Fresh from his maiden FIA FREC podium at Monza last month, the R-ace GP driver from Japan headed the Group A order in a time of 1m37.760s with Briton Reza Seewooruthun (Rodin Motorsport, below) joining him on the front row by going quickest in Group B, just 0.025s down on Sano’s benchmark effort.

Sano’s effort in the final seconds of the session demoted team-mate Rashid Al Dhaheri as Reno Francot took third in Group A for CL Motorsport.

Emanuele Olivieri (R-ace GP), the winner of Race 3 at Monza, was second quickest in Group B with Tomass Štolcermanis next up for Prema Racing.

Championship pacesetters Sebastian Wheldon and Kean Nakamura-Berta were fifth and seventh in Group A and Group B respectively.

“It was a really good lap and the car was amazing,” Sano (below) said. “I'm very happy to have taken pole position. This is my first pole in Europe, which makes it even more special for me. At the beginning of the season, I struggled a little, but after taking my first podium with P3 at Monza and now securing pole position here, I feel that we are making good progress and moving in the right direction. The target is clear: I start from P1 and my focus is to stay in P1 and fight for the win.”

Race 1 is due to get under way at 18:20 local time today (Saturday). Qualifying 2 follows from 08:30 tomorrow (Sunday). Race 2 is scheduled from 15:55. Both races are scheduled for 30 minutes plus one lap. All the action 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.