Photo: Jakob Ebrey Photography
Australian duo Patrick Heuzenroeder and Alex Ninovic scored maiden poles in GB3’s two qualifying sessions at Zandvoort.
Xcel Motorsport’s Heuzenroeder was quickest by 0.392 seconds in Q1, while Rodin Motorsport’s Ninovic topped Q2 by 0.098s. Hitech GP’s Deagen Fairclough was second fastest in both sessions to secure front row spots for races one and two.
Three 30-minute practice sessions were held on Friday, and Reza Seewooruthun’s 1m29.649s effort in FP1 proved to be the quickest time of the day.
Fairclough initially led FP1 with a 1m30.672s, but Seewooruthun (Argenti Motorsport with Prema) set a 1m29.652s with five minutes remaining and then improved by a further 0.003s. Ninovic claimed second late on, while Heuzenroeder edged out Hitech’s Nikita Johnson to third by 0.036s.
The top four drivers’ times were not challenged in the final two sessions, which were both topped by Fairclough. He pipped Ninovic by 0.003s in FP2 and Heuzenroeder by an even tighter margin of 0.002s in FP3, also setting a new personal best to climb to fifth in practice’s overall classification.
Fairclough set the early pace in Q1 on Saturday with a 1m30.599s, but after improving to 1m30.433s he was beaten moments later by Heuzenroeder’s 1m30.041s. His team-mate Jack Sherwood climbed to third but then found the barriers at turn two, ending his qualifying and bringing out the red flags.
Heuzenroeder’s time remained unbeaten once the track returned to green, while Rodin duo Gianmarco Pradel and Ninovic were separated by 0.001s after improving to third and fourth. Seewooruthun also set a new personal best late on to take fifth ahead of JHR Developments’ Kai Daryanani.
Johnson led Q2 with a 1m30.249s until briefly being displaced by Fairclough, and he responded by going fastest again on his next lap. Heuzenroeder then lowered the pace to 1m30.138s, but it was not enough for another pole.
Ninovic’s 1m29.894s at the halfway stage of Q2 ended up being the session’s fastest lap, as Fairclough shuffled Huezenroeder to third. Seewooruthun climbed to fourth ahead of Johnson, who was not able to improve in the closing stages.
JHR’s Noah Lisle, who sits second in the standings, qualified eighth and seventh in the two sessions. He is the highest placed driver in the championship present, since Hillspeed’s points leader Freddie Slater is racing in Formula Regional Europe at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend.
Qualifying round-up
Race 1 grid
1 Patrick Heuzenroeder JHR Developments 1m30.041s
2 Deagen Fairclough Hitech GP +0.392s
3 Gianmarco Pradel Rodin Motorsport +0.538s
4 Alex Ninovic Rodin Motorsport +0.539s
5 Reza Seewooruthun Argenti w/ Prema +0.688s
6 Kai Daryanani JHR Developments +0.727s
7 Yuanpu Cui Argenti w/ Prema +0.769s
8 Noah Lisle JHR Developments +0.799s
9 Keanu Al Azhari Hitech GP +0.805s
10 Hugo Schwarze Velocity Racing Development +0.858s
Race 2 grid
1 Ninovic 1m29.894s
2 Fairclough +0.098s
3 Heuzenroeder +0.119s
4 Seewooruthun +0.275s
5 Nikita Johnson Hitech GP +0.298s
6 Cui +0.301s
7 Lisle +0.311s
8 Pradel +0.327s
9 Schwarze +0.333s
10 Al Azhari +0.547s