Thomas Neubauer (Charles Pozzi – Courage) surprised everyone by setting the fastest time in qualifying for Trofeo Pirelli Race-1 at the Finali Mondiali, currently in progress at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli. The French driver leads Frederik Paulsen (Formula Racing), first in the AM class.
Trofeo Pirelli. Thomas Neubauer secured his second pole of the season at the end of a hard-fought session with several drivers vying for the top spot. He recorded his time of 1:34.621 almost ten minutes from the end of practice, beating Florian Merckx (Baron Motorsport) and Fabienne Wohlwend (Octane 126). The reigning champion Emanuele Maria Tabacchi (Rossocorsa) only managed fifth in class. Fourth fastest overall time – and third in the Trofeo Pirelli – went to Cooper MacNeil (Ferrari Westlake), winner of the North American title of the Prancing Horse one-make series. The day's overall poleman Thomas Neubauer commented: “So the first qualifying first me in this weekend of the Finali Mondiali was OK, it was pretty decent with the pole position. The first half of the job is made, now we need to focus on the race. It was super-tight with P2, because he was less than one tenth from me. Now we are really focusing on the race and on the qualifying tomorrow… and the final goal is the Finale Mondiale on Sunday. So, keep focusing and on to the race, this afternoon”.
Trofeo Pirelli AM. In the AM, the 2020 class winner Frederik Paulsen beat the competition with the second-fastest overall time, just 44 thousandths of a second behind Neubauer. Formula Racing's other Danish driver, Christian Brunsborg, will set off behind him, followed by Matús Vyboh (Scuderia Praha). Claude Senhoreti (Ferrari of Ft. Lauderdale) was the fastest Challenge North America driver.