Blomqvist shares Imola poles with Verstappen

Autosport

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 TIMES – Max Verstappen will receive 10-place penalty:

PosDriverTeamCarTimeGap
1Max VerstappenVan Amersfoort RacingDallara/Volkswagen1m36.816s
2Tom BlomqvistJagonya Ayam with CarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.125s0.309s
3Esteban OconPrema PowerteamDallara/Mercedes1m37.155s0.339s
4Antonio GiovinazziJagonya Ayam with CarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.196s0.380s
5Antonio FuocoPrema PowerteamDallara/Mercedes1m37.221s0.405s
6William BullerSignatureDallara/Volkswagen1m37.312s0.496s
7Nicholas LatifiPrema PowerteamDallara/Mercedes1m37.318s0.502s
8Jake DennisCarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.388s0.572s
9Roy NissanyKFZTeile24 Mucke MotorsportDallara/Mercedes1m37.625s0.809s
10Lucas AuerKFZTeile24 Mucke MotorsportDallara/Mercedes1m37.666s0.850s
11Nick CassidyThreeBond with T-SportDallara/NBE1m37.668s0.852s
12Felix SerrallesTeam West-Tec F3Dallara/Mercedes1m37.681s0.865s
13Jordan KingCarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.781s0.965s
14Edward JonesCarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.886s1.070s
15Sean GelaelJagonya Ayam with CarlinDallara/Volkswagen1m37.939s1.123s
16Felix RosenqvistKFZTeile24 Mucke MotorsportDallara/Mercedes1m37.971s1.155s
17Richard GoddardThreeBond with T-SportDallara/NBE1m38.181s1.365s
18Dennis van de LaarPrema PowerteamDallara/Mercedes1m38.188s1.372s
19Gustavo MenezesVan Amersfoort RacingDallara/Volkswagen1m38.235s1.419s
20Tatiana CalderonJo Zeller RacingDallara/Mercedes1m38.293s1.477s
21Alexander TorilThreeBond with T-SportDallara/NBE1m38.300s1.484s
22Jules SzymkowiakVan Amersfoort RacingDallara/Volkswagen1m38.327s1.511s
23Michele BerettaEuroInternationalDallara/Mercedes1m38.430s1.614s
24Sergio Sette CamaraEuroInternationalDallara/Mercedes1m38.571s1.755s
25Santino FerrucciFortec MotorsportsDallara/Mercedes1m38.819s2.003s
26Martin CaoFortec MotorsportsDallara/Mercedes1m39.235s2.419s
27Andy ChangTeam West-Tec F3Dallara/Mercedes1m39.493s2.677s

Blomqvist shares Imola poles with Verstappen

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