F3: Doohan takes first pole in wet, red-flagged Belgian qualifying session

Red Bull junior Jack Doohan piled the pressure onto Championship leader Dennis Hauger in Formula 3 qualifying in Belgium, taking pole for the first time ahead of Alpine academy driver Victor Martins and Alex Smolyar in wet conditions.

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Despite being 63 points off Hauger in second, Doohan had said ahead of the session that he believed his fellow Red Bull junior was catchable and the Australian now has an excellent opportunity to make up significant ground – with the PREMA driver qualifying outside of the top 12 for the first time this season.

Hauger is down in 14th, with his team mates Arthur Leclerc and Olli Caldwell 13th and 18th as PREMA failed to qualify in the top 10 for the first time in F3.

With rain soaking the Spa circuit, Doohan set the benchmark time in the opening five minutes, lapping at 2m21.953s during the first set of flyers. Martins and Smolyar were able to move up to second and third as the track started to dry late on, but remained two-tenths off Doohan.

The second MP Motorsport of Caio Collet beat Logan Sargeant to fourth before his team mate, Tijmen Van der Helm, brought qualifying to an early end with a red-flag worthy trip into the wall in Sector 3.

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Finishing 12th overall, Lorenzo Colombo will start ahead of Red Bull prodigy Jak Crawford in Saturday’s reverse grid Race 1, which takes place at 1005 local time.

Qualifying set the grid for Sunday morning's Race 3 that takes place at 1040 local time, while the grid for Race 2 at 1755 on Saturday will be set by reversing the top 12 finishers of Race 1.

For the full report, results and more news, visit the official F3 website.