Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen claimed pole position in a Formula 3 quaifying session at the Hungaroring that ended with red flags.
Van Amersfoort Racing duo Sophia Floersch and Noel Leon were fastest at first in the half-hour session, although it was not until a few minutes later that a representative pace was set and AIX Racing’s trio of Joshua Dufek, Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikita Bedrin went ot the top with laps in the 1m34s.
They and almost everyone else then headed back to the pits, leaving only Trident’s drivers on track nine minutes in. Soon they pitted too, and after a few minutes the Hungaroring was bursting with activity again.
Van Hoepen went to the top after 17 minutes, setting a 1m34.316s to nudge ahead of Dufek by 0.098 seconds, with Hitech GP’s Luke Browning and MP Motorsport’s Tim Tramnitz going third and fourth fastest.
Leon then bettered van Hoepen by 0.142s, but he only held provisional pole for less than half a minute before Trident’s Leonardo Fornaroli set a 1m34.173s. His team-mate Santiago Ramos jumped up to third with a 1m34.288s, set with 10 minutes to go, then the track became quieter as drivers returned to the pits.
Van Hoepen reclaimed top spot in the final minute, setting a 1m33.935 to go fastest by 0.233s over team-mate Nikola Tsolov. Red flags then waved as Browning spun into the barriers exiting turn 11, denying several drivers a shot at pole since they were improving when the session was stopped.
Browning himself ended qualifying in seventh, with Prema duo Gabriele Mini and Arvid Lindblad – the top two drivers in the points table – down in 15th and 22nd.
Post-session investigations resulted in Browning having his fastest lap deleted for causing red flags. His second-best effort was good enough to be 15th fastest in the final classification.
Dufek was disqualified from sixth place as he and his car were found to be 1.5kg underweight, while Piotr Wisnicki and Kacper Sztuka were handed three-place grid penalties for impeeding Dino Beganovic and Sebastian Montoya.
As a result of the penalties, Bedrin and Beganovic move into the top 12, with the latter starting the sprint race from reversed-grid pole.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Laurens van Hoepen | ART Grand Prix | 1m33.935s | 11 | |
| 2 | Nikola Tsolov | ART Grand Prix | 1m34.168s | +0.233s | 11 |
| 3 | Leonardo Fornaroli | Trident | 1m34.173s | +0.238s | 12 |
| 4 | Noel Leon | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m34.174s | +0.239s | 10 |
| 5 | Santiago Ramos | Trident | 1m34.182s | +0.247s | 12 |
| 6 | Joshua Dufek | AIX Racing | 1m34.414s | +0.479s | 10 |
| 7 | Luke Browning | Hitech GP | 1m34.437s | +0.502s | 10 |
| 8 | Sami Meguetounif | Trident | 1m34.524s | +0.589s | 11 |
| 9 | Tim Tramnitz | MP Motorsport | 1m34.531s | +0.596s | 8 |
| 10 | Christian Mansell | ART Grand Prix | 1m34.582s | +0.647s | 10 |
| 11 | Callum Voisin | Rodin Motorsport | 1m34.607s | +0.672s | 10 |
| 12 | Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak | AIX Racing | 1m34.685s | +0.750s | 9 |
| 13 | Nikita Bedrin | AIX Racing | 1m34.697s | +0.762s | 9 |
| 14 | Dino Beganovic | Prema | 1m34.805s | +0.870s | 10 |
| 15 | Gabriele Mini | Prema | 1m34.872s | +0.937s | 11 |
| 16 | Oliver Goethe | Campos Racing | 1m34.938s | +1.003s | 10 |
| 17 | Max Esterson | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.042s | +1.107s | 11 |
| 18 | Joseph Loake | Rodin Motorsport | 1m35.061s | +1.126s | 10 |
| 19 | Charlie Wurz | Jenzer Motorport | 1m35.087s | +1.152s | 11 |
| 20 | Mari Boya | Campos Racing | 1m35.105s | +1.170s | 10 |
| 21 | Matias Zagazeta | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m35.110s | +1.175s | 11 |
| 22 | Arvid Lindblad | Prema | 1m35.225s | +1.290s | 10 |
| 23 | Martinius Stenshorne | Hitech GP | 1m35.386s | +1.451s | 10 |
| 24 | Piotr Wisnicki | Rodin Motorsport | 1m35.388s | +1.453s | 10 |
| 25 | Cian Shields | Hitech GP | 1m35.517s | +1.582s | 10 |
| 26 | Alex Dunne | MP Motorsport | 1m35.658s | +1.723s | 7 |
| 27 | Kacper Sztuka | MP Motorsport | 1m35.750s | +1.815s | 7 |
| 28 | Sophia Floersch | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m35.851s | +1.916s | 9 |
| 29 | Tommy Smith | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m36.493s | +2.558s | 6 |
| 30 | Sebastian Montoya | Campos Racing | 1m51.025s | +17.090s | 9 |