2026 | FREC | Paul Ricard | Qualifying 1 | Nakamura-Berta secures fifth pole position of 2026 FREC season

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Kean Nakamura-Berta secured his fifth pole position of the 2026 FREC season in Qualifying 1 at Paul Ricard, setting the fastest time of the session with a 1:57.824.

The PREMA Racing driver will start Saturday’s Race 1 from pole position, with MP Motorsport’s Sebastian Wheldon joining him on the front row after topping Group B.

Championship leader Rashid Al Dhaheri will start third for R-ace GP, while Alexander Abkhazava completed the top four.

Nakamura-Berta secures pole as Abkhazava closes in

With just over two minutes remaining, Nakamura-Berta became the first driver to move close to the 1:58 barrier, setting a 1:58.076 to move to the top of the timesheets.

R-ace GP’s Emanuele Olivieri moved into second, two tenths behind, while MP Motorsport’s Alexander Abkhazava climbed into third.

Nakamura-Berta then set the fastest first and third sectors on his final flying lap to improve to a 1:57.824 and secure pole position. Olivieri also improved to a 1:57.912, but Abkhazava edged ahead of him with a 1:57.829, finishing just five thousandths of a second behind Nakamura-Berta.

Marcus Saeter secured fourth for G4 Racing, narrowly missing out on breaking the 1:58 barrier, while PREMA Racing’s Salim Hanna completed the top five. ART Grand Prix’s Kabir Anurag, Mattéo Giaccardi and Alexandre Munoz followed, with RPM’s Jan Przyrowski completing the top nine.

It was a difficult session for Yuki Sano, who could only manage tenth in the group after claiming his maiden victory of the season at the Hungaroring last time out.

Group A results

#51 Kean Nakamura-Berta — PREMA Racing — 1:57.824
#15 Alexander Abkhazava — MP Motorsport — 1:57.829
#73 Emanuele Olivieri — R-ace GP — 1:57.912
#67 Marcus Saeter — G4 Racing — 1:58.175
#88 Salim Hanna — PREMA Racing — 1:58.202
#19 Kabir Anurag — ART Grand Prix — 1:58.294
#27 Mattéo Giaccardi — ART Grand Prix — 1:58.356
#95 Alexandre Munoz — ART Grand Prix — 1:58.463
#8 Jan Przyrowski — RPM — 1:58.488
#12 Yuki Sano — R-ace GP — 1:58.570
#55 Dion Gowda — Van Amersfoort Racing — 1:58.582
#47 Andrija Kostic — Trident Motorsport — 1:58.771
#11 Francisco Macedo — Van Amersfoort Racing — 1:58.857
#24 Jules Roussel — CL Motorsport — 1:58.863
#99 Giovanni Maschio — RPM — 1:58.039

Wheldon bounces back to secure front-row start

Sebastian Wheldon bounced back from a difficult Hungaroring weekend to top Group B in the 2026 FREC Paul Ricard Qualifying 1 session and secure a front-row start for Saturday’s Race 1.

The MP Motorsport driver set a 1:57.832 to finish just 0.008s away from Nakamura-Berta’s overall pole time. CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot was the first driver to set a representative lap, posting a 1:57.960, but Wheldon immediately went three thousandths quicker.

Wheldon then improved again to a 1:57.832, while Rodin Motorsport’s Gabriel Gomez moved into second with a 1:57.898. Gomez’s team-mate Alex Ninovic followed in third, while Al Dhaheri moved into fourth with a 1:57.945, dropping Francot to fifth.

As the chequered flag approached, Al Dhaheri produced the fastest opening sector of the session with a 32.226 before combining it with a strong final sector to set a 1:57.854 and move into second.

Wheldon was unable to improve on his final lap but comfortably held on to the fastest time in the group. Gomez finished third ahead of Ninovic, with Francot rounding out the top five.