Rosenqvist secures pole for Spa opener

Felix Rosenqvist once again proved unstoppable in European Formula 3 qualifying, taking pole position for the opening race of the weekend at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Swede came to the fore towards the end of a first qualifying session that started in damp conditions, taking over eight tenths out of the previous best time set by Pietro Fittipaldi with a 2m10.173s to top a qualifying session for the seventh time in nine attempts in 2015.

Rosenqvist’s closest challenger was Prema teammate Jake Dennis, who moved up to second with a time 0.569s off the pace before moving to within 0.238s at the chequered flag.

Points leader Antonio Giovinazzi took third place for Carlin, albeit 0.791s off the pace, ahead of Fortec driver Fittipaldi, who will start inside the top 10 for the first time this season in fourth.

Brandon Maisano made it three Prema drivers in the top five with a late jump to fifth, narrowly ahead of Van Amersfoort Racing’s Charles Leclerc in sixth, with Signature’s Alex Albon and top Mucke driver Santino Ferrucci sharing row four.

Red Bull junior Callum Ilott (Carlin) and Markus Pommer (Motopark) both enjoyed stints at the head of the timesheets earlier in the session, but were forced to be content with the final two slots in the top 10 when the dust settled on the session.

Qualifying results:

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Felix Rosenqvist	Prema Powerteam	2'10.173
2	Jake Dennis	Prema Powerteam	2'10.411	0.238
3	Antonio Giovinazzi	Carlin	2'10.964	0.791
4	Pietro Fittipaldi	Fortec	2'11.008	0.835
5	Brandon Maïsano	Prema Powerteam	2'11.112	0.939
6	Charles Leclerc	Van Amersfoort Racing	2'11.121	0.948
7	Alexander Albon	Signature	2'11.172	0.999
8	Santino Ferrucci	Mucke Motorsport	2'11.224	1.051
9	Callum Ilott	Carlin	2'11.240	1.067
10	Markus Pommer	Motopark	2'11.244	1.071
11	George Russell	Carlin	2'11.297	1.124
12	Mikkel Jensen	Mucke Motorsport	2'11.348	1.175
13	Raoul Hyman	West-Tec	2'11.370	1.197
14	Lance Stroll	Prema Powerteam	2'11.397	1.224
15	Sam MacLeod	Motopark	2'11.459	1.286
16	Alessio Lorandi	Van Amersfoort Racing	2'11.465	1.292
17	Ryan Tveter	Carlin	2'11.547	1.374
18	Maximlian Gunther	Mucke Motorsport	2'11.716	1.543
19	Gustavo Menezes	Carlin	2'11.742	1.569
20	Sergio Sette Camara	Motopark	2'11.802	1.629
21	Fabian Schiller	West-Tec	2'12.060	1.887
22	Dorian Boccolacci	Signature	2'12.103	1.930
23	Tatiana Calderon	Carlin	2'12.216	2.043
24	Nabil Jeffri	Motopark	2'12.394	2.221
25	Michele Beretta	Mucke Motorsport	2'12.470	2.297
26	Matthew Solomon	Double R Racing	2'12.528	2.355
27	Matt Rao	Fortec	2'12.588	2.415
28	Kang Ling	Mucke Motorsport	2'12.750	2.577
29	Nicolas Pohler	Double R Racing	2'12.772	2.599
30	Arjun Maini	Van Amersfoort Racing	2'13.051	2.878
31	Martin Cao	Fortec	2'13.344	3.171
32	Mahaveer Raghunathan	Motopark	2'13.426	3.253
33	Julio Moreno	T-Sport	2'18.066	7.893