F2 – Monaco Grand Prix – Qualifying: Dunne snatches pole from Martins by three thousandths

Alex Dunne secured his first pole position in Formula 2 at the Monte Carlo circuit, edging out Victor Martins by just 0.003 seconds in a turbulent qualifying session.

The Irish driver from Rodin Motorsport clocked a time of 1:21.142 in his final attempt, narrowly beating the time set earlier by the French driver from ART Grand Prix. Leonardo Fornaroli completes the top three for Invicta Racing.

Martins, master of Group A

In the first qualifying group, Martins quickly took the lead with a time of 1:21.792, creating a comfortable gap over his pursuers. Gabriele Minì (PREMA Racing) and Joshua Duerksen (AIX Racing) initially occupied the podium places, but Arvid Lindblad (Campos Racing) climbed to second position.

The final minutes brought their share of twists. Lindblad briefly took the lead before Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) temporarily claimed pole with 1:21.520. Martins, forced to abandon an attempt after cutting the Nouvelle Chicane, regained the advantage with 1:21.145.

The Frenchman maintained his lead in Group A, ahead of Verschoor by 0.375 seconds and Lindblad by 0.398 seconds. This performance set the benchmark for the second group.

The late offensive of Dunne

The Group B experienced a chaotic start with the collision between Rafael Villagómez and Alex Dunne at the last corner. The Van Amersfoort Racing driver ended up in the barriers, causing the session to be halted by a red flag.

At the restart, Dunne quickly took the lead with 1:21.781, ahead of Fornaroli and Luke Browning (Hitech). But his time was still insufficient against Martins’ benchmark, with the Irishman trailing by more than half a second.

The final minutes of the session saw Dunne gradually narrow his gap. He first improved to 1:21.437, dangerously closing in on Martins’ time. In his last attempt, the championship leader found the necessary sectors to snatch the pole position.

Sebastián Montoya (Prema) finished his session with a spin at the exit of the Piscine, bringing out the yellow flags and preventing last-minute improvements. This interruption did not affect the final standings, with Fornaroli maintaining his second place in the group behind Dunne.

Saturday’s sprint race will start at 2:15 PM, with Kush Maini (DAMS) on pole position thanks to the reverse grid system. Dunne and Martins will start from the front row on Sunday for the main race, separated by a negligible gap that promises a tight duel on the streets of Monaco.

Qualification standings