F2: Aron earns maiden pole in close Barcelona Qualifying session

The margins were fine but, in the end, it was Hitech Pulse-Eight’s Paul Aron that took pole position for the FIA Formula 2 Feature Race in Barcelona by just 0.002s.

DAMS Lucas Oil and Aston Martin Driver Development talent Jak Crawford went agonisingly close to dethroning Aron, as did MP Motorsport’s Franco Colapinto, who in turn was 0.006s off the top spot in third.

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Aron himself had deposed title rival Isack Hadjar from the provisional pole spot earlier in the session, and the Campos Racing and Red Bull Junior Team driver was unable to find an improvement on his final lap.

It meant that he remained 11th at the chequered flag with the current Championship leader on pole.

Gabriel Bortoleto went fourth for Invicta Racing on his final lap, ensuring that the top four were covered by just 0.055s, while Mercedes junior Andrea Kimi Antonelli rounded out the top five for PREMA Racing.

Ritomo Miyata had gone second briefly for Rodin Motorsport, but other improvements dropped the Japanese driver down to sixth in the end. He was ahead of Joshua Duerksen of AIX Racing in P7, while Juan Manuel Correa enjoyed his best Qualifying result of the season in eighth for DAMS Lucas Oil.

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ART Grand Prix’s Victor Martins wound up ninth with Invicta Racing’s Kush Maini in P10.

For an in-depth report of the FIA Formula 2 Qualifying session from Barcelona, visit the official website.