QUALIFYING: Nael flies to Monte Carlo pole ahead of Badoer

Campos Racing’s Théophile Nael secured his second Aramco Pole Position Award of the season, finishing P1 in Group B on a 1:24.471. Brando Badoer was fastest in Group A, but the Rodin Motorsport driver’s time was just over a tenth shy of Nael’s best effort, leaving the Campos driver with the most coveted pole of the season.

GROUP A

The even-numbered cars headed out for the first segment of the session and Championship leader Ugochukwu set the early pace on a 1:31.081 as the built laps continued.

A 1:26.367 from the Campos driver brought the time to beat down, and Noah Stromsted was able to displace him despite an error in the penultimate corner by 0.018s. Tuukka Taponen went up to third for MP Motorsport, leaving the top three split by just 0.041s at the halfway stage.

Taito Kato delivered a 1:25.988 to become the next driver to take top spot provisionally, until Ugochukwu and then Badoer bettered that time. The Italian laid down a 1:25.287 to take top spot going into the final five minutes.

Kato improved on his next lap to cut the deficit to 0.190s as the track continued to improve. Ugochukwu got to within 0.060s of the Rodin driver, who abandoned his next lap after an error.

Taponen then found a personal best in sectors one and two to go up to provisional pole on a 1:25.242 with less than two minutes remaining.

With the chequered flag waving, Ugochukwu found one final improvement to go P1 but that was usurped by Badoer as he returned to provisional pole setting a 1:24.612, three-and-a-half tenths quicker than the rest.

GROUP B

While the majority of Group B headed straight out onto circuit, TRIDENT opted to hold Freddie Slater in order to get some clear air.

The second set of drivers chose to run more preparation laps before serious attempts were made, and it was Théophile Nael that led the way with half the session to go on a 1:25.729.

Maciej Gladysz was the first to bring the times down, going to P1 on a 1:25.575 until Slater bettered that as he dipped underneath the 1:25s on a 1:24.986.

Slater improved in the first sector with three minutes to go, but slight contact with the barriers at Turn 7 left him with front wing endplate damage and he had to abandon the lap.

Behind the Briton, Nael was flying heading towards the final two minutes, and despite his own contact with the barriers at the final corner, set provisional pole on a 1:24.552.

With the clock at zero, Slater delivered a purple middle sector, but an untidy final section left him second in Group B.

Nael found even more time to take pole in Monaco on a 1:24.471. Campos teammate Ernesto Rivera wound up third in Group B on his F3 Qualifying debut to cap off a positive day for the Spanish team.

With the grid aggregated together, Nael will have Badoer alongside him on the front row on Sunday, with Slater going from third ahead of Ugochukwu in P4, and Rivera fifth.

The Monte Carlo Sprint Race is scheduled to get underway at 10:45 local time on Saturday, with Hiyu Yamakoshi set to start from reverse grid pole.