Sims fastest in first qualifying
Alexander Sims led an ART one-two in the first of the two qualifying sessions for the Formula 3 Masters at Zandvoort
In an extraordinarily close session, Sims came out on top by just 0.004 seconds over his team-mate - and 2009 Masters winner - Valtteri Bottas.
F3 Euro Series championship leader Edoardo Mortara had to settle for third for Signature, alongside team-mate Marco Wittmann, but was also less than a tenth down on Sims.
Roberto Merhi took fifth for Mucke, with Carlin's Jean-Eric Vergne improving on his practice form to uphold British championship honour in sixth.
GP3 frontrunner and top local driver Nigel Melker (Mucke) did manage to make it out for qualifying following his practice crash, but could not replicate his earlier top six form on his F3 debut and ended up 11th.
Prema's Daniel Juncadella brought up the rear having crashed just six minutes into the session.
Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Alexander Sims ART D/M 1m31.724s 2. Valtteri Bottas ART D/M 1m31.728s + 0.004s 3. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1m31.812s + 0.088s 4. Marco Wittmann Signature D/V 1m31.841s + 0.117s 5. Roberto Merhi Mucke D/M 1m31.991s + 0.267s 6. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin D/V 1m31.992s + 0.268s 7. Laurens Vanthoor Signature D/V 1m32.077s + 0.353s 8. Carlos Munoz Mucke D/M 1m32.127s + 0.403s 9. Antonio Felix da Costa Motopark D/V 1m32.150s + 0.426s 10. Jim Pla ART D/M 1m32.544s + 0.820s 11. Nigel Melker Mucke D/M 1m32.667s + 0.943s 12. Jazeman Jaafar Carlin D/V 1m32.724s + 1.000s 13. William Buller Hitech D/V 1m32.747s + 1.023s 14. Gabriel Dias Hitech D/V 1m32.803s + 1.079s 15. Stef Dusseldorp Signature D/V 1m32.868s + 1.144s 16. Rupert Svendsen-Cook Carlin D/V 1m33.008s + 1.284s 17. Nicolas Marroc Prema D/M 1m33.008s + 1.284s 18. Lucas Foresti Carlin D/V 1m33.046s + 1.322s 19. Matias Laine Motopark D/V 1m33.170s + 1.446s 20. Hywel Lloyd CF/Manor D/M 1m33.194s + 1.470s 21. Wayne Boyd Sino Vision D/M 1m33.753s + 2.029s 22. Adderly Fong Sino Vision D/M 1m33.834s + 2.110s 23. Rio Haryanto CF/Manor D/M 1m35.889s + 4.165s 24. Daniel Juncadella Prema D/M 1m36.221s + 4.497s
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