Invicta Racing to start on the second row of the Feature Race grid with Gabriel Bortoleto and Sprint Race pole with Kush Maini after ultra-close qualifying session.
Blazing sunshine awaited the Formula 2 drivers as they headed out for their first on-track action of the weekend. Like many drivers, the Invicta Racing duo opted not to run in the first third of the morning’s 45-minute practice session and headed out onto the track with 30 minutes left on the clock.
Kush’s first representative time was good enough for eighth while Gabriel’s placed him sixth, but as track conditions improved, so too did lap times for others around them and they fell back to 18th and 19th respectively.
Temperatures approached 30 degrees as the afternoon’s 30-minute qualifying session got underway and drivers were feeling the heat, with the top five separated by a tenth of a second in the final reckoning.
After the first set of banker laps, the Invicta Racing drivers were in the mix. Kush set the fifth-fastest time (1:25.772) and Gabriel was eighth with a 1:26.194, but a red flag halted proceedings with 23 minutes remaining.
With the session restarted, Gabriel managed a small time improvement of seven hundredths, but his position in the order remained unchanged. The pair returned to the pits – Kush now in 11th and Gabriel in 16th – to regroup ahead of the all-important final runs.
As the session reached its crescendo, Gabriel crossed the line to go third, half a tenth shy of the pole time. Displaced to fourth in the final order, he will start the Feature Race from the second row of the grid. Kush, meanwhile, jumped to 10th, securing pole position for the Sprint Race.
FREE PRACTICE RESULTS:
Gabriel Bortoleto: P19, 1:27.914
Kush Maini: P18, 1:27.865
QUALIFYING RESULTS:
Gabriel Bortoleto: P04, 1:24.821
Kush Maini: P10, 1:25.199
QUOTES
GABRIEL BORTOLETO: “We can be happy with that result in qualifying. Considering where we finished practice, and how tight the field was, fourth place and half a tenth off pole is a decent result. Although, it is a little frustrating when you’re that close to the front. Still, this puts us in a great position to fight for big points in both of this weekend’s races. As always, I’ll give it everything out there.”
KUSH MAINI: “That was one of the closest qualifying sessions I can remember. When it’s such fine margins you can lose places if you miss one apex, so I’m happy to come away with Sprint Race pole. Now we have to convert it, so I’m focused on maximising the opportunity tomorrow and making as much progress as I can in the Feature Race on Sunday.”
