Photo: ATS Formel 3 Cup
Lotus rookie driver Indy Dontje took his first pole position in the German F3 series in a closely fought final qualifying session of the season at Hockenheim.
The Dutchman narrowly edged out Motopark stablemates Nabil Jeffri and Markus Pommer in the final minutes of qualifying.
Both Jeffri and series champion Pommer wound up within a tenth of Dontje, who comes into the final weekend in the lead of the series’ rookie standings.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Sam MacLeod was just 0.15s behind the leader in fourth with his teammate Weiron Tan bringing up the top five.
EuroInternational’s new recruit Nicolas Beer was a fine seventh on his qualifying debut, ahead of compatriot Nicolai Sylvest and Andres Mendez.
ADM’s Russian duo of Konstantin Tereshchenko and Nikita Zlobin concluded the top ten.
Meanwhile, Jeffri was the driver who came out on top on second-best times, securing his third pole of the season. Dontje is set to join him on front row, while Pommer will line up in third, with the top three again separated by less than a tenth.
The remainder of the top eight is unchanged, while Zlobin moves in front of Tereshchenko on row five.
Qualifying results
| Race 1 | Race 3 | ||||||
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Pos. | Driver | Team | Time |
| 1 | Indy Dontje | Lotus | 1:34.249 | 1 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark Academy | 1:34.285 |
| 2 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark Academy | 1:34.283 | 2 | Indy Dontje | Lotus | 1:34.329 |
| 3 | Markus Pommer | Lotus | 1:34.325 | 3 | Markus Pommer | Lotus | 1:34.380 |
| 4 | Sam MacLeod | VAR | 1:34.396 | 4 | Sam MacLeod | VAR | 1:34.438 |
| 5 | Weiron Tan | VAR | 1:34.585 | 5 | Weiron Tan | VAR | 1:34.627 |
| 6 | Nicolas Beer | EuroInternational | 1:35.038 | 6 | Nicolas Beer | EuroInternational | 1:35.064 |
| 7 | Nicolai Sylvest | JBR Motorsport | 1:35.205 | 7 | Nicolai Sylvest | JBR Motorsport | 1:35.232 |
| 8 | Andres Mendez | Lotus | 1:35.300 | 8 | Andres Mendez | Lotus | 1:35.573 |
| 9 | Konstantin Tereshchenko | ADM Motorsport | 1:35.542 | 9 | Nikita Zlobin | SMP Racing by ADM | 1:35.877 |
| 10 | Nikita Zlobin | SMP Racing by ADM | 1:35.872 | 10 | Konstantin Tereshchenko | ADM Motorsport | 1:36.362 |
| 11 | Maximilian Hackl | Amkon Motorsport | 1:36.794 | 11 | Maximilian Hackl | Amkon Motorsport | 1:37.059 |
| 12 | Nikolaj Rogivue | Franz Woss Racing | 1:38.475 | 12 | Nikolaj Rogivue | Franz Woss Racing | 1:38.693 |
| 13 | Luca Iannaccone | Franz Woss Racing | 1:41.827 | 13 | Luca Iannaccone | Franz Woss Racing | 1:41.940 |