Norris leads Hughes in Nurburgring qualifying

Championship leader Lando Norris claimed his eighth European Formula 3 pole position in qualifying at the Nurburgring.

Norris was nearly a second faster than HitechGP’s Jake Hughes and Prema Powerteam’s Callum Ilott on the drying German track.

Series newcomer Sacha Fenestraz impressed will start on the second row of the grid in his first European F3 race, taking fourth fastest. The Frenchman was only 1.2s slower than Norris and two tenths of a second slower than Ilott.

Other debutants, Max Defourny and Petru Florescu, ended the day 11^th and 17^th overall.

Norris’ title rival Maximilian Gunther could only manage fifth fastest, ahead of early pace setter Ralf Aron and Carlin’s Jehan Daruvala.

Joel Eriksson, third in the championship standings, will start 12^th for the opening race of the weekend.

Joey Mawson, Nikita Mazepin, and Tadasuke Makino rounded out the top 10.