Photo: Formula Motorsport Ltd
Hiyu Yamakoshi claimed his maiden Formula 3 pole position in Spielberg, ending Theophile Nael’s dominant pole streak after a masterclass strategic call from his Van Amersfoort Racing team.
Championship leader Ugo Ugochukwu claimed second with Tuukka Taponen completing the top three.
Yamakoshi’s team utilised a bold strategy to run the Japanese driver during the lull in running following the opening runs, allowing the 19-year-old to improve when others where unable to.
Having been top in qualifying, Noah Stromsted set the early opening pace but was quickly bettered by others, Taito Kato, Alessandro Giusti and Taponen all going faster with the later settling at the front with a 1m21.968s.
Stromsted and Taponen exchanged blows as the duo rotated at the front of the field, Taponen reclaiming top spot with a 1m21.775s leaving him 0.084s clear of his Trident rival.
As the opening runs came to a close, VAR released its drivers to the track and it didn’t take long before Yamokshi shot to the top of the timesheets, teammate Bruno Del Pino aborting his lap leaving the Spaniard in 10th while Enzo Deligny moved himself into 12th.
The battle for track position resumed as the circuit filled up again ahead of the final runs, drivers seeking a crucial slipstream down the back straights.
Ugochukwu found pace to fly into second, just 0.015s down on Yamokshi while behind him, Kato suffered a spin in the final corner having looked set to record a personal best on his final run.
Yamaokshi remained untouchable though and clinched his maiden F3 pole in the pitlane. Taponen secured third with Stromsted and Freddie Slater rounding out the top five.
Off the back of sprint race glory in Barcelona, James Wharton secured reversed-grid pole for Saturday, the Australian to be joined on the front row by Campos’ Ernesto Rivera with Rodin’s Pedro Clerot just behind in third.
Further back, debutant Salim Hanna, stepping in for the injured Brad Benavides, outqualified both his teammates Fernando Barichello and Yevan David on his way to 25th on the grid.
Qualifying results
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Hiyu Yamakoshi | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m21.730s | 16 | |
| 2 | Ugo Ugochukwu | Campos Racing | 1m21.745s | +0.015s | 13 |
| 3 | Tuukka Taponen | MP Motorsport | 1m21.775s | +0.045s | 13 |
| 4 | Noah Strømsted | Trident | 1m21.859s | +0.129s | 13 |
| 5 | Freddie Slater | Trident | 1m21.930s | +0.200s | 13 |
| 6 | Alessandro Giusti | MP Motorsport | 1m21.975s | +0.245s | 13 |
| 7 | Taito Kato | ART Grand Prix | 1m22.003s | +0.273s | 14 |
| 8 | Kanato Le | ART Grand Prix | 1m22.040s | +0.310s | 14 |
| 9 | Jin Nakamura | Hitech | 1m22.059s | +0.329s | 13 |
| 10 | Pedro Clerot | Rodin Motorsport | 1m22.067s | +0.337s | 13 |
| 11 | Ernesto Rivera | Campos Racing | 1m22.082s | +0.352s | 13 |
| 12 | James Wharton | Prema Racing | 1m22.101s | +0.371s | 13 |
| 13 | Bruno del Pino | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m22.142s | +0.412s | 15 |
| 14 | Maciej Gladysz | ART Grand Prix | 1m22.156s | +0.426s | 13 |
| 15 | Enzo Deligny | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1m22.161s | +0.431s | 16 |
| 16 | Christian Ho | Rodin Motorsport | 1m22.165s | +0.435s | 13 |
| 17 | Nicola Lacorte | DAMS | 1m22.212s | +0.482s | 14 |
| 18 | Mattia Colnaghi | MP Motorsport | 1m22.251s | +0.521s | 13 |
| 19 | Gerrard Xie | DAMS | 1m22.268s | +0.538s | 14 |
| 20 | Louis Sharp | Prema Racing | 1m22.283s | +0.553s | 13 |
| 21 | Nandhavud Bhirombhakdi | DAMS | 1m22.311s | +0.581s | 13 |
| 22 | Matteo De Palo | Trident | 1m22.314s | +0.584s | 13 |
| 23 | Fionn McLaughlin | Hitech | 1m22.336s | +0.606s | 13 |
| 24 | Theophile Nael | Campos Racing | 1m22.348s | +0.618s | 13 |
| 25 | Salim Hanna | AIX Racing | 1m22.503s | +0.773s | 13 |
| 26 | Jose Garfias | Prema Racing | 1m22.581s | +0.851s | 13 |
| 27 | Yevan David | AIX Racing | 1m22.678s | +0.948s | 13 |
| 28 | Fernando Barrichello | AIX Racing | 1m22.749s | +1.019s | 13 |
| 29 | Brando Badoer | Rodin Motorsport | 1m22.794s | +1.064s | 13 |
| 30 | Michael Shin | Hitech | 1m22.920s | +1.190s | 13 |