Daniel Juncadella claims Masters pole position

Spaniard Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam, 1:31.783 minutes) claimed pole position for the prestigious ’RTL GP Masters of Formula 3’ and will thus start from the best grid position into tomorrow’s race, probably Europe’s most important Formula 3 race. He demoted fellow Formula 3 Euro Series drivers Carlos Sainz (Carlin, 1:32.312 minutes) and Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam, 1:32.433 minutes) to second and third place respectively. In total, eight Euro Series drivers made it into the top ten at the 4.307 kilometres long Circuit Park Zandvoort.

Both in first qualifying on a wet track as well as on dry asphalt in second qualifying, Daniel Juncadella was the fastest in the field of 20 drivers. He was followed by Carlos Sainz and Raffaele Marciello, who has never raced at Zandvoort before. Last year’s winner Felix Rosenqvist (Mücke Motorsport, 1:32.555 minutes), rookie driver Pascal Wehrlein (Mücke Motorsport, 1:32.629 minutes), William Buller (Carlin, 1:32.698 minutes), rookie Sven Müller (Prema Powerteam, 1:32.768 minutes) and Michael Lewis (Prema Powerteam, 1:32.779 minutes), all regulars from the ranks of the Formula 3 Euro Series, were classified fifth to ninth, once again underlining the high level of the Formula 3 Euro Series.

Daniel Juncadella (Prema Powerteam): “It was a really good qualifying and also the gap to Carlos in second place is really good. Tomorrow, I will mainly concentrate on getting the start right, because in normal conditions, qualifying and the start are more than half the job here at Zandvoort.”

Carlos Sainz (Carlin): “I am happy with my qualifying performance, although the gap to Dani is quite big indeed. In the race, anything can happen from second place on the grid as well: with a great start, I can win, but with a poor start, I can drop out of the top three pretty quickly, too.”

Raffaele Marciello (Prema Powerteam): “It wasn’t easy, because the handling of the Kumho tyres is much different than that of the Hankook tyres I am used to from the Euro Series. In any case, a podium finish is within reach for me from third place on the grid tomorrow.”