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
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