Qualifying has concluded at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza, a crucial step in shaping the outcome of the final round of the E4 Championship. In the Temple of Speed, the story of the series continues to unfold, with a weekend set to crown the third champion in the history of the championship promoted by ACI Sport and WSK Promotion.
Prema Racing’s Kean Nakamura-Berta, the championship leader on the eve of the grand finale, secured the biggest haul with two pole positions for Race 2 and Race 3. The Japanese driver will also start from the front row in Race 1, where the pole would have gone to Sebastian Wheldon. The author of the fastest lap in Qualifying 1 was handed a two-place grid penalty for forcing another car off track. The son of Dan “Lionheart” Wheldon had snatched the top time from his teammate in the very last moments, setting the decisive lap right at the end of the session.
The first qualifying session began under the sign of Nakamura-Berta, who put in several competitive laps and dominated from the outset. Only in the closing moments came Wheldon’s response, completing his decisive lap in 1’51.440. The championship leader therefore had to settle for second, 0.256 behind.
In third came Brazilian driver Gabriel Gomez of US Racing, who climbed the timesheets in the final stages. Gomez, Nakamura-Berta’s main rival for the title with just a 10-point gap, finished 0.380 adrift.
Fourth fastest was Chinese driver Zhenrui Chi of Prema Racing, the quickest among the Rookies, 0.528 off the lead, followed by Indian driver Kabir Anurag of US Racing, representing the Alpine Academy, fifth at 0.549. Sixth place went to Colombian Salim Hanna of Prema Racing, while Reno Francot of PHM Racing finished seventh at 0.889, the last driver within one second.
Completing the top 10 were Andrija Kostic of US Racing, Andrea Dupe of Prema Racing, and Maksimilian Popov of Van Amersfoort Racing.
The second session proved more challenging, with a red flag in the early minutes caused by Andre Rodriguez of Van Amersfoort Racing stopping after Turn 5, and yellow flags at the end due to an off-track moment for Oleksandr Savinkov of R-ace GP at Turns 1 and 2.
Despite the interruptions, Nakamura-Berta imposed his pace, setting the best lap at 1’51.272, once again in the final moments. Reno Francot of PHM Racing finished second at 0.601, followed by Indian driver Ary Bansal of US Racing. Fourth was Zhenrui Chi, then Kabir Anurag and Gabriel Gomez. Seventh came Andrija Kostic, eighth Sebastian Wheldon, ninth Salim Hanna, and tenth German driver Elia Weiss of Jenzer Motorsport.
Thanks to his second-best lap in Q1, a 1’51.744, Nakamura-Berta will start from pole again in Race 3, alongside Chi on the front row, followed by Francot and Hanna.
A two-place grid penalty, to be served in the first applicable race, was also handed to Gabriel Gomez and Salim Hanna. The two drivers blocked each other’s line during the first qualifying session, preventing one another from completing their laps.
Sebastian Wheldon: “overall, Q1 was really good. We came off a strong weekend in Misano, and I knew we could do something good here. Monza is always crazy when it comes to racing; I’ll have to play it smart and react to whatever unfolds in front of me. The goal is to stay out of trouble. We’re quite far in the championship, but anything can happen.”
Kean Nakamura-Berta: “it was the last qualifying of the E4, and we wanted to end it on a high. I think we did just that. In Q1, we got a good P2 with a solid lap. Q2 was a real mess, to be honest, but we had two laps, and the last one was the one that counted. I’m really happy to come out on top. Big thanks to the team, we’ve been rapid all day. I’m feeling very confident going into tomorrow. Of course, the championship is on your mind, but starting in the best position possible gives us a great chance going into the race. I’m really looking forward to it.”
The drivers will be back on track tomorrow, Saturday, October 25, with Race 1 starting at 11:50 a.m. The remaining two races of the weekend will take place on Sunday, October 26, with Race 2 at 9:30 a.m. and the season finale at 3:50 p.m.
All races will last 30 minutes plus one lap and will be broadcast live in Italian on ACI Sport TV (channel 228 on Sky and streaming on live.acisport.tv).
The English-language live stream will be available on the official championship social media channels and through international broadcasters of the E4 Championship network.