Callum Ilott will start Saturday’s qualifying race at the Masters of F3 event at Zandvoort from pole position after a close battle in between the sand dunes in qualifying.
Just 0.029 seconds separated the leading three drivers of Ilott, Joel Eriksson and GP3 Series racer Alexander Albon, while just 0.414 seconds separated Ilott from ninth placed Alessio Lorandi.
Ilott’s best of 1:29.820 was enough to see the Van Amersfoort Racing driver grab pole, with Motopark’s Eriksson second on a 1:29.832 and Albon third for Hitech GP with a time of 1:29.849 as he makes a one-off return appearance in Formula 3 after racing for Signature in 2015.
Red Bull-backed Niko Kari will start fourth for Motopark, ahead of his team-mate Guanyu Zhou, who spent some time at the front of the field around the halfway mark of the session before dropping to fifth.
Pedro Piquet will start sixth for Van Amersfoort Racing ahead of the second Red Bull-backed driver in the field, Sergio Sette Câmara, while Anthoine Hubert, Lorandi and David Beckmann complete the top ten.
The result of the qualifying race will determine the starting grid for Sunday’s Masters of F3 finale.
Masters of F3 Qualifying Result
| POS | NO. | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | Callum Ilott | GBR | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:29.820 |
| 2 | 10 | Joel Eriksson | SWE | Motopark | 1:29.832 |
| 3 | 6 | Alexander Albon | THA | Hitech GP | 1:29.849 |
| 4 | 12 | Niko Kari | FIN | Motopark | 1:29.928 |
| 5 | 11 | Guanyu Zhou | CHN | Motopark | 1:30.045 |
| 6 | 8 | Pedro Piquet | BRZ | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:30.069 |
| 7 | 14 | Sergio Sette Camara | BRZ | Motopark | 1:30.098 |
| 8 | 9 | Anthoine Hubert | FRA | Van Amersfoort Racing | 1:30.189 |
| 9 | 1 | Alessio Lorandi | ITA | Carlin | 1:30.234 |
| 10 | 15 | David Beckmann | GER | Mucke Motorsport | 1:30.450 |
| 11 | 5 | Harrison Scott | GBR | Hitech GP | 1:30.807 |
| 12 | 3 | Colton Herta | USA | Carlin | 1:31.198 |
| 13 | 17 | Sam MacLeod | GBR | Fortec Motorsport | 1:31.398 |
| 14 | 18 | Ricky Capo | AUS | Fortec Motorsport | 1:32.195 |
| 15 | 19 | Thomas Randle | AUS | Double R Racing | 1:32.325 |
| 16 | 4 | Ameya Vaidyanathan | IND | Carlin | 1:32.408 |
