FRECA | 2025 Round 10 | Monza | Qualifying 1 | Giltaire takes pole as Slater secures front row start - Motorsport

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With the 2025 FRECA title on the line, Qualifying 1 set the stage for a high-stakes opening race at Monza. Freddie Slater topped Group A, while Evan Giltaire led the way in Group B. Ultimately, it was Giltaire who claimed overall pole position for Race 1 in the 2025 FRECA Monza Qualifying 1 session.

Following Friday’s Collective Test sessions, where Brazilian driver Pedro Clerot went quickest in Collective Test 1 and French driver Giltaire topped the timesheets in the second session, all eyes were firmly on Qualifying 1, which determined the crucial starting grid for Race 1.

Championship leader dominates Group A

The opening seven minutes of Group A’s session were primarily spent with drivers warming up their tyres and finding grip on the cold Monza circuit. Jack Beeton was the first to begin a flying lap, while most of the field opted for an additional warm-up lap. However, he aborted his run as the track surface still appeared too cold to push on.

Slater was the first to set a representative benchmark, clocking a 1:45.745, with Al Dhaheri slotting in just behind. Conditions continued to prove tricky, Beeton ran wide through Ascari, soon followed by Al Dhaheri on his next attempt.

Leading the pack into the next round of flying laps, Slater maintained his pace, though Enzo Deligny managed to improve from P5 to P3. Tomass Štolcermanis proceed to have the fastest first sector, but both he, Nikita Bedrin and Bohra ran wide at Ascari, showing how challenging the cold morning track remained.

As the chequered flag flew, Slater improved once again with a 1:44.576, securing the top spot in Group A. Kato followed in P2, with Al Dhaheri rounding out the top three in P3.

Results for Group A in Qualifying 1

Freddie Slater (1:44.576)
Taito Kato
Rashid Al Dhaheri
Enzo Deligny
James Beeton
Nikita Bedrin
Edu Robinson
Michael Belov
Akshay Bohra
Tomass Štolcermanis
Enea Frey
Giovanni Maschio
Saqer Al Maosherji

Giltaire tops Group B and takes Pole

Group B commenced in similar fashion to Group A, with the first 7 minutes spent with the drivers weaving on track and warming up their tyres. With all drivers attempting to find a tow on track, the time continued to tick down, with only 5 minutes on the clock when drivers started on their flying laps.

Bhirombhakdi was the first driver to set a flying lap, running slightly out of sync with the rest of the field, posting a 1:46.6. Soon after, Giltaire comfortably went fastest with a 1:45.4, with De Palo close behind. However, Giltaire continued to improve, extending his advantage, while Liu and Yamakoshi slotted in between the pair.

Clerot was next to go quickest with a 1:45.3, though as the clock ticked down, it appeared the Group B times were still no match for Slater’s earlier benchmark in Group A. Liu then crossed the line with his personal best of 1:45, showing consistent pace as the track conditions improved.

On his cool-down lap, De Palo ran wide, losing time as others improved and dropping to P9 in Group B. In the final minute, he managed to recover, putting in a strong lap to jump up to P2.

As the chequered flag flew, Clerot, Giltaire, and De Palo were all still pushing on flying laps. Giltaire ultimately improved again to take P1 and pole position in Group B. De Palo was unable to better his time, finishing P4, where he will start Race 1 on the fourth row of the grid.

Results for Group B in Qualifying 1

Evan Giltaire (1:44.172)
Pedro Clerot
Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi
Matteo De Palo
Jan Przyrowski
Ruiqi Liu
Kanato Le
Jin Nakamura
Hiyu Yamakoshi
Dion Gowda
James Egozi
Yaroslav Vaselaho
Édouard Borgna

Stakes this weekend

Slater, who leads the Championship by just four points, now holds a significant advantage over De Palo, who will start down on the fourth row of the grid. Giltaire’s pole position marks his first since Round 1, putting him in prime position to capitalise in Race 1.