F3: Voisin takes first FIA F3 pole in traffic-heavy session

Written by Sean McKean

Credit - Formula Motorsport Limited

In a jam-packed session, it was Rodin's Callum Voisin who took his maiden pole position at Spa-Francorchamps. It was Voisin's third pole at Spa, having taken two poles in the GB3 round here last year.

As it unfolded

With rain possibly in the area, the theme would be to complete as many laps as possible in the dry. Hitech GP wasted no time, sending all three cars onto flying laps only three minutes in.

But only two minutes later, the rest of the field began their laps, led by Noel León. After things shook out, the ARTs flexed their one-lap pace again with Laurens van Hoepen in first, Christian Mansell in second, and AIX’s Nikita Bedrin in third. Notably, Tuukka Taponen slotted into ninth.

Also a theme of this session would be lap deletions. Given the amount of corners you can swing wide at – specifically Pouhon – this meant that eight drivers were lap-less come the end of the first run.

For the second run, Hitech continued their isolation strategy, but it did not go to plan this time, as Luke Browning swung wide on a fast lap in Pouhon. Teammates Cian Shields and Martinius Stenshorne, though, slotted into 11th and 14th provisionally.

The rest of the field began with five minutes left, and León finally achieved a valid lap to take provisional pole. However, it wouldn't stand, as the top three would be made up of Callum Voisin, Alex Dunne, and Leonardo Fornaroli.

After a brief cooldown period, the final runs began with one minute left in the session, but most couldn’t get a lap given the massive traffic jam in Blanchimont.

Those who could, though, did not make a difference on the timing board. Subsequently, Voisin held on to take his first FIA F3 pole position. Alex Dunne followed in second with championship protagonist Leonardo Fornaroli in third. Sebastian Montoya slotted into fourth ahead of Noel León.

Provisional Classification:

1. Callum Voisin (Rodin Motorsport)

2. Alex Dunne (MP Motorsport)

3. Leonardo Fornaroli (Trident)

4. Sebastian Montoya (Campos Racing)

5. Noel León (Van Amersfoort Racing)

6. Max Esterson (Jenzer Motorsport)

7. Luke Browning (Hitech GP)

8. Sami Meguetounif (Trident)

9. Tim Tramnitz (MP Motorsport)

10. Santiago Ramos (Trident)

11. Gabriele Minì (Prema Racing)

12. Dino Beganovic (Prema Racing)