Championship leader Abbi Pulling will line up on pole position for both F1 Academy races in Barcelona after setting the two fastest times in Friday’s qualifying session.
Pulling’s late effort of 1:41.396s saw her finish fastest with Chloe Chambers and Nerea Marti finishing second and third fastest respectively to set the top three positions for Saturday’s Race 1 grid with just 0.133s separating the trio.
Moreover, Pulling’s second fastest time was the pick of the bunch – with all drivers’ second-best efforts setting the grid for Race 2 – granting her pole on Sunday.
The Alpine Junior secured a second successive double position as a result.
The stage was set for a tight 30 minutes of qualifying after nine-tenths of a second covered the top 11 drivers in practice.
Unlike Jeddah and Miami, Barcelona is a circuit the F1 Academy drivers know well, with the venue hosting the series during its maiden season in 2023 and hosting pre-season testing for the 2024 campaign.
Sauber driver Carrie Schreiner set the initial benchmark, a 1:44.201s effort, which she then improved upon to set a 1:43.361s tour of the Barcelona circuit.
However, the pace was pushed further by Championship Abbi Pulling shortly thereafter.
Pulling is the in-form driver and is hotly tipped for victory this weekend, but her first effort of 1:42.540s was displaced by McLaren’s Bianca Bustamante and Haas’ Chloe Chambers with the American provisionally leading the way with a 1:42.224s time.
Pulling’s closest challenger in the title race is Mercedes driver Doriane Pin, recovering from a cycling injury that prevented her from competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans with the Iron Dames.
Injury setbacks were no matter to Pin however and the Frenchwoman soared to the top of the timesheets with a 1:41.988s.
The abrasive Barcelona surface wasn’t preventing the drivers from continually pressing the pace with lap after lap and that was proved when Chambers posted a 1:41.926s lap.
That left the American on provisional pole with half of the session remaining, whereupon the drivers retreated to the pits in preparation for a final time attack.
As the cars returned to the track for the final 10 minutes of running, the task for the chasing pack was to see if Chambers’ time could be surpassed.
Bustamante was the first to successfully achieve this, setting a 1:41.921s effort with just over five minutes remaining.
Pulling then responded to the faster pace to put thee tenths between her and the rest of the competition with a 1:41.544s lap, but with grip improving, Nerea Marti in the Tommy Hilfiger car pipped Pulling with a 1:41.529s lap.
Chambers then went faster again with a 1:41.455 effort as the times continued to tumble.
A 1:41.396s laptime from Alpine’s Pulling saw her return to the top of the times with just a few minutes left in the session leaving her competitors little time to respond.
That time couldn’t be bettered and Pulling took top honours, guaranteeing her pole position for Race 1 on Saturday.
The Race 1 grid behind her, Chambers and Marti will be completed by Pin on the end of the second row, with Bustamante and Aston Martin’s Tina Hausmann completing row three.
Red Bull Racing’s Hamda Al Qubaisi will line up on row four for Race 1 alongside Williams’ Lia Block, who set the eighth-fastest time overall in Friday’s qualifying.
The top-10 places on Saturday’s grid will be completed by American Express-backed Jess Edgar and Charlotte Tilbur’s Lola Lovinfosse.
Race 2 Grid
The top-10 for each grid featured the same drivers, albeit in a slightly different order.
Pulling’s second successive double pole grants her the front spot on Sunday’s race 2 grid after the British driver’s second-best effort, a 1:41.544s laptime bettered Chambers by 0.076s with the American securing two front-row starts.
Pin will line up third for Race 2 and will share the second row with Marti.
H. Al Qubaisi secured a top-five spot for Sunday’s grid and Block’s second-best effort means she’ll start one row and two places higher than her Race 1 grid slot in Race 2.
The fourth and fifth rows for Race 2 will be filled by Hausmann, Bustamante, Edgar and Lovinfosse.
