Driving the No. 14 Equidem Management Ligier, Velocity Racing Development rookie Mathias Soler-Obel carried his winning speed over from Virginia International Raceway to Road America on Friday to take pole position for Round 12. The young Colombian set the tone early, leading the entire 30-minute session and completing his fastest time (2:04.259) in Lap 5.
"Qualifying went good," Soler-Obel said. "We have a great start on pole and our goal is another win."
The F3 Americas Championship Powered by Honda drivers were first out on the iconic road course on Friday morning. Fighting a cold track and cool temperatures, some drivers struggled to find grip to lay down solid times. As their Hankook tires were coming up to temperature, a brief yellow early in the session forced the field to start the process over again. Most of the quickest qualifying laps were set in Lap 5 with the top-three times only separated by .362 of a second. A red flag ended the session prematurely after series-newcomer Antonio Serravalle overcooked Turn 5. While his car was unscathed in the off-track excursion, he was unable to refire, which required the safety crew to be dispatched. While his session ended early, Serravalle showed speed throughout the session to claim a Row 2 start.
Sharing Row 1 with Soler-Obel, is championship leader Dakota Dickerson followed by Benjamin Pedersen and Serravalle in Row 2.
As part of the NASCAR Xfinity weekend, Race 1 for the F3 Americas Championship starts at 11:00 a.m. CT. Follow live timing and scoring on Race Monitor or F3Americas.com.
