Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Spa British F3: Ed Jones secures double pole position

Ed Jones took a pair of dominant pole positions for this weekend's British Formula 3 Championship, as Roberto Merhi just pipped his rivals among those who are eligible for points

Jones was comfortably clear of Carlin stablemate Sean Gelael, the duo running their European F3-spec Dallara-Volkswagen machinery and electing not to score points at the Belgian event.

The Dubai racer, who has returned after a two-month layoff due to a back injury, made further adjustments to his seat overnight.

"It was good, and I'm really happy with the margin," he said. "We worked hard, tried a few things on the car and I really made use of the slipstream."

Gelael, who was 0.856 seconds off, did not get a tow and was baulked at Pouhon on his biggest effort on his second set of tyres.

Merhi's Double R Racing Dallara-Mercedes leapfrogged John Bryant-Meisner and Sam MacLeod right at the end of the session as the leading trio running for points were separated by just 0.132 seconds.

Bryant-Meisner was second overall on his first set of tyres, but the Performance Racing team sent him out late on his second set and the Swede's Dallara-VW got only two laps in.

MacLeod made a giant leap forward from yesterday on his debut with the Carlin team, and ran in tandem with Jones as the duo slipstreamed each other.

Formula Renault 3.5 title contender Merhi was satisfied with his late charge, setting the overall fastest middle-sector time despite being held up by a slower car.

Championship leader Martin Cao was sixth in his Fortec Motorsport Dallara-Mercedes, while the fourth row is shared in both races by Nabil Jeffri (the top German F3 Cup contender in his Motopark Dallara-VW) and Carlin's Peter Li.

Andy Chang and Matt Rao round out the top 10 on overall fastest times, although Indy Dontje jumped both of them on second-fastest times that determine the grid for race one.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car                Time       Gap    
 1.  Ed Jones             Carlin Dallara-VW       2m14.638s         
 2.  Sean Gelael          Carlin Dallara-VW       2m15.494s  +0.856s
 3.  Roberto Merhi        Double R Dallara-Merc   2m16.004s  +1.366s
 4.  John Bryant-Meisner  Performance Dallara-VW  2m16.115s  +1.477s
 5.  Sam MacLeod          Carlin Dallara-VW       2m16.136s  +1.498s
 6.  Martin Cao           Fortec Dallara-Merc     2m16.901s  +2.263s
 7.  Nabil Jeffri         Motopark Dallara-VW     2m17.100s  +2.462s
 8.  Peter Li             Carlin Dallara-VW       2m17.361s  +2.723s
 9.  Andy Chang           Double R Dallara-Merc   2m17.422s  +2.784s
10.  Matt Rao             Fortec Dallara-Merc     2m17.506s  +2.868s
11.  Indy Dontje          Motopark Dallara-VW     2m17.531s  +2.893s
12.  Nikita Zlobin        ADM Dallara-VW          2m17.997s  +3.359s
13.  Camren Kaminsky      Double R Dallara-Merc   2m18.876s  +4.238s
14.  Kang Ling            ADM Dallara-VW          2m19.632s  +4.994s

Be part of the Autosport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Spa British F3: Ed Jones quickest in practice
Next article Spa British F3: Ed Jones wins as Roberto Merhi scores top points

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe