was Clément Novalak who was the fastest driver.

Van Amersfoort Racing’s Jake Hughes then moved to the top of the timesheet, before being displaced by Vips.

Shortly after Vips set his latest improvement, the one and only red flag of the session was deployed, after Campos Racing’s Olli Caldwell spun off the road in the first sector.

As the session resumed, drivers returned to the circuit to prepare for the final push laps, with Boschung setting the benchmark even lower.

However, with six minutes remaining, Vips closed out a lap that would not be beaten, despite several improvements from his rivals inside the top 10.

Virtuosi Racing’s Jack Doohan, who took pole position at the maiden Qualifying session of the year in Sakhir, produced an impressive late effort to go third ahead of Boschung.

Reigning FIA Formula 3 Champion Dennis Hauger secured his best Qualifying result of the year in fifth, leading F2 veteran Roy Nissany in the DAMS car.

Théo Pourchaire was seventh, ahead of the PREMA Racing car of Jehan Daruvala and Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong, who recovered to a top 10 result after crashing out of the afternoon’s practice session.

Armstrong will start Saturday’s Sprint Race from the front row, alongside Logan Sargeant who took reverse grid pole by ending Qualifying in 10th place.

The Sprint Race will get underway at 17:55 local time tomorrow.

Qualifying Results

1/ Jüri Vips 1’40.221
2/ Ayumu Iwasa 1’40.378
3/ Jack Doohan 1’40.431
4/ Ralph Boschung 1’40.496
5/ Dennis Hauger 1’40.572
6/ Roy Nissany 1’40.621
7/ Theo Pourchaire 1’40.862
8/ Jehan Daruvala 1’40.886
9/ Marcus Armstrong 1’41.004
10/ Logan Sargeant 1’41.062
11/ David Beckmann 1’41.129
12/ Felipe Drugovich 1’41.131
13/ Clement Novalak 1’41.173
14/ Liam Lawson 1’41.199
15/ Enzo Fittipaldi 1’41.235
16/ Frederik Vesti 1’41.434
17/ Jake Hughes 1’41.520
18/ Amaury Cordeel 1’41.592
19/ Richard Verschoor 1’42.144
20/ Calan Williams 1’42.498
21/ Olli Caldwell 1’42.954
22/ Marino Sato 1’43.311

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