In the final BRDC British F3 Championship qualifying of the year, it was Ben Hingeley who took pole after a dominant session for the Fortec Motorsport driver around Donington Park. While an outside shot, Hingeley will be determined to secure second in the overall standings.
Hingeley was the pace setter during the early part of the session, before a red flag caused by Guilherme Samaia brought a halt to qualifying. The Brazilian had been fighting inside the top ten, but quickly fell to the back as the time ticked down.
A number of drivers started to close the gap, with James Pull appearing to be his closest challenger. Even Enaam Ahmed failed to better the time as the Carlin‘s battled amongst themselves for inter-team pride.
Carlin though would not have it all their own way, as Douglas Motorsport joined the battle to provisionally go second and third. With Chase Owen also in the fight, any one of six drivers could have started on the front row, though no-one could topple the 20-year-old.
It was a last lap gasp for second with Ahmed getting to within 0.044 seconds of the polesitter. The second row saw another surprise with Chase Owen following on from his practice pace as Cameron Das took fourth.
A red flag would end the session though as Jordan Cane spun off, ensuring he would line up in sixth behind teammate Callan O’Keeffe. Completing the top eight would be rookie Alex Quinn and Pull, who failed to get a clean lap in the closing minutes.