Ferrari Challenge Europe: Sergio Paulet tops Le Castellet Qualifying 1
Who will win the opening race of the 2026 Ferrari Challenge Europe season? Well, Sergio Paulet has given himself a great chance in Le Castellet!
Sergio Paulet topped the charts in Le Castellet when putting his Ferrari 296 Challenge in pole position during Ferrari Challenge Europe Qualifying 1. Michael Verhagen was over half a second behind Paulet, but still finished on the front-row in 2nd. The final spot on the podium went to Giacomo Rinaldo, however, he was also nearly 1 second off the pace compared to Paulet. Sergio is certainly the driver to beat in Ferrari Challenge Europe this weekend, but the top-five battle looks wide open with multiple drivers within a tenth of each other after qualifying.
Ferrari Challenge Europe Le Castellet Qualifying 1 Results
The opening qualifying of the 2026 Ferrari Challenge Europe season was incredibly close for the podium positions, but Sergio Paulet ran away at the front of the grid. See below for the full Ferrari Challenge Europe Le Castellet Qualifying 1 results:
- 1st: Sergio Paulet (2:15.689)
- 2nd: Michael Verhagen (+0.766)
- 3rd: Giacomo Rinaldo (+0.924)
- 4th: Nobuhiro Imada (+0.981)
- 5th: Gilles Renmans (+0.997)
- 6th: Herbert Geiss (+1.068)
- 7th: Max Mugelli (+1.121)
- 8th: Jacob Bidstrup (+1.539)
- 9th: Anders Bidstrup (+1.977)
- 10th: Carl Runefelt (+2.496)
- 11th: Danilo Del Favero (+2.759)
- 12th: Otto Blank (+3.692)
Ferrari Challenge Europe Le Castellet Qualifying 1 Results (Coppa Shell)
The Coppa Shell class of the Ferrari Challenge Europe series had a separate qualifying session from the Trofeo Pirelli class in Le Castellet. See below for the full Ferrari Challenge Europe Le Castellet Qualifying 1 Coppa Shell results:
- 1st: Jan Sandmann (2:18.120)
- 2nd: Lukas Azzato (+0.563)
- 3rd: Sven Schomer (+1.381)
- 4th: Fons Scheltema (+1.467)
- 5th: Tibor Valint (+1.610)
- 6th: Jean Ryu (+1.797)
- 7th: Eric Cheung (+2.979)
- 8th: Shintaro Akatsu (+3.425)
- 9th: Alois Meir (+4.442)
- 10th: Andreas Konig (+4.552)
- 11th: Charles Chan (+4.812)
- 12th: Friedrich Muller (+5.190)
- 13th: Boris Gideon (+5.234)
- 14th: Ivan David Mari (+5.312)
- 15th: Leon Rijnbeek (+5.480)
- 16th: Masura Yoneda (+5.925)
- 17th: Henrik Kamstrup (+6.067)
- 18th: Paolo Scudieri (+6.293)
- 19th: Alexandre Lima (+6.352)
- 20th: Lisa Clark (+7.192)
- 21st: Aleksei Komarov (+7.972)
- 22nd: Stephen Earle (+8.045)
- 23rd: Alvaro Ramos (+8.371)
- 24th: Ken Seto (+8.816)
- 25th: Pino Frascaro (+9.033)
To follow all the Ferrari Challenge Europe races this season, make sure to check out the full 2026 schedule, drivers, teams, and results here.
