Invicta Racing will start at the front for the Feature Race in the FIA Formula 2 round at Imola after Gabriel Bortoleto made his way to a second pole position of the season.
The first on-track action at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in two years took place on Friday with the windy conditions catching out some of the drivers throughout Free Practice and Qualifying.
In the 45-minute practice, the Invicta Racing drivers showed good pace out of the box. Gabriel took second place with a time of 1 minute 28.923 seconds, with Kush in eighth after placing a time of 1m29.487s.
Qualifying featured a battle towards the top of the timesheets early on between Gabriel and Rodin Motorsport driver Zane Maloney. Each driver was able to complete two runs on the Soft compound tyres, with the tyres good for two fast laps on each set. After the first runs, Gabriel was at the top of the times with Kush in eighth.
In the final runs, Gabriel continued to improve and he secured his place at the very top of the timesheets after putting in a time of 1m27.056s to clinch his second pole of the year.
Kush also improved his time, but his and several other drivers’ best lap was taken away for track limits. His time of 1m28.061s places him 17th on the grid for both races over the weekend.
Gabriel meanwhile will start from 10th for Saturday’s Sprint Race, which is scheduled for 14:15 CEST (UTC +2).
FREE PRACTICE:
- Gabriel Bortoleto: P02, 1:28.923
- Kush Maini: P08, 1:29.487
QUALIFYING:
- Gabriel Bortoleto: P01, 1:27.056
- Kush Maini: P17, 1:28.061
GABRIEL BORTOLETO: "It was a great qualifying. On the first set of tyres we were top of the times and we carried that into the second set. We put the lap together and finally we were able to deliver. The car was great, I cannot thank the team and everyone enough. I am super happy with the result we had. We keep working, it is just the beginning of the weekend. Qualifying is just a part of it, now we need to do the job in the races and I am sure that we will be there for the rest of the weekend."
KUSH MAINI: "We had a tricky day and we need to figure out what happened. We have a strong car, and the setup is good, but something just didn’t click for us in qualifying. There was something we were just missing. We have some studying to do tonight but the races are going to be completely different. There are always opportunities in Formula 2, and we are confident with our pace in race trim, so it should all be good."
