Three different drivers claimed pole position in qualifying for the final round of the 2026 E4 Championship at Monza. The Temple of Speed, with its challenging chicanes and the crucial role of slipstreaming, delivered incredibly close margins and plenty of late changes at the top of the timesheets. Ary Bansal of US Racing secured pole position for Race 1 with a lap of 1:52.055, edging out Kenzo Craigie by just 0.003 seconds. For Race 2, it was Brazilian driver Augustus Toniolo of Trident Motorsport who claimed his first pole position of the season with a time of 1:51.915. The Race 3 grid was determined by each driver's second-fastest lap across the two qualifying sessions. In this classification, French driver Andy Consani, a Mercedes junior racing for R-ace GP, secured pole position by just 0.003 seconds ahead of Italy's Ludovico Busso.
Managing traffic proved challenging for the 36 drivers on track, who had to use slipstreaming strategically to find the right position and, in some cases, overtake rivals during their flying laps.
In the first session, Brazilian driver Toniolo made an excellent start to his qualifying run and placed himself at the top until the closing stages, when several rivals improved their times. It was Indian driver Bansal who ultimately claimed pole position for Race 1, followed closely by R-ace GP-Mercedes Junior Team driver Kenzo Craigie, the championship leader now aiming to seal the deal in Monza and walk away with the title. His teammate Andy Consani secured third place, 0.174 seconds off the pace. Two Prema Racing drivers followed: China's Kingsley Zheng, 0.205 seconds behind, and Bulgaria's Lyuboslav Ruykov, 0.446 seconds off the benchmark. Toniolo finished the session sixth, 0.527 seconds off the fastest time, while Luka Sammalisto of US Racing placed seventh, 0.751 seconds behind. The Finnish driver, already crowned Italian F4 Championship champion, currently sits second in the E4 Championship standings and remains one of the main contenders for the final title.
Polish driver Alex Ruta of Van Amersfoort Racing took eighth place, 0.816 seconds off the pace, followed by Roland Kuklane of PHM Racing, 0.826 seconds behind, and Iacopo Martinese, the ACI Team Italia representative racing for US Racing, who completed the top ten at 0.844 seconds.
In the second session, Toniolo secured pole position in the closing stages, at the end of his seventh lap.
US Racing teammates Luka Sammalisto and Ary Bansal also set their decisive times on their final laps to take second and third place. Sammalisto, 0.143 seconds off the pace, came under the attention of Race Control during the session following contact between his car and that of Pedro Lima of Van Amersfoort Racing, which was noted by the officials. Bansal finished third, 0.228 seconds behind, ahead of Kenzo Craigie, who had led for much of the session but ultimately ended up 0.448 seconds off the benchmark.
Brazilian driver Bernardo “Beco” Bernoldi took sixth place, 0.523 seconds behind, followed by Sicilian driver Ludovico Busso of US Racing, seventh at 0.568 seconds. Eighth place went to Filippo Sala, a Ferrari Driver Academy driver making his F4 debut with Prema Racing after recently turning 15, who finished 0.574 seconds off the pace. He was followed by California's Payton Westcott of R-ace GP, exactly six-tenths of a second behind and the fastest driver in the female classification. Monza also marks the series debut of Vicky Farfus with Prema Racing and Italian driver Ginevra Panzeri, racing for PA Racing. Philippe-Armand Karras of R-ace GP completed the top ten, 0.635 seconds off the fastest time.
The Race 3 grid was determined by each driver's second-fastest lap. Consani and Busso will therefore start from the front row. Augustus Toniolo recorded the third-fastest time, 0.092 seconds off the pace, followed by Kenzo Craigie at 0.131 seconds and Ary Bansal at 0.182. British driver Roman Kamyab of Prema Racing took sixth place, 0.227 seconds behind, ahead of Roland Kuklane in seventh at 0.271 seconds. Kingsley Zheng was eighth at 0.288 seconds, followed by Payton Westcott at 0.323. Georgiy Zasov of Prema Racing completed the top ten, 0.381 seconds off the pace.
Results remain provisional pending the completion of technical and sporting checks.
Ary Bansal: “I think it was a very good lap, although I had to make some overtakes. I think it went pretty well. We faced different conditions: Free Practice 1 was wet, while the track is dry now. This helped me get a better feeling with the car, which was definitely a positive thing.”
Augustus Toniolo: “I would say it was a perfect lap. I had to manage the slipstream for the final attempt, and my engineer told me I nailed it. I think it was a really good lap. I have to thank the team because the car was amazing. I couldn't have taken pole position without them. I managed to get a tow, but dealing with the traffic was really difficult; it was a big mess. Until the last lap, I wasn't in a good position at all, but then I managed to nail it, and I'm glad it worked. I think we can have a really good race weekend.”
Andy Consani:“It was messy. I was trying to put a lap together in the pack, and it was quite difficult. In the end, I managed to get a clean lap, even though I didn't have the best tow. The team did a great job, and the car was unbelievable. I want to thank them a lot. We're going to try to make a good start, and then we'll see.”
Action will intensify on Saturday, 10 October, with Race 1 starting at 13:45. On Sunday, 11 October, Race 2 will open the ACI Racing Weekend programme at 08:30, followed by Race 3 at 13:40. All races will run for 30 minutes plus one lap and will be broadcast on the Championship’s official channels, as well as through the extensive international broadcaster network carrying coverage of the Italian F4 Championship and the E4 Championship.