2026 | FREC | Paul Ricard | Qualifying 2 | Wheldon inherits pole for Race 2 at Paul Ricard

Spread the love

Sebastian Wheldon will start Race 2 of the 2026 FREC weekend at Paul Ricard from pole position after Emanuele Olivieri was handed a post-qualifying three-place grid penalty in Qualifying 2.

The MP Motorsport driver had originally qualified second in Group B but moves to the front of the grid, with team-mate Alexander Abkhazava joining him on the front row.

Olivieri initially claimed his second pole position of the season with a 1:57.350, beating Freddie Slater’s lap record from last year by just 0.001s.

However, the R-ace GP driver was handed a three-place grid penalty after his mechanics worked on the car before it was correctly parked in the pit lane.

Race 1 winner and new championship leader Kean Nakamura-Berta will start third, while Rashid Al Dhaheri will line up fifth after qualifying fifth in Group B.

Wheldon sets the pace as Francot closes in

With temperatures slightly lower than earlier on Saturday, Wheldon set the early pace with a 1:57.887, just shy of the Qualifying 1 pole time. Rodin Motorsport’s Gabriel Gomez moved into second, 0.089s behind, before Wheldon improved again to a 1:57.571.

Francot then climbed to second, just 0.029s behind the MP Motorsport driver, while Gomez dropped to fourth behind team-mate Zhenrui Chi. Wheldon continued to push and set the fastest first sector before lowering the benchmark once more to a 1:57.429.

Francot also improved to consolidate second with a 1:57.600, while Chi and Gomez remained third and fourth respectively. Al Dhaheri completed the top five in the group.

Group B results

#98 Sebastian Wheldon — MP Motorsport — 1:57.429
#69 Reno Francot — CL Motorsport — 1:57.600
#28 Zhenrui Chi — MP Motorsport — 1:57.704
#78 Gabriel Gomez — Rodin Motorsport — 1:57.733
#71 Rashid Al Dhaheri — R-ace GP — 1:57.805
#2 Alex Ninovic — Rodin Motorsport — 1:57.880
#60 Tomass Stolcermanis — PREMA Racing — 1:57.909
#33 Maksimilian Popov — Trident Motorsport — 1:57.992
#3 Saqer Almaosherji — G4 Racing — 1:58.074
#7 Andrea Dupé — Van Amersfoort Racing — 1:58.133
#4 Reza Seewooruthun — Rodin Motorsport — 1:58.237
#5 Miguel Costa — RPM — 1:58.387
#87 Kai Daryanani — Trident Motorsport — 1:58.502
#23 Rahim Alibhai — G4 Racing — 1:58.845
#14 Noah Lisle — CL Motorsport — 1:58.941

Olivieri snatches pole in the final seconds

PREMA Racing’s Salim Hanna was the first driver to set a competitive benchmark with a 1:57.949, before Olivieri moved to the top of the timesheets with a 1:57.874 in the 2026 FREC Paul Ricard Qualifying 2 session.

Abkhazava then climbed to second, just 0.010s behind, while Nakamura-Berta improved to third with a 1:57.905 before going quickest on his next lap with a 1:57.680. Abkhazava remained second, 0.078s behind the championship leader.

With only a few minutes remaining, Olivieri was forced to return to the pits after damaging his front wing in an off-track excursion.

The R-ace GP driver rejoined the session and, with just 11 seconds left on the clock, began his final flying lap. Olivieri improved in the second sector before setting the fastest third sector of the session to take pole position with a 1:57.350.

Abkhazava finished second, more than three tenths behind, but just 0.013s clear of Nakamura-Berta. Hanna and RPM’s Jan Przyrowski completed the top five in fourth and fifth respectively.

Following Olivieri’s three-place grid penalty, Wheldon will start from pole position for Race 2, with Abkhazava alongside him on the front row.