With 27 cars covered by less than one second, Sebastian Wheldon topped the second Pre-Event Test session that opened the FIA Formula Regional European Championship weekend at Imola.
The MP Motorsport driver set a fastest time of 1:39.761, improving by more than a tenth and a half on the benchmark established in the opening session by Van Amersfoort Racing rookie Oleksandr Bondarev and finishing just 0.093 seconds clear of teammate Zhenrui Chi.
Championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta (PREMA Racing) was third, having once again featured consistently among the frontrunners. Bondarev’s teammate Dion Gowda also impressed, taking fourth after finishing sixth in the morning session.
CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot completed the top five, closely followed by PREMA Racing’s Tomass Stolcermanis. Rookie Championship leader and fourth-placed driver in the overall standings Emanuele Olivieri was seventh for R-ace GP.
Rodin Motorsport duo Gabriel Gomez and Alex Ninovic finished eighth and ninth respectively, while Trident Motorsport’s Maksimilian Popov rounded out the top 10 behind them.
Alongside Bondarev, who set the 15th-fastest time, fellow series debutant René Lammers also made his first appearance for CL Motorsport. The Dutchman completed more laps than any other driver during the session, with a total of 40.
The weekend schedule resumes tomorrow with the sole 50-minute Free Practice session, getting under way at 09:55 ahead of Qualifying 1 at 15:15.
