Spa European F3: Menezes takes shock pole, Ocon tops other grid
Gustavo Menezes claimed a shock pole position for the second race of the Formula 3 European Championship weekend at Spa
The Californian of Brazilian parentage headed Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Volkswagen team-mate Max Verstappen on a wet track that caused times to tumble as the session progressed.
Menezes was one of the last drivers across the line after a mid-session pitstop, leaping to the top of the times by 1.1 seconds from Verstappen.
Championship leader Esteban Ocon was one of many to head the order, but caught traffic with a couple of laps remaining and dropped to third in his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes, just ahead of the Fortec Motorsport car of John Bryant-Meisner.
But on second-best laps, which decide the grid for race three, Ocon has claimed his second pole of the weekend, with Bryant-Meisner joining him on the front row in by far his best European F3 qualifying performance.
Meanwhile, the Van Amersfoort pair of Menezes and Verstappen will start sixth and fifth respectively for race three.
Felix Serralles took fifth and third spots in his Team West-Tec entry, while Alexander Toril continued his good weekend to take sixth for race two in his NBE-engined T-Sport Dallara, but is only 23rd for the finale.
Felipe Guimaraes tried slick tyres after an early session stoppage, caused by Mitch Gilbert crashing at Eau Rouge, but came straight back into the pits for grooved Hankooks. Double R Racing's Brazilian ended up seventh and fourth positions.
Mucke Motorsport pair Lucas Auer and Felix Rosenqvist are eighth and ninth for race two, but only 11th and 10th for race three.
Michele Beretta went much better than usual to take two top-10 places in his EuroInternational car, while Tatiana Calderon and Nicholas Latifi both made the leading 10 for race three.
Apart from Gilbert and Dennis van de Laar, who crashed heavily in free practice, the back of the grid will also unusually feature Tom Blomqvist, who was in the pits for the last couple of laps, Jake Dennis and Antonio Fuoco. The Italian never got out of the pitlane after the red flag.
Race two qualifying: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m25.458s 2. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m26.616s +1.158s 3. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Merc 2m27.380s +1.922s 4. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m27.647s +2.189s 5. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara-Merc 2m27.767s +2.309s 6. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 2m28.456s +2.998s 7. Felipe Guimaraes Double R Dallara-Merc 2m28.901s +3.443s 8. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m29.082s +3.624s 9. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m29.215s +3.757s 10. Michele Beretta Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 2m29.447s +3.989s 11. Tatiana Calderon Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m29.466s +4.008s 12. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m29.754s +4.296s 13. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Merc 2m29.932s +4.474s 14. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara-Merc 2m30.342s +4.884s 15. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 2m30.517s +5.059s 16. Santino Ferrucci Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 2m30.709s +5.251s 17. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 2m31.030s +5.572s 18. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m31.206s +5.748s 19. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW 2m31.494s +6.036s 20. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 2m31.751s +6.293s 21. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m32.005s +6.547s 22. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW 2m32.333s +6.875s 23. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW 2m32.699s +7.241s 24. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Merc 25. Mitchell Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Merc Race three qualifying: Pos Driver Team/Car Time Gap 1. Esteban Ocon Prema Dallara-Merc 2m27.897s 2. John Bryant-Meisner Fortec Dallara-Merc 2m28.320s +0.423s 3. Felix Serralles West-Tec Dallara-Merc 2m28.404s +0.507s 4. Felipe Guimaraes Double R Dallara-Merc 2m29.038s +1.141s 5. Max Verstappen Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m29.562s +1.665s 6. Gustavo Menezes Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m29.710s +1.813s 7. Tatiana Calderón Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m30.495s +2.598s 8. Michele Beretta Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 2m30.827s +2.930s 9. Nicholas Latifi Prema Dallara-Merc 2m30.978s +3.081s 10. Felix Rosenqvist Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m31.026s +3.129s 11. Lucas Auer Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m31.033s +3.136s 12. Jules Szymkowiak Van Amersfoort Dallara-VW 2m31.047s +3.150s 13. Hector Hurst West-Tec Dallara-Merc 2m31.236s +3.339s 14. Spike Goddard T-Sport Dallara-NBE 2m31.655s +3.758s 15. Jordan King Carlin Dallara-VW 2m31.986s +4.089s 16. Roy Nissany Mucke Dallara-Merc 2m32.586s +4.689s 17. Jake Dennis Carlin Dallara-VW 2m32.785s +4.888s 18. Tom Blomqvist Carlin Dallara-VW 2m32.861s +4.964s 19. Antonio Giovinazzi Carlin Dallara-VW 2m33.396s +5.499s 20. Sandro Zeller Jo Zeller Dallara-Merc 2m33.540s +5.643s 21. Santino Ferrucci Eurointernational Dallara-Merc 2m33.579s +5.682s 22. Sean Gelael Carlin Dallara-VW 2m34.856s +6.959s 23. Alexander Toril T-Sport Dallara-NBE 2m34.981s +7.084s 24. Antonio Fuoco Prema Dallara-Merc 25. Mitchell Gilbert Fortec Dallara-Merc
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