Imola European F3: Tom Blomqvist and Max Verstappen share poles
Tom Blomqvist and Max Verstappen kept their tenuous hopes of lifting the Formula 3 European Championship alive by taking a pole position apiece for Sunday's two races at Imola
New Toro Rosso Formula 1 signing Verstappen set the two fastest times of the session, but must serve the last of his three 10-place grid penalties, incurred for an engine change last time out at the Nurburgring, in race two.
Verstappen had just set a lap time three tenths clear of the opposition in his Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Volkswagen when the session was red-flagged with just under seven minutes remaining due to an enormous shunt at the Villeneuve chicane for Ed Jones.
Emirati Jones, who has been suffering back problems since he crashed heavily in May at Pau, complained of a pain in the back of his neck, so some time was taken to remove him before placing him aboard a waiting ambulance and taking him to the medical centre.
He will now be taken to hospital for precautionary checks. The rear end of Jones's Dallara is in a very sorry state
With daylight fading, and black clouds rolling in to further hamper vision, as well as the time taken to extract Jones, the decision was made to abandon the session.
Blomqvist's Jagonya Ayam with Carlin stablemate Antonio Giovinazzi set a lap time that would have earned him pole position for race two - albeit two tenths slower than Verstappen - but this was disallowed for a track-limits infringement, leaving him to take third on the grid.

Sharing the front row with Blomqvist for race two is championship leader Esteban Ocon, and the Lotus F1 junior set the second fastest second-best lap to join Verstappen (pictured) at the front for race three.
Ocon's Prema team-mate Antonio Fuoco will start alongside Giovinazzi in fourth for race two, with Will Buller making encouraging progress for the returning Signature team and taking fifth.
Rounding out the top 10 on the grid for race two are Nicholas Latifi, Jake Dennis (who, like Giovinazzi, lost a front-row time to a track-limits cancellation), Roy Nissany, Lucas Auer and Nick Cassidy. The last-named provided further pace for the Three Bond T-Sport team after almost taking fastest lap in Saturday's race.
Fuoco jumps to third on the grid for race three, with Blomqvist alongside him on the second row. Buller and Latifi again share the third row, with Felix Serralles, Dennis, Jordan King and Giovinazzi completing the top 10.
RACE TWO QUALIFYING:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Blomqvist | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.125s | - |
| 2 | Esteban Ocon | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.155s | 0.030s |
| 3 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.196s | 0.071s |
| 4 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.221s | 0.096s |
| 5 | William Buller | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.312s | 0.187s |
| 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.318s | 0.193s |
| 7 | Jake Dennis | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.388s | 0.263s |
| 8 | Roy Nissany | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.625s | 0.500s |
| 9 | Lucas Auer | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.666s | 0.541s |
| 10 | Nick Cassidy | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m37.668s | 0.543s |
| 11 | Max Verstappen | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m36.816s | -0.309 |
| 12 | Felix Serralles | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.681s | 0.556s |
| 13 | Jordan King | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.781s | 0.656s |
| 14 | Ed Jones | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.886s | 0.761s |
| 15 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.939s | 0.814s |
| 16 | Felix Rosenqvist | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.971s | 0.846s |
| 17 | Dennis van de Laar | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.188s | 1.063s |
| 18 | Gustavo Menezes | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.235s | 1.110s |
| 19 | Tatiana Calderon | Jo Zeller Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.293s | 1.168s |
| 20 | Alexander Toril | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m38.300s | 1.175s |
| 21 | Michele Beretta | EuroInternational | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.430s | 1.305s |
| 22 | Sergio Sette Camara | EuroInternational | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.571s | 1.446s |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.819s | 1.694s |
| 24 | Martin Cao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.235s | 2.110s |
| 25 | Andy Chang | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.493s | 2.368s |
| 26 | Jules Szymkowiak | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.327s | 1.202s |
| 27 | Richard Goddard | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m38.181s | 1.056s |
| 28 | Sandro Zeller | Jo Zeller Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | - | - |
* Max Verstappen, Jules Szymkowiak and Spike Goddard have penalties
RACE THREE QUALIFYING:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Max Verstappen | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.106s | - |
| 2 | Esteban Ocon | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.303s | 0.197s |
| 3 | Antonio Fuoco | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.326s | 0.220s |
| 4 | Tom Blomqvist | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.456s | 0.350s |
| 5 | William Buller | Signature | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.497s | 0.391s |
| 6 | Nicholas Latifi | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.540s | 0.434s |
| 7 | Felix Serralles | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.710s | 0.604s |
| 8 | Jake Dennis | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.745s | 0.639s |
| 9 | Jordan King | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.808s | 0.702s |
| 10 | Antonio Giovinazzi | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.819s | 0.713s |
| 11 | Ed Jones | Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.922s | 0.816s |
| 12 | Lucas Auer | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m37.933s | 0.827s |
| 13 | Sean Gelael | Jagonya Ayam with Carlin | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m37.952s | 0.846s |
| 14 | Roy Nissany | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.073s | 0.967s |
| 15 | Nick Cassidy | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m38.153s | 1.047s |
| 16 | Felix Rosenqvist | KFZTeile24 Mucke Motorsport | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.259s | 1.153s |
| 17 | Gustavo Menezes | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.288s | 1.182s |
| 18 | Tatiana Calderon | Jo Zeller Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.450s | 1.344s |
| 19 | Alexander Toril | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m38.737s | 1.631s |
| 20 | Michele Beretta | EuroInternational | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.740s | 1.634s |
| 21 | Dennis van de Laar | Prema Powerteam | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.745s | 1.639s |
| 22 | Sergio Sette Camara | EuroInternational | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.768s | 1.662s |
| 23 | Santino Ferrucci | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m38.996s | 1.890s |
| 24 | Andy Chang | Team West-Tec F3 | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.597s | 2.491s |
| 25 | Martin Cao | Fortec Motorsports | Dallara/Mercedes | 1m39.719s | 2.613s |
| 26 | Jules Szymkowiak | Van Amersfoort Racing | Dallara/Volkswagen | 1m38.752s | 1.646s |
| 27 | Richard Goddard | ThreeBond with T-Sport | Dallara/NBE | 1m38.838s | 1.732s |
| 28 | Sandro Zeller | Jo Zeller Racing | Dallara/Mercedes | - | - |
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