F2: Fornaroli secures maiden pole ahead of Martins

Leonardo Fornaroli secured top spot in FIA Formula 2 Qualifying in Bahrain, logging a 1:44.008 on his final attempt to take his first pole position in the Championship.

The Invicta Racing driver had been quickest earlier in the session but was beaten by ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins in the closing stages.

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The pair could hardly be separated, but Fornaroli finished off his final effort to recapture top spot, ending up a tenth ahead of the newly announced Williams Racing Driver Academy talent in P2.

Fresh from his outing with Williams in F1's FP1, Luke Browning made it a good day all round for Williams junior drivers, finishing the session third overall for Hitech TGR, 0.284s down on Fornaroli.

Alexander Dunne was fourth for Rodin Motorsport while Roman Stanek ensured both Invicta cars were in the top five just behind the McLaren Driver Development star.

Richard Verschoor, Sami Meguetounif, Rafael Villagómez followed in sixth, seventh and eighth places ahead of Dino Beganovic, who’d also taken part in FP1 with Ferrari, and Joshua Duerksen in P10. The Paraguayan is now set to start Saturday’s Sprint Race from reverse grid pole.

For a full report of the Formula 2 Qualifying session from the Bahrain International Circuit, head to the official website here.