Practice-
Mari Boya got his weekend off to the best possible start by topping a rescheduled Free Practice session at 2:06.111.
The Campos Racing driver was immediately out front on his first attempt as everyone looked to make the most of the shortened 30 minute session.
Boya set the early pace on a 2:06.111, 0.4s ahead of teammate Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak in an early 1-2 for the Spanish team.
Ugo Ugochukwu disrupted that on his second attempt, moving up to second, 0.3s down on the best effort, but there were plenty more improving behind him.
Martinius Stenshorne went second soon after and to within 0.121s of Boya’s earlier effort, while MP Motorsport’s Bruno del Pino moved himself up to third just over a tenth adrift of the Spaniard.
After a brief spell in the pit lane, the track got busy once again inside the final 10 minutes.
There were several personal bests logged but nobody could dislodge Boya from the P1 spot.
Stenshorne and del Pino finished second and third ahead of Ugochukwu, with Inthraphuvasak completing the top five.
Qualifying-
AIX Racing’s Brad Benavides earned his and the team’s maiden FIA Formula 3 Aramco Pole Position Award late on in a thrilling Qualifying session.
The American found time on his final attempt to record a 2:04.253 and beat Championship leader and TRIDENT driver Rafael Camara to the to spot, with Rodin Motorsport’s Callum Voisin in third.
With the first runs in the books, Camara hit the front with a 2:05.557 to set the pace ahead of Ugo Ugochukwu by 0.234s.
Practice pace-setter Mari Boya had been in the top five but lost his opening effort to exceeding track limits after running over the white line at Pouhon.
Drivers remained on circuit for another attempt on their first set of tyres and there were improvements in the top 10. Tasanapol Inthraphuvasak closed the gap to Camara in second, with Alessandro Giusti third on his next attempt for MP Motorsport.
Everyone returned to the pit lane with half the session remaining for a fresh set of the Pirelli Medium tyres.
One of the drivers to go early on the second run was Theophile Nael, who went fastest on a 2:05.508. Van Amersfoort Racing Teammate Santiago Ramos improved to third, 0.172s down on the Frenchman’s laptime.
With the rest of the grid back out for their next set of laps, Boya led the train and put in a personal best, but track evolution was huge, leading to a massive improvement in times.
Benavides delivered a 2:04.253 for the provisional top spot with three minutes to go. Camara also made an improvement but could not better the time of the American driver, settling 0.106s behind in second.
A squabble for track position ended when Ugochukwu moved to the head of the queue for the final attempts with less than 30 seconds to go and with almost the entire grid looking to start their final lap as late as possible.
However, nobody could find an improvement, leaving Benavides with pole for the Feature Race on Sunday, his and AIX’s first in the championship.
The top 10 are- Pole: Benavides, P2: Camara, P3: Voisin, P4: Bilinski, P5: Stenshorne, P6: Ugochukwu, P7: Tsolov, P8: Inthraphuvasak, P9: Wurz and P10: Del Pino.
Jordan's Track Talk 
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