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Olivieri and Štolcermanis claim pole positions at Imola in FREC qualifying
Emanuele Olivieri and Tomass Štolcermanis secured pole positions for the opening races at Imola during Friday's qualifying session.
By Michael de Vries - 2026-09-04T16:17:00.000Z - 3 min read
Emanuele Olivieri delivered a strong performance during Friday afternoon's qualifying session at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, securing his second pole position of the season in the FIA Formula Regional European Championship. Driving for R-ace GP, the Italian driver set a benchmark time of 1m39.227s while competing in Group B.
Meanwhile, Tomass Štolcermanis topped Group A to claim the first qualifying-session lead of his career. Representing Prema Racing, the Latvian driver posted a lap time of 1m39.493s. The Group A session was shortened in its closing seconds due to a red flag incident, freezing the order before final improvements could be made by the remaining runners.
The two group leaders will share the front row of the grid for Saturday's opening contest at the Italian circuit. They will be joined on the second row by Norwegian driver Marcus Sæter of G4 Racing and Frenchman Alexandre Munoz, who represents ART Grand Prix.
By capturing pole position in Group B, Olivieri earned two valuable championship points. The result moves the Rookie category leader closer to the top of the overall standings, narrowing the gap to Prema Racing's series leader Kean Nakamura-Berta to 18 points. Olivieri also gained ground on his own teammate, Rashid Al Dhaheri, and MP Motorsport driver Sebastian Wheldon.
Championship leader Nakamura-Berta experienced a difficult qualifying run in Group A, finishing seventh in his group and 0.435s adrift of his teammate Štolcermanis. The British driver now faces the challenge of starting the first race of the weekend from the seventh row of the grid. Al Dhaheri fared better, qualifying four places ahead of Nakamura-Berta in third position, while Wheldon took third place in the Group B classification.
Reflecting on his performance, Olivieri expressed satisfaction with his return to competition after the summer break. He noted that Imola remains one of his favourite circuits and praised the confidence-inspiring handling of his car. While acknowledging the importance of the two bonus points, the R-ace GP driver emphasized that the significant points will be awarded during Saturday's race.
Štolcermanis admitted that his breakthrough result came as a slight surprise following the month-long summer layoff. The Prema driver explained that he entered the weekend without specific expectations after spending the break on intensive preparation and physical training. He credited his team for providing a predictable machine that allowed him to build speed immediately and string together a clean lap.
The Imola event serves as the penultimate round of the inaugural FIA FREC season, which succeeded the previous regional series for 2026 under the governance of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. The championship utilizes the second-generation Tatuus T-326 car equipped with Pirelli tyres and the newly introduced Race Mode push-to-pass system. Saturday's schedule features Race 1 in the morning followed by Race 2 in the afternoon.