Masters - Zolder - Qualifying
Nico Hulkenberg grabs pole
Defending titlist Hülkenberg on pole for Masters at Zolder
At the 4.011 kilometres long circuit of Zolder in Belgium, Nico Hülkenberg (ART Grand Prix, 1:24.280 min) claimed pole position for the RTL GP Masters of Formula 3. The German already succeeded in winning Europe’s most important Formula 3 race last year and his goal is now to defend his title. Second place on the grid went to Frenchman Jules Bianchi (ART Grand Prix, 1:24.550 min) from Dutchman Renger van der Zande (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.640 min), Koudai Tsukakoshi (Manor Motorsport, 1:24.813 min) from Japan and Stefano Coletti (Prema Powerteam, 1:24.869 min). Thus, the top five places were all locked out by drivers from the Formula 3 Euro Series. In the top twelve, there are even ten drivers from the Formula 3 Euro Series.
With a few minutes remaining, qualifying was briefly interrupted after Spaniard Dani Clos (Prema Powerteam, 1:26.157 min) had come off the track. After the re-start, the drivers only had two laps left to improve their lap times. Nico Hülkenberg, the test driver of the Williams Formula 1 team, only did so as the chequered flag was being waved. For Nico Hülkenberg’s team ART Grand Prix, it is already the fifth fastest qualifying time in a row at the Masters of Formula 3. Before the German, Romain Grosjean (2007), Giedo van der Garde (2006), Lewis Hamilton (2005) and Alexandre
Prémat (2004) started from the best possible grid position.
Qualifying for Pole
1 - Nico Hulkenberg (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'24"280
2 - Jules Bianchi (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'24"550
3 - Renger Van der Zande (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'24"640
4 - Kodai Tsukakoshi (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'24"813
5 - Stefano Coletti (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'24"869
6 - Max Chilton (Dallara-Mercedes) - Hitech - 1'24"884
7 - Jon Lancaster (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'25"044
8 - Mika Maki (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'25"058
9 - Brendon Hartley (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'25"071
10 - Daniel Campos (Dallara-Mercedes) - HBR - 1'25"086
11 - Rodolfo Gonzalez (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'25"109
12 - Richard Philippe (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'25"113
13 - Jaime Alguersuari (Dallara-Mercedes) - Carlin - 1'25"117
14 - Henki Waldschmidt (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'25"139
15 - Edoardo Mortara (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'25"203
16 - Christian Vietoris (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'25"294
17 - Roberto Merhi (Dallara-Mercedes) - Hitech - 1'25"299
18 - Nick Tandy (Mygale-Mercedes) - JTR - 1'25"452
19 - Michael Devaney (Mygale-Mercedes) - Ultimate - 1'25"597
20 - Dani Clos (Dallara-Mercedes) - Prema - 1'26"157
Qualifying for 21-37 position
21 - Tom Dillmann (Dallara-Mercedes) - Zeller - 1'24"860
22 - Sam Bird (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'24"900
23 - Yann Clairay (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'25"129
24 - Atte Mustonen (Dallara-Mercedes) - Raikkonen - 1'25"233
25 - James Jakes (Dallara-Mercedes) - ART - 1'25"471
26 - Erik Janis (Dallara-Mercedes) - Mucke - 1'25"502
27 - Daniel Ricciardo (Dallara-Mercedes) - SG - 1'25"525
28 - John Martin (Dallara-Mercedes) - Raikkonen - 1'25"682
29 - Esteban Guerrieri (Mygale-Mercedes) - Ultimate - 1'25"725
30 - Jean Karl Vernay (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'25"729
31 - Kazuya Oshima (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'25"789
32 - Niall Breen (Dallara-Mercedes) - Manor - 1'25"921
33 - Henry Arundel (Dallara-Mercedes) - Raikkonen - 1'25"939
34 - Basil Shaaban (Dallara-Mercedes) - HBR - 1'26"160
35 - Martin Plowman (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'26"349
36 - Franck Mailleux (Dallara-Volkswagen) - Signature - 1'26"565
37 - Ricardo Teixeira (Mygale-Mercedes) - Ultimate - 1'27"207