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Australian Jack Doohan has stormed to pole position around Monza Autodromo in Formula 2 qualifying.
The session was red-flagged by DAMS driver Ayumu Iwasa making contact with the barrier in the last minute of the session leaving Doohan to take the Feature Race pole.
New Zealand drivers Liam Lawson for Carlin and Hitech’s Marcus Armstrong will start the Feature Race on Sunday in second and third respectively.
The result is Doohan’s third pole of the season and continues to mark him as the second-best qualifier of the 2022 F2 field.
The Virtuosi driver tangled with Red Bull junior Jehan Daruvala in the first minutes of qualifying but recovered and proved quickest in the first and third sectors, clinching top spot and two bonus points for pole position.
This consistency helps the Australian with his charge for second in the championship. He is now 40 points off Theo Pourchaire who currently holds that spot in the standings.
Clement Novalak led the pack out from the pits at the start but struggled in the session, dipping a wheel into the second Lesmos corner early before ending in 21st position.
His MP Motorsport team-mate, Felipe Drugovich, was close to pole contention but narrowly missed out on finishing his final flying lap due to the red flag.
He will start fourth on Sunday and takes sixth position for Saturday’s Sprint, where he can mathematically win the FIA Formula 2 Championship.
Drugovich leads the standings by 69 points with, after qualifying, a maximum of 76 on offer over the remainder of the season.
Calan Williams will line up in 17th for this weekend’s races. The Australian was fast in the first sectors but struggled with traffic and the all-important tow around Monza.
Starting behind him in 18th is Luca Ghiotto, who is subbing in for Roy Nissany after he was given a one-race ban for accruing more than 12 penalty points.
Nissany is the third driver this season to do so, Campos’s Olli Caldwell sat out Spa and Van Amersfoort Racing driver Amaury Cordeel in Silverstone for the same reason.
Fredrick Vesti for ART Grand Prix will start on pole for the Sprint Race after qualifying in 10th place.
His team-mate Pourchaire, who needed a stellar weekend to continue his chances of prolonging the championship battle with Drugovich, lines up on the grid in 14th for both races due to missing out on a last push lap.
Should Pourchaire not finish Saturday’s Sprint race in first or second, or third with the bonus point for fastest lap, Drugovich will claim the 2022 Formula 2 Championship.
FIA Formula 2 will be back in Monza for the Sprint Race at 18:00 CEST (12:00 ET/01:55 AEST).
