Championship leader Maximilian Gunther topped European Formula 3 practice at Circuit Park Zandvoort, setting a new track record in the process.
Carlin’s Lando Norris had been the pace setter for much of the two sessions and was the first to better Nick Cassidy’s 1m28.533s record, set in 2016.
Norris dropped his own benchmark on several occasions and had a clear pace advantage in the first session which he topped from Gunther. He looked to have ended the second session on top too before a late lap by Gunther toppled him and put the German two tenths clear.
Behind the two title challengers in the combined timesheets were HitechGP’s Nikita Mazepin and increasingly distant title challenger Callum Ilott fourth.
Norris’s Carlin team-mate Ferdinand Habsburg was fifth, ahead of Ralf Aron , title contender Joel Eriksson, Jehan Daruvala, Guan Yu Zhou and Motopark’s David Beckmann.
Carlin’s Ameya Vaidyanathan, who has been racing in Euroformula Open for the team, was 18th fastest, only ahead of the returning Tadasuke Makino, who has been absent since breaking his wrist at the Norisring round.
