European Formula 3

Rosenqvist Takes Norisring Pole by 0.003s from Ocon

2 Mins read

Swedish driver Felix Rosenqvist took his first pole position of the 2014 FIA European Formula 3 Championship season in one of the closest qualifying sessions of the season at the Norisring in Germany. The Mücke Motorsport driver took top spot by 0.003s from current championship leader Esteban Ocon, while the Prema Powerteam driver was only a further 0.008s ahead of third placed Max Verstappen of Van Amersfoort Racing.

Rosenqvist snatched pole position right at the end of the session after finally getting the last corner right, something he had struggled with for the majority of the weekend. On a track he openly admits to not being amongst his favourites, he was able to take the top spot from Ocon.

The Frenchman himself had been languishing down amongst the midfield runners for a lot of the session before propelling himself up the order, and beat Verstappen’s time to take second.

Tom Blomqvist will start the first race of the weekend alongside Verstappen on row two for Jagonya Ayam with Carlin, while row three will be two of Rosenqvist’s Mücke Motorsport team-mates – Lucas Auer and Roy Nissany.

Jake Dennis was the leading Carlin driver in seventh, ahead of one of the stars of last weekend in Belgium Gustavo Menezes of Van Amersfoort Racing in eighth. Mitchell Gilbert returned to form after a disappointing Spa weekend to qualify ninth for Fortec Motorsports, with Jordan King of Carlin completing the top ten.

The session was extremely tight, with hundredths and indeed thousandths of a second separating drivers up and down the field. The top twenty-five out of twenty-six qualified within one second of each other.

Norisring Race 1 Qualifying Times

POS DRIVER NAT TEAM TIME
1 Felix Rosenqvist SWE Mücke Motorsport 48.082
2 Esteban Ocon FRA Prema Powerteam 48.085
3 Max Verstappen NED Van Amersfoort Racing 48.093
4 Tom Blomqvist GBR Jagonya Ayam with Carlin 48.262
5 Lucas Auer AUT Mücke Motorsport 48.321
6 Roy Nissany ISR Mücke Motorsport 48.432
7 Jake Dennis GBR Carlin 48.437
8 Gustavo Menezes USA Van Amersfoort Racing 48.439
9 Mitchell Gilbert AUS Fortec Motorsports 48.466
10 Jordan King GBR Carlin 48.470
11 Nicholas Latifi CAN Prema Powerteam 48.489
12 Jules Szymkowiak NED Van Amersfoort Racing 48.495
13 Antonio Giovinazzi ITA Jagonya Ayam with Carlin 48.509
14 Antonio Fuoco ITA Prema Powerteam 48.576
15 Richard Goddard AUS ThreeBond with T-Sport 48.646
16 Felix Serralles PUE Team West-Tec F3 48.650
17 Tatiana Calderon COL Jo Zeller Racing 48.704
18 Sean Galael INO Jagonya Ayam with Carlin 48.797
19 Dennis van de Laar NED Prema Powerteam 48.835
20 Santino Ferrucci USA EuroInternational 48.838
21 Michele Beretta ITA EuroInternational 48.858
22 Felipe Guimaraes BRZ Double R Racing 48.903
23 Sandro Zeller SWI Jo Zeller Racing 48.955
24 Alexander Toril ESP ThreeBond with T-Sport 48.979
25 John Bryant-Meisner SWE Fortec Motorsports 49.051
26 Hector Hurst GBR Team West-Tec F3 49.342

 

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