Hitech’s Jak Crawford nailed the opening session of the Dutch Grand Prix, making the most out of the 45 minutes of free practice with a 1:25.535, just over a tenth of a second ahead of the ART’s duo.
The race that will be happening this weekend marks the last two rounds of the FIA Formula 3 championship before the new season begins in 2022.
With an intense battle amongst the championship leaders, split by only a few points behind Dennis Hauger, the current championship leader, any driver could be holding the title anytime soon.
Jack Crawford managed to set the fastest time overall, with a 1:25.535 to take first place, snatching the position away from ART’s Alexander Smolyar in just six minutes before the session ends.
The opening session of the sixth round saw two red flags as the track faced a few problems, including the volume of the gravel out on track and MP Motorsport’s Tjimen Van Der Helm who got involved in an incident.
The ART Grand Prix duo made it to second and third fastest, respectively. Smolyar and Frederik Vesti tried to pressure Crawford as they had their chance to beat the youngest driver on the grid, but Crawford was quick to respond, setting the standard by just a few tenths away from them.
Dennis Hauger was fourth fastest for PREMA Racing, battling against his initial rival Jack Doohan at the beginning of the session, as the Dane tried to improve his personal best, shaving 0.2s of Doohan’s time to reclaim a higher finish.
Both of the Trident drivers, Clement Novalak and Jack Doohan completed the fifth and sixth fastest, separately.
The Jenzer Motorsport rookie, Johnathan Hoggard, was seventh ahead of MP Motorsport’s Victor Martins in the eighth fastest as the two drivers were running inside the top 10 throughout the session.
Jonny Edgar claimed his position in ninth place for Carlin Buzz Racing with his teammate in tenth fastest.
The qualifying session will start at 13:50 local time.
Free Practice result:
| 1 | Jak Crawford | 1:25.535 |
| 2 | Alexander Smolyar | 1:25.658 |
| 3 | Frederik Vesti | 1:25.692 |
| 4 | Dennis Hauger | 1:25.700 |
| 5 | Clement Novalak | 1:25.837 |
| 6 | Jack Doohan | 1:25.863 |
| 7 | Johnathan Hoggard | 1:25.864 |
| 8 | Victor Martins | 1:25.944 |
| 9 | Jonny Edgar | 1:26.031 |
| 10 | Kaylen Frederick | 1:26.126 |
| 11 | Amaury Cordeel | 1:26.181 |
| 12 | Caio Collet | 1:26.354 |
| 13 | Arthur Leclerc | 1:26.447 |
| 14 | Ayumu Iwasa | 1:26.463 |
| 15 | Lorenzo Colombo | 1:26.470 |
| 16 | David Schumacher | 1:26.537 |
| 17 | Juan Manuel Correa | 1:26.612 |
| 18 | Roman Stanek | 1:26.709 |
| 19 | Oliver Rasmussen | 1:26.843 |
| 20 | Logan Sargeant | 1:26.918 |
| 21 | Olli Caldwell | 1:26.930 |
| 22 | Ido Cohen | 1:27.096 |
| 23 | Rafael Villagomez | 1:27.109 |
| 24 | Matteo Nannini | 1:27.262 |
| 25 | Hunter Yeany | 1:27.687 |
| 26 | Filip Ugran | 1:27.771 |
| 27 | Calan Williams | 1:27.854 |
| 28 | Laszlo Toth | 1:28.342 |
| 29 | Tjimen Van Der Helm | 1:28.802 |
| 30 | Zdenek Chovanec | 1:29.098 |
