2026 | FREC | Hockenheim | Qualifying 1 | Wheldon takes pole as FREC title fight reaches Hockenheim finale

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Sebastian Wheldon secured pole position in Qualifying 1 for the opening race of the 2026 FIA Formula Regional European Championship (FREC) finale at Hockenheim, with the Drivers’ Championship set to be decided this weekend.

The MP Motorsport driver claimed two valuable points with the fastest time in Group A, reducing his deficit to championship leader Emanuele Olivieri to 18 points. Olivieri will start alongside Wheldon on the front row after topping Group B.

Jan Przyrowski will start third after finishing second in Group A, continuing his strong form after topping the combined Free Practice timesheets on Friday.

PREMA Racing’s Tomass Stolcermanis will join him on the second row after finishing second in Group B, ahead of his teammate Kean Nakamura-Berta. Nakamura-Berta arrives in Germany third in the championship and remains in contention for the title, while R-ace GP’s Rashid Al Dhaheri also remains in the fight after qualifying fourth in Group A.

Wheldon leads the way in Group A

Rodin Motorsport’s Alex Ninovic was the first driver to set a representative time, going quickest with a 1:35.290 with seven minutes remaining.

Trident Motorsport’s Maksimilian Popov then lowered the benchmark by 0.143s, while CL Motorsport rookie Ary Bansal moved into second.

Al Dhaheri took control with five minutes remaining, setting a 1:35.048 before Wheldon became one of the first drivers to break into the 1:34s with a 1:34.661.

Al Dhaheri responded almost immediately, lowering the benchmark to 1:34.501, while Przyrowski moved into third after running at the front throughout Friday’s practice sessions.

Wheldon then produced a 1:34.353 to return to the top of the timesheets, with Przyrowski closing to within 0.075s.

Al Dhaheri slipped to fourth behind Popov, while ART Grand Prix’s Alexandre Munoz completed the top five.

Group A results

Sebastian Wheldon — MP Motorsport — 1:34.353
Jan Przyrowski — RPM — +0.075s
Maksimilian Popov — Trident Motorsport — +0.113s
Rashid Al Dhaheri — R-ace GP — +0.121s
Alexandre Munoz — ART Grand Prix — +0.242s
Saqer Almaosherji — G4 Racing — +0.276s
Alex Ninovic — Rodin Motorsport — +0.414s
Ary Bansal — CL Motorsport — +0.432s
Alexander Abkhazava — MP Motorsport — +0.448s
Oleksandr Bondarev — Van Amersfoort Racing — +0.456s
Kai Daryanani — Trident Motorsport — +0.528s
Andrija Kostic — Trident Motorsport — +0.602s
Dion Gowda — Van Amersfoort Racing — +0.696s
Jules Roussel — CL Motorsport — +0.711s
Mattéo Giaccardi — ART Grand Prix — +0.732s

Olivieri tops Group B

MP Motorsport’s Zhenrui Chi set the early benchmark in Group B with a 1:34.883 before Olivieri moved to the top with a 1:34.645.

The R-ace GP driver found further time on his next lap, improving across all three sectors to set a 1:34.424.

Štolcermanis moved into second, just over a tenth behind Olivieri, while RPM’s Miguel Costa and G4 Racing’s Marcus Saeter followed.

Olivieri was unable to improve further in the closing stages but his 1:34.424 remained enough for top spot in the group.

Štolcermanis finished second, 0.181s behind, with Nakamura-Berta moving into third ahead of Chi and Costa.

With the groups combined, Wheldon will start Race 1 from pole alongside championship leader Olivieri, with Przyrowski and Stolcermanis making up the second row.