DAMS’ Ayumu Iwasa took his third Formula 2 pole after a crash for Victor Martins brought an early end to a wet qualifying at Albert Park.
The Jeddah sprint race winner was quickest by 0.6 seconds, while Martins ended up third behind his ART GP team-mate Theo Pourchaire.
Heavy rain before the start of qualifying made conditions treacherous, with several drivers caught out on their first flying laps which brought out the red flags.
Prema’s Ollie Bearman spun into the wall through the high-speed Sector 2, damaging his car’s nose and right-rear suspension, Hitech GP’s Jack Crawford damaged his front-wing in a separate incident and DAMS’ Arthur Leclerc also had a spin.
The session soon resumed as the rain eased, and it was Prema’s Frederick Vesti who set the early pace with a 1m50.355s. Free practice pacesetter Jack Doohan swiftly knocked a second off the benchmark for Virtuosi before Hitech’s Isack Hadjar went quicker still with a 1m48.808s.
Trident’s Roman Stanek then lapped 0.1s faster before Doohan moved ahead once more with a 1m47.721s. The home hero was briefly displaced by MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger before an improved effort of 1m47.266s put him back on top.
Iwasa increased the pace to a 1m46.376 before Martins moved into provisional pole with a 1m45.736s.
There was a brief lull in the action as drivers returned to the pits to prepare for their second runs. On returning to track, Theo Pourchaire edged team-mate Martins by 0.004s to gain the advantage.
But Iwasa improved to a 1m45.118s before the session was red-flagged and then curtailed with three minutes left on the clock after Martins crashed heavily as he tried to go faster. Hadjar ended up fourth ahead of Rodin Carlin’s Zane Maloney, while Bearman returned to track in his repaired machine to set the sixth-fastest time – the trio separated by 0.009s.
Leclerc was seventh ahead of Campos Racing’s Kush Maini and Crawford, while Hauger finished 10th to take pole for Saturday’s partially-reversed grid sprint race. Vesti ended up 13th, while Doohan slipped back to 15th.
Featured image credit: fiaformula2.com
