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Edition

Australia
Qualifying report

F3 Spain: Stanek snatches maiden pole from Martins

Roman Stanek snatched his first FIA Formula 3 pole in Barcelona, knocking championship leader Victor Martins off the top of the timesheet at the last second.

Roman Stanek, Trident

Roman Stanek, Trident

Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

The Imola feature race winner had been running in 13th place for Trident before setting a 1m33.516s to claim pole, just 0.07s quicker than the ART Grand Prix driver.

It continues his consistent run of qualifying so far this season, having qualified second at both Bahrain and Imola.

Alexander Smolyar will line up third for MP Motorsport, having topped the times earlier in the session before he was surpassed by Martins and then Stanek.

Hitech's Isack Hadjar was the first driver to set a representative flying lap, with a 1m34.181s to top the timesheet early on.

But he was soon pushed down the order by Caio Collet (MP Motorsport), who was quickest with a 1m34.026s, before Van Amersfoort Racing's Franco Colapinto and Martins also slotted in ahead of him.

The top 14 was running within just one second of the leader after the first runs, during which Stanek and William Alatalo (Jenzer Motorsport) took trips over the gravel at Turns 7 and 11 respectively.

Running resumed with 20 minutes left on the clock, with Hadjar briefly reclaiming the top spot before Ollie Bearman went fastest.

The Prema driver's time at the top was shortlived, with Smolyar next to claim provisional pole with a 1m33.613s.

Martins was next to take the lead, going just 0.05s quicker, while Arthur Leclerc (Prema) slotted into third, with Bearman in fourth.

The field emerged for their final runs with 10 minutes left on the clock, prompting heavy traffic at Banc Sabadell, with some drivers running three wide in a bid to be last across the line.

The final order had looked set as Martins, Smolyar and Hadjar before Stanek's last-minute attempt put him top of the timesheet.

Trident's Zane Maloney was disqualified from qualifying for failing to stop at the weighbridge.

He was set to line up on pole for Saturday's reverse-grid sprint race, with David Vidales (Campos Racing) alongside him and Juan Manuel Correa in third for ART, returning from a stress fracture in his left foot which caused him to miss the last round at Imola.

Cla Driver Team Laps Time Gap
1 Czech Republic Roman Staněk
Italy Trident 11 1'33.516
2 France Victor Martins
France ART Grand Prix 11 1'33.568 0.052
3 Russian Federation Alexander Smolyar
Netherlands MP Motorsport 11 1'33.613 0.097
4 Isack Hadjar
United Kingdom HitechGP 11 1'33.726 0.210
5 Monaco Arthur Leclerc
Italy Prema Powerteam 11 1'33.731 0.215
6 Oliver Bearman
Italy Prema Powerteam 11 1'33.747 0.231
7 Brazil Caio Collet
Netherlands MP Motorsport 11 1'33.750 0.234
8 United States Kaylen Frederick
United Kingdom HitechGP 11 1'33.805 0.289
9 Jak Crawford
Italy Prema Powerteam 11 1'33.825 0.309
10 United States Juan Manuel Correa
France ART Grand Prix 11 1'33.857 0.341
11 Spain David Vidales
Spain Campos Racing 11 1'33.873 0.357
12 Barbados Zane Maloney
Italy Trident 10 1'33.926 0.410
13 Argentina Franco Colapinto
Van Amersfoort Racing 10 1'33.963 0.447
14 Switzerland Gregoire Saucy
France ART Grand Prix 11 1'34.040 0.524
15 Denmark Oliver Rasmussen
Italy Trident 11 1'34.041 0.525
16 Pepe Martí
Spain Campos Racing 11 1'34.117 0.601
17 Reece Ushijima
Van Amersfoort Racing 11 1'34.180 0.664
18 Mexico Rafael Villagomez
Van Amersfoort Racing 11 1'34.317 0.801
19 United Kingdom Zak O'Sullivan
Carlin 11 1'34.320 0.804
20 Hunter Yeany
Spain Campos Racing 11 1'34.342 0.826
21 Finland William Alatalo
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 10 1'34.568 1.052
22 Germany Lirim Zendeli
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 11 1'34.686 1.170
23 India Kush Maini
Netherlands MP Motorsport 11 1'34.735 1.219
24 Malaysia Nazim Azman
United Kingdom HitechGP 11 1'34.795 1.279
25 Israel Ido Cohen
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 12 1'34.866 1.350
26 Italy Enzo Trulli
Carlin 10 1'34.973 1.457
27 Italy Federico Malvestiti
Switzerland Jenzer Motorsport 10 1'35.096 1.580
28 Brad Benavides
Carlin 11 1'35.337 1.821
29 Italy Francesco Pizzi
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 11 1'35.549 2.033
30 Hungary László Tóth
Czech Republic Charouz Racing System 11 1'35.575 2.059

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