Lining up in Group B, Olivieri’s effort of 1m39.227s for R-ace GP proved the time to beat as Štolcermanis (Prema Racing) headed Group A – which was shortened in the closing seconds due to a red flag – in a time of 1m39.493s.

By qualifying on pole, Italian Olivieri, the Rookie category pacesetter, banked two points to close to within 18 points of Prema Racing’s FIA FREC leader Kean Nakamura-Berta and five of both his team-mate, UAE’s Rashid Al Dhaheri, and MP Motorsport’s American driver Sebastian Wheldon, who are tied ahead of him in the standings.

Briton Nakamura-Berta was seventh in Group A, 0.435s behind his Latvian team-mate Štolcermanis and faces the prospect of starting Race 1 from the seventh row of the grid. Al Dhaheri qualified four places ahead of Nakamura-Berta in third, while Wheldon was third among the Group B contenders, 0.468s down on Olivieri’s benchmark time.

The Imola event, which features three races, marks the penultimate round of the inaugural FIA FREC season and follows a six-week summer break.

Olivieri said: “I’m very happy. After such a long break, I couldn’t have asked for a better way to return. The team and I worked really hard, and Imola is honestly one of my favourite circuits, so it is great to have a car that gives me the confidence to push through every corner. Looking at the championship, it was obviously a very good qualifying session for us. I only scored two points today, though, and the big points will be awarded tomorrow. I’m very happy with today, but I’m already looking forward to the race.”

Štolcermanis will join Olivieri on the front of the grid for Saturday’s opening contest with Norwegian Marcus Sæter (G4 Racing) and Frenchman Alexandre Munoz (ART Grand Prix) set to fill the second row.

“We had a good qualifying session, although there is always more performance to find,” Štolcermanis said. “Tmorrow we will find out how well prepared we are. I didn’t have any expectations coming into the weekend because everyone had a month off during the summer break. I trained a lot and did plenty of preparation to make sure I was ready for this race. Qualifying has not always been easy for me, particularly putting the lap together and being immediately up to speed. Today we did a good job, and the result was a little unexpected. The team did an amazing job in giving me a car that allowed me to drive with confidence and put together a good lap.”

Race 1 is due to get under way at 10:10 local time tomorrow (Saturday) over a distance of 30 minutes plus one lap. Race 2, which uses a partially reversed grid, is due to follow from 16:30.

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.