Third pole for Doohan, Pourchaire far behind

Jack Doohan is present in Italy. Very comfortable in qualifying with two pole positions to his credit this year and in good shape since the restart in Belgium, the Virtuosi driver confirmed the trend this Friday by dominating the session.

Already in the lead after the first stints, Jack Doohan returned the cover at the end of the session. If he hasn't improved his 2^e sector when it had just beaten the reference of 1^er, the Australian caught up in the 3^e and finally managed an excellent last attempt in 1'31"641 to win his 3^e pole position for the season. He beat Liam Lawson (Carlin) and Marcus Armstrong (Hitech GP) by just over a tenth.

Drugovich assures, Pourchaire trapped

Leader of the championship and with a good chance of being crowned this weekend, Felipe Drugovich (MP Motorsport) played the insurance card. Perhaps too short to beat Jack Doohan's time, the Brazilian was content with a 4th place which put him in a very good position to be titled in Italy as his direct rival Theo Pourchaire (ART Grand Prix) could not do better than 14th on the grid. Note that Auriverde set his best time under the yellow flag, which will earn him a five-place penalty on the grid for the sprint race on Saturday morning (he will start 12th). 

While he can still be mathematically champion, Théo Pourchaire was trapped by Ayumu Iwasa's accident in his final fast lap, even though he had lit the second sector in purple. Hard blow for Théo Pourchaire – one more in his season – since he finished 14th, 7 tenths behind Jack Doohan. It is now a feat that he will have to perform if he wants to fend off Felipe Drugovich's coronation. But why not, after all... hadn't he won here last year? 

Note that the last minute of the session was neutralized since Ayumu Iwasa (DAMS) made a mistake. Like Isack Hadjar en F3, the Japanese lost control of his car in the Parabolic and ended his race in the tire wall. The driver is doing well and even kept his 7th time on the grid.

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