Driving for R-ace GP, Al Dhaheri built on his second-place finish in Saturday’s Race 1 to claim his maiden FIA FREC pole in Qualifying 2 at the Hungaroring this morning.

MP Motorsport's Alexander Abkhazava will join the Emirati on the front row of the grid after he topped Group B to secure his best qualifying result of the inaugural FIA FREC season.

Race 1 winner Yuki Sano and top Rookie Emanuele Olivieri are due to line up on an all-R-ace GP second row, while Van Amersfoort Racing's Francisco Macedo and Kean Nakamura-Berta (Prema Racing) are set to occupy row three.

Sebastian Wheldon, the championship leader prior to Hungaroring, finished fourth in Group A for MP Motorsport, ahead of CL Motorsport's Reno Francot. Rodin Motorsport's Alex Ninovic and G4 Racing's Saqer Almaosherji were fourth and fifth quickest respectively in Group B.

Following his Qualifying 2 heroics, Al Dhaheri said: “Honestly, I was a little disappointed yesterday because I had high expectations for myself. What mattered most, though, was learning from those mistakes and coming back stronger today. In the end, we did a really good job, especially as a team. They made this possible by giving me the opportunity to put together strong laps in both Qualifying 1 and Qualifying 2, and I'm very grateful for that. But the job isn't done yet. We still have one race to go and important work ahead of us.”

Race 2 is scheduled from 15:55 for a duration of 30 minutes plus one lap and will be streamed live on YouTube as well as being broadcast by 70 networks across 200 territories worldwide.

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.

Click HERE for results. Qualifying 1 results remain provisional.