Gp3 drivers approached to the track this morning to fight for pole in good weather conditions. A qualyfing characterized by so much traffic on track and the aggressiveness of the drivers.
As an example of aggressiveness was the literal leap that Williamson made when he tried to overtake other driver trought Eau Rouge, when he touched the borders of the track.
Sainz has taken pole for the first race and Arden also has become the fastest team in Spa Francorchamps getting the 1-2 team with Kvyat in second place. Jack Harvey closed the top 3 with identical time with the Russian Red Bull Junior Team driver. They were followed by Daly, only few thousandths of second.
Because of traffic and waiting for more rubber on track several drivers waited until half of the session to enter track seeking optimal conditions of their tires. It was the case of some favorites like Regalia or MW Arden Team, Sainz, Kvyat and Visoiu.
Ellinas was attacking to the maximun in this qualyfing (off track excursion led him to lose a flap of his Dallara). Anyway he achieved a fifth place still very good for the race. Korjus was the fastest Koiranen being seventh. The ART driver Facu Regalia was not happy with the result, he had some problems during the session getting eighth place after the disqualification of Fontana for infringement in the regulations in his car.
ART and MW Arden cars showed the fastest, ART and Koiranen seemed to show more top speed and slide more in twisty sectors, while the MW Arden are more focused on the second and third sectors.
The pole has been decided in the last minutes of the session where the track conditions were better with more rubber and higher track temperatures.
Sainz commented that in his first attempt he had a puncture in a rear wheel which made him to come back boxes and not having a good result from the beginning of the session. Sainz was very happy with the result and was grateful to the team due to the good work of the team in order to get a good car with a good setup and a great strategy to avoid traffic during the flying lap.
On the other hand, Kvyat, the calm Russian driver, wanted to attack from the start of the race, no team orders, even Sainz had the pole. He was ready to compete in any weather conditions.
Finally, Harvey had engine problems in practice so he could not drive so much in qualifying. Anyway he achieved a great third position without this disadvantage and he would be able to fight for the win, it showed cautious about championship, no time for thinking about it in this race.