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Pole positions for Lance Stroll and Maximilian Günther

09.09.16
F3 - 2016 Race of Nurburgring - Qualifying 2
FIA, Motorsport, Mobility, Road Safety, F1, WRC, WEC, WTCC, World RX

Second qualifying of the FIA Formula 3 European Championship at the 3.629 kilometres long Nürburgring sprint circuit led to success for the Prema Powerteam. Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam), the Canadian FIA Formula 3 European Championship points’ leader ended up first from Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam), George Russell (HitechGP), and the fastest rookie Joel Eriksson (Motopark). In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, used to determine the starting grid position for the third race of a meeting, Stroll’s team-mate Günther claimed first place from Stroll, Eriksson and Nick Cassidy (Prema Powerteam). 

Starting grid race two

For a long time, Lance Stroll (1m21.006s) ranked on top in qualifying until his team-mate Nick Cassidy (1m21.256s) demoted him to second place. However, Stroll countered and immediately claimed back the top position. Later on, no other driver was able to topple the 17-year-old Williams Formula 1 junior driver from first place. Cassidy, in turn, ended up behind Maximilian Günther (1m21.111s), George Russell (1m21.124s) and Joel Eriksson (1m21.209s); the New Zealander was classified in fifth place.

Niko Kari (Motopark, 1m21.270s) ended up sixth in qualifying from Ralf Aron (Prema Powerteam, 1m21.323s), Callum Ilott (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m21.399s), Anthoine Hubert (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m21.481s) and Guanyu Zhou (Motopark, 1m21.556s).

Starting grid race three

In the ranking of the second-fastest laps, Günther (1m21.154s) managed to beat Stroll (1m21.212s) who had to make do with second place. Eriksson (1m21.249s) was classified third from Cassidy (1m21.292s), Kari (1m21.308s), Ilott (1m21.407s), Russell (1m21.498s), Aron (1m21.561s), Harrison Newey (Van Amersfoort Racing, 1m21.668s) and Ben Barnicoat (HitechGP, 1m21.718s).

Lance Stroll (Prema Powerteam): “At some places, my fastest lap was a bit scruffy, but my car was really good. Moreover, I was blocked a few times, but I still managed to get pole for the second race and second place for the third one. I am happy with my qualifying result, but, as we all know, points are only awarded after the race. I am now focussing on the races, because even though overtaking is difficult at the Nürburgring, a lot of things can still happen.”

Maximilian Günther (Prema Powerteam): “All in all, qualifying was good. Compared to first qualifying, we have made a few changes to the car that turned out to be positive. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a clean lap in the end, so that I was unable to mount a challenge for Lance’s first place. However, I am still happy with second and first place, they are good grid positions for the second and third race of this Nürburgring weekend.”