FORMULA class: Florian Schnitzenbaumer drives to the top
Qualifying for the races on the « Peroni Race Weekend » in Imola brought an interesting result for the FORMULA class.
First surprise already before first cars went on track: Johann Ledermair (Ledermair Motorsport), currently leading the FORMULA ranking, exited his race weekend due to technical problems. « We have some issues, we currently can’t solve. Going on track would be to dangerous, that’s why we decided, to exit the race weekend on this point. We will leave still today and solve the technical problems of the car after returning home », Johann Ledermair explains.
The exit of Ledermair for the last two races of the season brings new thrill for the final Championship decision of season 2017. Salvatore De Plano (MM International Motorsport) and Mahaveer Raghunathan (PS Racing by Coloni Motorsport) will fight for the title now, as long as both of them complete their races successfully.
But first – Florian Schnitzenbaumer (Top Speed) rolled up the grid with a great performance at the Qualifying. Staying nine laps on track, the German drove his best lap in 1:30,008 min – fastest driver of the FORMULA grid, overall third fastest time of the whole grid (FORMULA and OPEN class), which means start-position 3 for the race in the afternoon (start: 3:40 p.m.).
Close behind the Top Speed driver was Mahaveer Raghunathan. The young Indian, currently ranked in position 3 of the overall ranking of the FORMULA class, arrived with high ambitions in Imola and will definitely fight with a high attitude for the Championship title 2017. With his best lap in 1:30,341 he finished Qualifying as second fastest driver of the FORMULA class with a sharp gap to Schnitzenbaumer, but on position 4 of the overall grid.
But where was De Plano? The Italian – racing on his home track – is as well highly ambitious and aiming for the title of the Champion 2017. He performed his best lap time in 1:32,754, which means third fastest driver of the FORMULA class in Qualifying, sixth fastest driver of the overall start grid. So De Plano will start from position 6 into the race on the afternoon.
Qualifying in Imola 2017: Salvatore De Plano (r.) in front of Rinus van Kalmthout and Ingo Gerstl (both OPEN class).
Armando Mangini (MM International Motorsport), Walter Steding (Inter Europol Competition), Martin Kindler (Jenzer Motorsport), René Kouwenberg (De Boer Manx), Karl-Heinz Becker (Becker Motorsport) and PETER (Ray-Ban) completed the grid, while Nicolas Matile (PS Racing by Coloni Motorsport) spun of the track, his Lola Auto GP had to be recovered.
Drivers and crews now look forward to the first race of the weekend, which will start at 3:40 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.
Results of Qualifying of FORMULA class at « Peroni Race Weekend »:
| Position | No. | Name | Nat. | Team | Car | Fastest lap (min) | Gap (s) | Laps | km/h |
| 1 | 888 | Florian Schnitzenbaumer | GER | Top Speed | Dallara GP2 | 1:30,008 | 9 | 296,4 | |
| 2 | 115 | Mahaveer Raghunathan | IND | PS Racing by Coloni Motorsport | Dallara Lola | 1:30,341 | 0,333 | 2 | 276,7 |
| 3 | 999 | Salvatore De Plano | ITA | MM International Motorsport | Dallara GP2 | 1:32,754 | 2,746 | 5 | 288,5 |
| 4 | 323 | Armando Mangini | ITA | MM International Motorsport | Dallara GP2 | 1.34,810 | 4,802 | 8 | 287,7 |
| 5 | 505 | Walter Steding | GER | Inter Europol Competition | Dallara GP2 | 1:36,761 | 6,753 | 9 | 288,5 |
| 6 | 430 | Martin Kindler | SUI | Jenzer Motorsport | Nissan World Series | 1:37,096 | 7,088 | 10 | 262,6 |
| 7 | 139 | René Kouwenberg | NED | De Boer Manx | Dallara GP2 | 1:38,480 | 8,472 | 11 | 285,4 |
| 8 | 411 | Karl-Heinz Becker | GER | Becker Motorsport | Super Nissan World Series | 1:41,981 | 11,973 | 9 | 267,8 |
| 9 | 111 | ‘PETER’ | FRA | Ray-Ban | World Series by Renault | 1:52,840 | 21,832 | 2 | 236,2 |
| 10 | 116 | Nicolas Matile | SUI | PS Racing by Coloni Motorsport | Lola Auto GP |
MORE:
Picture gallery of Imola 2017: bossgp.com/gallery/imola-boss-gp-superprix
Schedule Imola 2017: bossgp.com/timetable-for-the-peroni-race-weekend-in-imola-ita
FORMULA class: Second free practice in Imola 2017: bossgp.com/formula-class-de-plano-chasing-best-lap-time
FORMULA class: First free practice in Imola 2017: bossgp.com/formula-class-fastest-lap-at-first-free-practice-for-raghuanthan
FORMULA class: Start list Imola 2017: bossgp.com/formula-class-start-list-for-boss-gp-superprix-in-imola-ita-is-set
Standings of season 2017: bossgp.com/standings
30/09/2017