Dennis completes Pau pole hat-trick

Jake Dennis convincingly topped his qualifying group to secure the remaining two pole positions for this weekend’s European Formula 3 meeting at Pau.

With the track having dried since qualifying for the opening race earlier in the day, it was the second group that once more proved the quicker thanks to Dennis’ late session-topping effort of 1m10.276s.

That was enough for the Briton to beat Charles Leclerc’s quickest time in the slower first group by 0.110s, and also his closest second group challenger Maximilian Gunther by 0.337s.

Points leader Antonio Giovinazzi went second in the first group to ensure an identical top four starters in both of the first two races, fifth place man Markus Pommer becoming the first to buck the trend with the third best time behind Dennis and Gunther in the faster group.

Arjun Maini continued his impressive form around the Pau streets to go third quickest ahead of Alex Albon and a struggling Felix Rosenqvist in a slower session curtailed by two late red flags, while Alessio Lorandi and Dorian Boccolacci also secured top 10 berths for race two in the faster session.

Dennis' second best time - a 1m10.852s - was also enough to secure the top slot in the third and final race, ahead of Giovinazzi and Gunther.

Group A Top 10:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Gap
1	Charles Leclerc	Van Amersfoort Racing	1m10.386
2	Antonio Giovinazzi	Carlin	0.273
3	Arjun Maini	Van Amersfoort Racing	0.541
4	Alexander Albon	Signature	0.698
5	Felix Rosenqvist	Prema Powerteam	0.705
6	Lance Stroll	Prema Powerteam	0.747
7	Santino Ferrucci	Mucke Motorsport	0.898
8	Mikkel Jensen	Mucke Motorsport	1.275
9	Kang Ling	Mucke Motorsport	1.391
10	Sergio Sette Camara	Motopark	1.516

Group B Top 10:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time/Gap
1	Jake Dennis	Prema Powerteam	1m10.253
2	Maximilian Gunther	Mucke Motorsport	0.360
3	Markus Pommer	Motopark	0.545
4	Alessio Lorandi	Van Amersfoort Racing	0.746
5	Dorian Boccolacci	Signature	0.826
6	Sam MacLeod	Motopark	0.842
7	George Russell	Carlin	0.909
8	Brandon Maisano	Prema Powerteam	0.968
9	Michele Beretta	Mucke Motorsport	0.995
10	Callum Ilott	Carlin	1.024