Carrera Cup Italia | Imola: Zendeli flies to pole in photo finish

Right in the photo finish, Lirim Zendeli set the best time and took a comfortable pole position for race 1 in qualifying for the fourth round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Italia in Imola.

The decisive moment of a very hard-fought and truly spectacular round right up until the end was the last full course yellow (previously the first, again to clean the track, and even before that a red flag for a sand trap in Introna), called by the race direction less than 5 minutes from the end.

So the last attempts with a fight on the track were crucial and Zendeli seized the moment right at the end taking the pole also for race 2. The 25 year old driver of Ombra Racing is at his first pole in the Italian single-make series, obtained in 1’43″313, a really interesting result that puts him ahead of everyone on the starting grid of today’s race 1: appointment at 16.25 (live on Dazn and www.carreracupitalia.it).

With some regrets but still in the front row, Marvin Klein will line up alongside him, author of the second best time at just 59 thousandths from his German rival. The second place of the Frenchman from Target Competition was in the balance until the checkered flag: shortly before, Francesco Braschi, at the top of the Italians, had in fact obtained the third time at just 3 thousandths from the front row with the 911 Gt3 Cup of Dinamic Motorsport.

The top three are thus enclosed in just 62 thousandths of a second. A breath away from which both Keagan Masters, fourth at almost two tenths from the pole with Team Q8 Hi Perform, and Simone Iaquinta, still competitive and back in the top-5 with Prima Ghinzani, detached by just 286 thousandths, were left just outside.

The first 5 have dug a small gap that leads to the sixth time, obtained by the new entry Benjamin Paque. The Belgian standard bearer of Target Competition concluded his first Italian qualification half a second from Zendeli.

Not even a tenth of a second passes him in 11th place! All with a time of 1’43″9, the top-10 is in fact completed by the Australian Bayley Hall (BeDriver), the British Oliver Gray (Ombra Racing, three cars in the top-8!), Alberto Cerqui (ninth and also with BeDriver) and the very young rookie Nicholas Pujatti (Villorba Corse), tenth ahead of Diego Bertonelli (The Driving Experiences) by just 11 thousandths.

The Michelin Cup also celebrates a “first time” on pole. That of Cesare Brusa. The Bergamo driver of Prima Ghinzani also obtained a 1’44″869 which, in addition to giving him 19th place overall, also distanced himself by more than 6 tenths from his direct competition, which sees Gianluca Giorgi and BeDriver in second position in the category.

A Michelin “front row” therefore a bit of a surprise after yesterday’s results in free practice. Slightly further back, third place went to the ever-present Alex De Giacomi (Tsunami RT), while the Ebimotors duo Alberto De Amicis and Paolo Gnemmi completed the top-5 ahead of Ilarione Introna (Prima GHinzani), Stefano Stefanelli (Team Malucelli) and Francesco Fenici (Raptor Engineering).

Qualifying for race 1