Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Brad Benavides claimed an unexpected FIA Formula 3 pole position at Spa-Francorchamps to deny points leader Rafael Camara.
Trident driver Camara set the early pace, posting a 2m05.557s on his first flying lap that put him 0.234s ahead of nearest rival, Ugo Ugochukwu.
While Camara headed to the pits, others managed to improve with a second attempt on the same set of tyres, with Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Alessandro Giusti gaining second and third and closing the gap to Camara.
Van Amersfoort Racing meanwhile tried something different with all three of its drivers staying out on track longer. Santiago Ramos went second to Camara before Theophile Nael then posted a 2m05.508s to take top spot with just over 10 minutes left on the clock.
With the rest of the field returning to the track on fresh rubber, a flurry of faster times followed that pushed Nael all the way down to 22nd.
One of the first to cross the line was Benavides with a 2m04.253s, some 1.255s quicker than Nael’s previous benchmark. The AIX Racing driver has scored just once in 10 races since his return to F3 but did qualifying second at the Red Bull Ring.
Camara could only manage second place in response, 0.106s down. He briefly had that time deleted for exceeding track limits at Pouhon, demoting him to 23rd, only for it to be quickly reinstated once more.
A traffic jam followed on the subsequent cooldown lap with nobody wanting to head the field and give their rivals a tow. While most did get to attempt another lap, hardly anybody improved upon their times.
The Rodin duo of Callum Voisin and Roman Bilinski therefore took third and fourth, in front of Hitech’s Martinius Stenshorne and Prema’s Uogo Ugochukwu. Nikola Tsolov was seventh for Campos Racing.
Freddie Slater was 12th on his second F3 outing, securing reversed-grid pole for the sprint race.
Nael returned to the track on new tyres for one flying lap at the chequered flag but couldn’t improve his position and ended up 23rd.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brad Benavides | AIX Racing | 2m04.253s | 12 | |
| 2 | Rafael Camara | Trident | 2m04.359s | +0.106s | 10 |
| 3 | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport | 2m04.460s | +0.207s | 11 |
| 4 | Roman Bilinski | Rodin Motorsport | 2m04.471s | +0.218s | 11 |
| 5 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech | 2m04.484s | +0.231s | 11 |
| 6 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Prema Racing | 2m04.570s | +0.317s | 11 |
| 7 | Nikola Tsolov | Campos Racing | 2m04.587s | +0.334s | 11 |
| 8 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | Campos Racing | 2m04.662s | +0.409s | 11 |
| 9 | Charlie Wurz | Trident | 2m04.738s | +0.485s | 10 |
| 10 | Bruno del Pino | MP Motorsport | 2m04.838s | +0.585s | 11 |
| 11 | Noah Stromsted | Trident | 2m04.858s | +0.605s | 11 |
| 12 | Freddie Slater | Hitech | 2m04.909s | +0.656s | 11 |
| 13 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 2m04.940s | +0.687s | 11 |
| 14 | Brando Badoer | Prema Racing | 2m05.024s | +0.771s | 11 |
| 15 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 2m05.034s | +0.781s | 11 |
| 16 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing | 2m05.047s | +0.794s | 11 |
| 17 | Gerrard Xie | Hitech | 2m05.088s | +0.835s | 11 |
| 18 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 2m05.165s | +0.912s | 11 |
| 19 | Lauresn van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 2m05.234s | +0.981s | 11 |
| 20 | James Wharton | ART Grand Prix | 2m05.279s | +1.026s | 11 |
| 21 | Ivan Domingues | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m05.385s | +1.132s | 11 |
| 22 | Christian Ho | DAMS | 2m05.389s | +1.136s | 11 |
| 23 | Theophile Naël | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m05.478s | +1.225s | 11 |
| 24 | Louis Sharp | Rodin Motorsport | 2m05.508s | +1.255s | 11 |
| 25 | Santiago Ramos | Van Amersfoort Racing | 2m05.680s | +1.427s | 11 |
| 26 | Matias Zagazeta | DAMS | 2m05.695s | +1.442s | 11 |
| 27 | Noel Leon | Prema Racing | 2m05.742s | +1.489s | 11 |
| 28 | James Hedley | AIX Racing | 2m05.932s | +1.679s | 12 |
| 29 | Tuukka Taponen | ART Grand Prix | 2m05.965s | +1.712s | 11 |
| 30 | Nicola Marinangeli | AIX Racing | 2m05.847s | +1.594s | 12 |