Paul Aron bounced back with feature FIA F2 race pole in Hungary, as Laurens van Hoepen took his first in F3.
F2:
Paul Aron sealed his second Pole Position of the season after edging out Van Amersfoort Racing’s Enzo Fittipaldi to the top spot in a tightly contested Budapest Qualifying session. The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver completed a late lap of 1:30.028 to beat Fittipaldi to first by just 0.068s, with Campos Racing’s Isack Hadjar over a tenth back from Aron in third.
But it was Free Practice table-topper Zane Maloney that led the way early on, clocking a time of 1:30.515 to lead his ART Grand Prix rival Victor Martins by over a tenth. Then came Invicta Racing’s Gabriel Bortoleto, setting the fastest times in the first two sectors before going to the top of the leaderboard with a 1:30.269, beating Maloney by 0.246s.
A few drivers then tried to go for a second push lap on their first set of Soft tyres, one of those being Aron, but as he came across the line to go up to P7 from P9, the Red Flags were waved. Campos’ Josep María Martí spun at the exit of Turn 11 and while he managed to stay out of the barrier, he stopped by the side of the road meaning the marshals had to wheel his car away.
With under 10 minutes left in the session, the drivers returned to the track after strapping on a new set of Softs, led by Fittipaldi. This meant the Brazilian was the first to set a timed lap on his second set and went up to provisional pole. However, hit time was quickly beaten by Aron, as the Hitech rookie went just 0.068s clear of the Brazilian with a 1:30.028.
Next up was Championship leader Hadjar, but after setting the fastest first sector he wound up in third, 0.193s off Aron’s benchmark. Bortoleto ended up in P4, with Martins fifth ahead of MP Motorsport’s Dennis Hauger. Andrea Kimi Antonelli was seventh for PREMA Racing while Maloney ended up eighth for Rodin Motorsport. Kush Maini qualified ninth in the second Invicta just ahead of Trident’s Richard Verschoor, meaning the Dutchman is set to start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1814309114438115584
F3:
ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen earned his first Pole Position in FIA Formula 3, with a 1:33.935 coming in the nick of time. The Dutch driver finished the session on top and ahead of teammate Nikola Tsolov in P2, while title contender Leonardo Fornaroli took third for Trident. There was a late Red Flag as another contender Luke Browning spun into the barriers on his final attempt, ending the session early.
With tyre preparation laps complete, AIX Racing’s Joshua Dufek set the initial pace with a 1:34.414 ahead of teammates Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak and Nikita Bedrin in a 1-2-3 for the team. PREMA Racing’s Dino Beganovic was best of the rest in fourth, 0.391s down on the top time ahead of Trident’s Santiago Ramos in P5 after the opening 10 minutes.
There was more vying for track position ahead of the second attempts but this time it was van Hoepen that took over at the top, setting a 1:34.316 until Van Amersfoort Racing’s Noel León secured P1 with a 1:34.174. Further back and with clear track, Fornaroli was next to go quickest but it was very closely run. The Italian driver went just 0.001s quicker than León to secure provisional pole.
Drivers returned to the track on fresh tyres for one final attempt with just over five minutes left of the session with the track at its best. Van Hoepen returned to the top as the first into the 1:33s ahead of teammate Tsolov in P2. Fornaroli put himself in third just as the Red Flags came out as title rival Browning found the barriers at Turn 11, bringing the session to a conclusion and those behind unable to improve.
A snap of oversteer for the Briton left him sideways and his Hitech Pulse-Eight sliding into the barriers. He was OK but was left in seventh. León dropped to fourth with the improvements from the trio ahead, with Ramos fifth and Dufek in sixth. Meguetounif followed Browning in P8 ahead of Tim Tramnitz, Christian Mansell, Callum Voisin and Inthraphuvasak, who after ending up 12th will start the Sprint Race from reverse grid pole.
Result: https://x.com/MsportXtra/status/1814294660673679409
[Note: The story is as per press release]