Van Amersfoort Racing’s new FIA FREC recruit set the fastest time at the end of this morning’s Qualifying 2 and is set to line up on the front row of the grid for Race 3 alongside Emanuele Olivieri, the provisional points leader after Saturday’s action.

Having finished runner-up in Race 2 on Saturday afternoon, Ukrainian Bondarev demonstrated more impressive form by setting a benchmark time of 1m38.728s in Group A as Italian Olivieri headed the order in Gorup B for R-ace GP.

CL Motorsport’s Reno Francot also delivered another strong performance following his Race 2 podium by placing second in Group A, just 0.009s behind Bondarev. Prema Racing’s Tomass Štolcermanis and Kean Nakamura-Berta were third and fifth respectively, with ART Grand Prix’s Alexandre Munoz in fourth.

Jules Roussel was second behind Olivieri in Group B, completing another strong showing for CL Motorsport. Trident Motorsport’s Maksimilian Popov was third, as Van Amersfoort Racing’s Dion Gowda and MP Motorsport’s Zhenrui Chi rounded out the top five.

First-time polesitter Bondarev said: “It has been a mega weekend, I didn’t expect it. It was a really good lap, although we started qualifying slightly off the pace. I went off on one of my laps, which made me a little nervous, but I managed to put everything together on the final lap and take pole position. The car was amazing, and I couldn’t have asked for more. A massive thank you to the team for giving me a car I could fight with and put on overall pole. We’ll have to see how the race unfolds. A lot will depend on the start, but I’ll try to stay calm, as I have done throughout the weekend. Hopefully, we can achieve another really strong result this afternoon.”

Olivieri added: “It was a really tough qualifying session for me. At the beginning, I was struggling to get temperature into the front tyres, so I had quite a lot of understeer, and was only around fifth in the group when the red flag came out. After the restart, the team put me in a very good position, with a useful tow ahead of me. On the final lap, everything came together: the tyres were working well, the car was mega, and I was really happy with my execution. It was a good lap and I’m delighted to be back on the front row. With only three races remaining in the championship, I won’t attempt any silly moves, especially as my rivals are all starting behind me.”

Race 3, which is scheduled for 30 minutes plus one lap, is due to get under way this afternoon at 16:30 local time. It will be broadcast in more than 200 territories and streamed live on YouTube.

Click HERE for the provisional Qualifying 2 results.

FIA FREC explained
Taking over from the Formula Regional European Championship by Alpine (FRECA) for 2026, FIA FREC enjoys the full support of the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, the global governing body for motor sport and the federation for mobility organisations worldwide.

Positioned one step above Formula 4 in the FIA Single-Seater Pyramid, FIA FREC, which is organised by FIA Member Club Automobile Club d’Italia (ACI), caters exclusively for the second-generation Formula Regional Tatuus T 326. All-new for 2026, the Pirelli-equipped car has been developed by the Italian constructor in partnership with the FIA and follows the aerodynamic philosophy deployed in Formula 1 to encourage closer racing. Its design also represents another step in terms of performance and safety.

The second-generation Formula Regional Tatuus T 326 features the new Race Mode push to pass system, which allows drivers to trigger full engine performance for a period of time when activated by a button pressed from inside the cockpit. The amount of time depends on how many times the button is pressed but each driver has a total of 100 seconds available per race. Race Mode’s introduction for the 2026 FIA FREC season is the result of extensive research and development managed by the FIA.