Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Hitech GP’s Alex Dunne snatched pole position for race one in the final seconds of a thrilling GB3 qualifying at Zandvoort.
Dunne posted 1m30.197s lap to deny Elite Motorsport’s McKenzy Cresswell, who took pole ahead of Dunne for race two, while Arden VRD’s Nico Christodoulou qualified behind the pair in third for both encounters.
Conditions were dry and cool during the 25-minute session, with Chris Dittmann Racing’s Zak Taylor initially leading the way with a 1m34.963s, and Christodoulou, Dunne and Fortec Motorsports’ Jarrod Waberski all briefly headed the timesheets.
James Hedley was the first driver to post a sub 1m32s lap before being edged by Joseph Loake, with Waberski then returning to the top by 0.056s with a 1m31.562s lap.
There was a brief red flag just before the 10-minute mark when Callum Voisin and Michael Shin collided, with both drivers able to make it back to the pitlane.
Christodoulou climbed to third at the resumption, and the Canadian improved further on his next lap to take first away from Waberski by 0.010s before his Arden team-mate Hedley went quickest with a 1m31.334s.
JHR Development’s Loake then lapped almost one-second faster than Hedley, with Dunne and Cresswell moving into second and third. Hedley then climbed back up to third, and set a fastest first sector on his next effort only for the red flags brought out for a second time after Douglas Motorsport’s Shawn Rashid had a light brush with the wall.
The green flags were waved with seven minutes remaining, and again Christodoulou was quick to improve by taking third away from Hedley.
Cresswell then edged Loake by just 0.001s to take provisional pole in the closing stages, and Christodoulou moved into second.
But Dunne went faster still as the chequered flag fell to displace Cresswell and Christodoulou, while Loake was unable to improve and slipped to fourth.
Hitech GP’s Souta Arao and JHR’s Matthew Rees improved on their final laps to take fifth and sixth. Hedley was seventh ahead of Waberski and Tymek Kucharczyk.
Cresswell beat Loake to race two pole by 0.130s, the grid determined by drivers’ second-best laptimes. Hedley will start from fourth in that contest, while Loake and Arao set and identical time in fifth and sixth.
Points leader Voisin struggled, with a late effort moving him up from 14th to 10th for race one, and is due to start three places behind chief rival Loake from ninth in race two.
Qualifying results
Race 1 grid
1 Alex Dunne Hitech GP 1m30.197s
2 McKenzy Cresswell Elite Motorsport +0.154s
3 Nico Christodoulou Arden VRD +0.236s
4 Joseph Loake JHR Developments +0.277s
5 Souta Arao Hitech GP +0.445s
6 Matthew Rees JHR Developments +0.467s
7 James Hedley Arden VRD +0.549s
8 Jarrod Waberski Fortec Motorsports +0.628s
9 Tymek Kucharczyk Douglas Motorsport +0.721s
10 Callum Voisin Rodin Carlin +0.768s
Race 2 grid
1 Cresswell 1m30.473s
2 Dunne +0.130s
3 Christodoulou +0.242s
4 Hedley +0.312s
5 Loake +0.327s
6 Arao +0.327s
7 Waberski +0.502s
8 Kucharczyk +0.528s
9 Voisin +0.566s
10 Ollver Stewart Elite Motorsport +0.613s