The Autodromo Piero Taruffi at Vallelunga has delivered the first qualifying verdicts of the 2026 E4 Championship season. Three different drivers will start from pole position across the weekend's three races.
Home favourite Niccolò Maccagnani (Prema Racing) secured pole position for Race 1. The Ferrari Driver Academy driver set a 1'34.809 lap during the second half of the opening qualifying session.
Race 2 pole belongs to Roman Kamyab (Prema Racing), who claimed his maiden Formula 4 pole with a 1'34.524. The British driver also earned a front-row start for Race 1 after missing Maccagnani's Q1 benchmark by just 0.010 seconds.
The third pole-sitter of the weekend will be Luka Sammalisto of US Racing. After struggling somewhat in the first qualifying session, the Finn bounced back in Q2 and narrowly missed the fastest lap. However, his second-best lap of 1'34.668 secured pole position for Race 3.
The opening qualifying session saw Oleksandr Savinkov (US Racing) set the early pace before Oleksandr Bondarev (Prema Racing) moved to the top. Kamyab then took provisional pole before Maccagnani delivered the lap that ultimately secured pole position.
Kamyab finished second, just 0.010 behind, while Savinkov was third at 0.282. Arjen Kraling and Noah Killion, both driving for US Racing, shared fourth place on the timesheets with an identical 0.294 deficit. Sammalisto completed an impressive showing from the German squad in sixth, 0.297 off the pace.
Kenzo Craigie (R-ace GP, Mercedes Junior Team) qualified seventh at 0.310 after once again showing strong pace around the Roman circuit.
Oleksandr Bondarev, representing the Williams Driver Academy, followed in eighth at 0.333. Completing the top ten were Andy Consani (R-ace GP, Mercedes Junior Team) at 0.350, and Edward Robinson (US Racing) at 0.354.
In the second session Sammalisto initially held the fastest time before Kamyab produced the decisive lap late in the session to secure Race 2 pole.
Craigie finished second, only 0.084 behind, with Sammalisto third at 0.125. Arjen Kraling followed in fourth at 0.137, ahead of Noah Killion at 0.175 and Alp Aksoy (Prema Racing) at 0.198.
Seventh was Christian Costoya (Prema Racing), a member of the McLaren Driver Development Programme, at 0.260. Maccagnani finished eighth, just 0.263 behind, in an extremely close qualifying session. Edward Robinson and Andy Consani completed the top ten at 0.273 and 0.303, respectively.
The front row for Race 3 will feature Sammalisto alongside Noah Killion. Kenzo Craigie and Christian Costoya will share the second row, followed by Arjen Kraling and Niccolò Maccagnani. Oleksandr Bondarev and Roman Kamyab will line up ahead of Edward Robinson and Ary Bansal, both representing US Racing.
The results remain provisional pending the completion of technical and sporting checks.
Niccolò Maccagnani: "It was a good lap in Q1. We had good track position and managed to put everything together, so it was a good result. Unfortunately in Q2 we didn't find a good tow, so we struggled a bit more, but it's great to be on pole. I'm hoping I can get some redemption here. I almost won a race at this track before, but we weren't in the right track position to make it happen, so hopefully I can do it this time. The key is to get a good start and defend until everyone settles into their rhythm. I'm trying to treat it like a normal weekend, but of course I know I really want to do well here. I know the track, it's my home race, and hopefully I can make it happen."
Roman Kamyab: "I'm super happy. I stayed focused and put the lap together. This is my first pole position in Formula 4 and I'm really proud of it. Now I just have to do the same in the race: stay focused and keep doing everything right. In the Italian Championship I was still learning and developing because I'm still a rookie, but we're starting this championship strongly and I definitely think we can achieve something."
Luka Sammalisto: "Qualifying went pretty well for me. In Q1 I struggled a bit with my driving and with the car balance. Q2 was much better, my driving improved and I managed to recover from the mistakes I made earlier. Thanks to my second-best lap we secured pole position for Race 3. Apart from Q1 everything was quite good. I can't wait for the races and we'll see what we can do. I'll just try to score as many points as possible because the pace is there."
Race 1 will start today, Saturday 4 July, at 14:40, while Race 2 and Race 3 will take place on Sunday 5 July at 10:00 and 17:00, respectively.
All races will be broadcast live on the championship's social media channels, on ACI Sport TV, and through the international network carrying both the Italian F4 Championship and the E4 Championship worldwide.