QUALIFYING: Browning takes maiden F3 Pole Position in Spielberg

Luke Browning earned his first Pole Position in FIA Formula 3, opting to run without a tow on the final runs to take the top spot around the Red Bull Ring.

The Hitech Pulse-Eight driver was at the head of the train going into the final few laps, and was able to record a 1:20.222 without a slipstream to lead PREMA Racing’s Arvid Lindblad and MP Motorsport driver Tim Tramnitz in the top three.

In the opening exchanges, Noel León set the pace before being deposed by Nikola Tsolov, then Oliver Goethe and finally Gabriele Minì, with the PREMA driver’s 1:21.013 the time to beat.

The Van Amersfoort Racing driver repositioned himself in P1 with his next effort, just over a tenth quicker than Minì, before the Alpine Academy driver responded with a 1:20.869 to go quickest once more by just 0.005s. León responded again after a cool down lap, logging a 1:20.804 to retake the top spot by just over half a tenth.

At the halfway point, he led Minì ahead of Trident’s Sami Meguetounif in third as well as Tsolov and Alex Dunne of MP Motorsport in P5.

A return to the pits and switch to a fresh set of Soft compound tyres and the field was back out onto circuit for the final eight minutes of the session.

After trying unsuccessfully to not lead the field across the line to gain a tow, Browning led the line for the final flying laps without a slipstream and set a 1:20.222 for Provisional Pole.

Lindblad got closest to him, moving into second just 0.084s off that effort, while Tramnitz was another late improver for MP to wind up third-quickest at the chequered flag.

Minì dropped to fourth in the end just in front of teammate Dino Beganovic in fifth position. Oliver Goethe was sixth for Campos Racing ahead of ART Grand Prix’s Laurens van Hoepen, Sebastián Montoya, Dunne, Tsolov and Christian Mansell.

Browning’s Hitech teammate Stenshorne rounded out the top 12 positions, with the Norwegian set to start from reverse grid pole in the Sprint Race. Having ended the session in eighth, Championship leader Fornaroli lost his laptime for exceeding track limits, with the Trident driver set to start both races from P24 on the grid.

The Sprint Race from Spielberg is set to get underway at 09:30 local time around the Red Bull Ring.