Ben Hingeley took his maiden BRDC British F3 pole at Donington Park. The HHC Motorsport driver benefited from treacherous conditions as the end of qualifying was red flagged.
The Chris Dittmann Racing drivers were first out of the pits on the soggy Donington Park circuit. Omar Ismail will return to the series with the CDR team and was determined to get experience ahead of the first wet session since Snetterton.
A red flag was quickly brought out after Eugene Denyssen parked his car at Coppice. The South African was running seventeenth and will start at the back of the grid for the final event of the year.
Matheus Leist had been top before the stoppage, but with the cars settling in, the gap soon closed up. Thomas Randle was the first to beat him before surprisingly quick laps from Enzo Bortoleto and Hingeley saw them temporarily top the standings.
With eight minutes to go it was clear that the track was improving with Leist moving back to the head of the field. The session didn’t make the flag though. With one minute to go, Krishnaraaj Mahadik hit the wall on the exit of the Esses.
Hingeley had been one of the last across the line and had made his way back to the top thanks to the tricky conditions. With the session not restarted, the Brit took his maiden pole from Leist in second.
Harrison Scott had been competitive during qualifying and managed to collect third from Ricky Collard. The championship leader had struggled throughout and will be on the backfoot going into the first race.
Behind them, the outside championship contenders of Toby Sowery and Randle rounded out the top six. Meanwhile, Randle’s Douglas Motorsport team-mate Enaam Ahmed collected seventh from Bortoleto who couldn’t hold on to his earlier pace.
