Hungaroring F3.5: Dillmann dominates Saturday qualifying
AVF driver Tom Dillmann reigned supreme in the first qualifying session of the Formula V8 3.5 round at the Hungaroring.
Tom Dillmann, AVF
Formula V8 3.5
The Hungary pole is Dillmann's third in the series - and the Frenchman did not manage to convert the previous two into a maiden race win.
Throughout the first set of flying laps, it was SMP'S Matthieu Vaxiviere who towered over the field, the Frenchman setting a time of 1m28.099s to head the rest by more than half a second at the halfway point.
However, as the drivers returned to the track for a second run in the closing minutes of the session, Vaxiviere was surpassed by Dillmann, who, with his next lap, then put in a brutal time of 1m26.729s.
The AVF driver would not improve on his two remaining laps, but it proved scant consolation for his rivals, with Aurelien Panis ending up best of the rest more than six tenths adrift.
A last-gasp improvement from Louis Deletraz put the Renault junior third, sharing the second row with Friday pacesetter Johhny Cecotto, while Vaxiviere had to settle for fifth place.
It was sixth for Force India test driver Alfonso Celis, seventh for SMP's Matevos Isaakyan and eighth for Roy Nissany, the final driver within a second of Dillmann.
Arden's Egor Orudzhev, who claimed a surprise rookie win at the track last year, was only 13th.
Qualifying results
Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
1 | Tom Dillmann | AVF | 1:26.729 | |
2 | Aurelien Panis | Arden Motorsport | 1:27.371 | 0.642 |
3 | Louis Deletraz | Fortec Motorsports | 1:27.397 | 0.668 |
4 | Johnny Cecotto | RP Motorsport | 1:27.505 | 0.776 |
5 | Matthieu Vaxiviere | SMP Racing | 1:27.523 | 0.794 |
6 | Alfonso Celis | AVF | 1:27.567 | 0.838 |
7 | Matevos Isaakyan | SMP Racing | 1:27.695 | 0.966 |
8 | Roy Nissany | Lotus | 1:27.725 | 0.996 |
9 | Yu Kanamaru | Teo Martin Motorsport | 1:27.824 | 1.095 |
10 | Beitske Visser | Teo Martin Motorsport | 1:27.926 | 1.197 |
11 | Rene Binder | Lotus | 1:28.129 | 1.400 |
12 | Pietro Fittipaldi | Fortec Motorsports | 1:28.142 | 1.413 |
13 | Egor Orudzhev | Arden Motorsport | 1:28.144 | 1.415 |
14 | Vitor Baptista | RP Motorsport | 1:29.143 | 2.414 |
15 | Giuseppe Cipriani | Durango Racing Team | 1:34.019 | 7.290 |
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