F3 Regional: Jamie Chadwick clinches P4 and P7 in her best seasonal qualifying

Jamie Chadwick kept momentum and after a very positive Friday practice at Vallelunga, had her best qualifying of the season: she will start from P4 in today’s Race 1.

Photo credits: racers-behindthehelmet.com

In yet another cold but surprisingly not wet morning at Circuito Piero Taruffi in Vallelunga, Italy, the drivers of Formula Regional European Championship tackled their final qualifying session of the 2020 season.

After overnight showers, the track remained very damp and slippery, but despite the menacing clouds, a shy sun made its way onto the racetrack. Following a very positive Friday, Jamie Chadwick was third and sixth fastest in the two official practice sessions, but was more worried about the weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday.

“We tested here last week and in the dry our pace has been really good", she explained on Friday. "Today with the drying track in session 1 and the cool-dry track in session 2, the pace is good. But I think that in the wet this weekend it’s going to be a bit different."

There was early drama in the first 15-minute session, when championship contender Arthur Leclerc was forced to stop into the pitlane with a smoking engine. In a huge moment for the title fight, the Monegasque will have to start all the three races from the back of the field, while his main rival Petecof was fifth in Q1.

But the real star of the qualifying was Oliver Rasmussen: the Dane topped both sessions with a comfortable margin and claimed pole position for the three scheduled races.

It was again a very promising start of the day for Jamie Chadwick: the W Series reigning champion was fourth fastest on the wet-weather tyres and will thus start from the second row of the grid in Saturday’s first race.

The Van Amersfoort Racing cars of Hauger and Pierre Louis Chovet will line up behind poleman Rasmussen in Race 1, while KIC Motorsport’s drivers Lappalainen and Pasma were fast enough to secure the runner up spots in Q2.

Jamie Chadwick was seventh in the second session - another very solid result for the British Rodin Cars-sponsored driver.

“Q1 was surprising actually. The pace didn’t feel that good, but for physical position to start fourth it’s really good, I think it’s the best qualifying we’ve had, so really happy with that." - commented Jamie.

"And even seventh for the next race isn’t too far away, so looking forward to see what the weather does and fingers crossed we can have a good end of the year”.

Race 1 will go green on Saturday at 13:00 CEST - you can follow Formula Regional’s battle for the 2020 title and Jamie Chadwick’s progresses on the series official facebook channel and on Motorsport TV.

Photo credits: racers-behindthehelmet.com