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Norisring European F3: Williams F1 protege Lance Stroll takes pole

Formula 3 European Championship leader Lance Stroll took pole position for the first race of the Norisring round with a late effort that put him well clear of the field

Briton Callum Ilott, Stroll's closest title challenger, was looking good with two very closely matched laps that at the time were both a fraction quicker than anyone else could manage.

But in the dying moments Canadian Williams Formula 1 team protege Stroll unleashed a mighty effort that put his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes 0.192 seconds clear of Ilott, and was founded upon a purple time in the first sector, which features the high-speed start-finish straight.

Ilott's time was good enough for second, leading five other drivers blanketed by just 0.043s, but he will face three 10-place grid penalties for an engine change.

That is because engine failure put the Van Amersfoort Racing driver on the sidelines for the majority of the 80 minutes of free practice, having completed only nine laps, and the team had to fit a new motor in time for qualifying.

Motopark rookie Joel Eriksson, the Swede celebrating his announcement as a member of the BMW Motorsport Junior Programme this morning (he will also act as a BMW DTM 'taxi' driver this weekend), will therefore be promoted to the front row.

Eriksson's team-mate, Ferrari protege Guan Yu Zhou, will line up third, and shares the second row with Prema's Nick Cassidy.

George Russell led the Hitech Grand Prix charge and will start fifth, just ahead of Motopark's brace of Red Bull Juniors - Niko Kari (the Finn having topped free practice on his first visit to the Nuremberg street circuit) and Sergio Sette Camara.

Norisring 2015 winner Maximilian Gunther (Prema) is eighth, with Mucke Motorsport's promising 16-year-old season latecomer David Beckmann next.

On his return to F3, Will Buller topped the Carlin runners and rounds out the top 10 on the grid, while the other UK drivers - Ben Barnicoat and Harrison Newey - were 16th and 18th respectively.

QUALIFYING

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap
1 Lance Stroll Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes 48.148s -
2 Callum Ilott Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes 48.340s 0.192s
3 Joel Eriksson Motopark Dallara/Volkswagen 48.361s 0.213s
4 Guanyu Zhou Motopark Dallara/Volkswagen 48.368s 0.220s
5 Nick Cassidy Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes 48.375s 0.227s
6 George Russell Hitech GP Dallara/Mercedes 48.380s 0.232s
7 Niko Kari Motopark Dallara/Volkswagen 48.383s 0.235s
8 Sergio Sette Camara Motopark Dallara/Volkswagen 48.453s 0.305s
9 Maximilian Guenther Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes 48.476s 0.328s
10 David Beckmann kfzteile Mucke Motorsport Dallara/Mercedes 48.512s 0.364s
11 William Buller Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen 48.568s 0.420s
12 Mikkel Jensen kfzteile Mucke Motorsport Dallara/Mercedes 48.571s 0.423s
13 Anthoine Hubert Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes 48.642s 0.494s
14 Ryan Tveter Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen 48.661s 0.513s
15 Ralf Aron Prema Powerteam Dallara/Mercedes 48.724s 0.576s
16 Ben Barnicoat Hitech GP Dallara/Mercedes 48.756s 0.608s
17 Pedro Piquet Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes 48.790s 0.642s
18 Harrison Newey Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara/Mercedes 48.802s 0.654s
19 Alessio Lorandi Carlin Dallara/Volkswagen 48.894s 0.746s
20 Nikita Mazepin Hitech GP Dallara/Mercedes 48.921s 0.773s


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