Photo: ATS Formel 3 Cup
German F3 championship favorite Markus Pommer began the penultimate round of the season at Sachsenring in an appropriate fashion by comfortably topping the free practice session.
The 23-year-old, who is expected to clinch the drivers’ title with a round to spare, was three tenths clear of the opposition.
Van Amersfoort Racing’s Sam MacLeod managed a late flyer to demote his teammate Weiron Tan from second in the classification.
Nabil Jeffri and Indy Dontje – the two drivers still in contention for the title besides their squadmate Pommer – took fourth and fifth respectively.
SMP Racing’s Nikita Zlobin was sixth, ahead of JBR’s Nicolai Sylvest and Lotus man Andres Mendez.
Brazilian Pipo Derani, who is making his return to Formula 3 this weekend to assist the ADM team’s development, was ninth, posting the same time as Mendez, while Maximilian Hackl and Luca Iannaccone rounded out the field.
Session results
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Markus Pommer | Lotus | 1:13.764 | 24 | |
| 2 | Sam MacLeod | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:14.065 | 0.301 | 26 |
| 3 | Weiron Tan | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:14.308 | 0.544 | 25 |
| 4 | Nabil Jeffri | Motopark Academy | 1:14.316 | 0.552 | 22 |
| 5 | Indy Dontje | Lotus | 1:14.477 | 0.713 | 23 |
| 6 | Nikita Zlobin | SMP Racing by ADM | 1:14.896 | 1.132 | 22 |
| 7 | Nicolai Sylvest | JBR Motorsport & Engineering | 1:15.392 | 1.628 | 22 |
| 8 | Andres Mendez | Lotus | 1:15.441 | 1.677 | 17 |
| 9 | Pipo Derani | SMP Racing by ADM | 1:15.441 | 1.677 | 26 |
| 10 | Maximilian Hackl | Amkon Motorsport | 1:18.210 | 4.446 | 26 |
| 11 | Luca Iannaccone | Franz Woss Racing | 1:21.107 | 7.343 | 25 |