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Van Dam grabs last-gasp Macau pole

Japanese Formula 3 champion Carlo van Dam claimed a last-gasp pole position for the Macau Grand Prix on Friday after a thrilling qualifying session

The Dutchman grabbed the top spot from Briton Sam Bird in the final seconds of an incident-packed session where the result was in doubt until the end.

The shoot out for pole position came down to the final lap, after a late red flag period caused when Kei Cozzolino crashed heavily at Fishermen's Bend.

Bird had moved to the top of the timesheets just seconds before that incident, and there were less than four minutes left on the clock when qualifying resumed.

Stefano Coletti spun and blocked the track at Police, so only the cars ahead of him on the road got to complete their last-gasp efforts. Van Dam got his timing perfect to edge out Bird by 0.142 seconds and his TOM'S teammate Keisuke Kunimoto moved up to third.

Edoardo Mortara, who had been on provisional pole position from yesterday's session, ended up fourth, ahead of Roberto Streit and Roberto Merhi.

The session had been red flagged for the first time with 12 minutes to go when Jules Blianchi ran wide at Curva R. The Frenchman swiped the end of the tyre barrier, ripping off his left wheel rear - which flew into the middle of the track before coming to rest in a dangerous position.

Sam Bird lost out on his second place at the conclusion of the session when he had to take a three-place grid penalty for missing a call to weigh bridge during practice this morning. That promotes Kunimoto to second, alongside his TOM'S teammate van Dam, Mortara to third, Streit to fourth, and Bird will start tomorrow's qualification race fifth.

Pos Driver                 Team          Car     Time         Gap
 1. Carlo van Dam          TOM'S         D/T     2:11.846
 2. Sam Bird               Manor         D/M     2:11.988  +0.142
 3. Keisuke Kunimoto       TOM'S         D/T     2:12.039  +0.193
 4. Edoardo Mortara        Signature     D/V     2:12.044  +0.198
 5. Roberto Streit         Double R      D/M     2:12.061  +0.215
 6. Roberto Merhi          Hitech        D/M     2:12.369  +0.523
 7. Renger van der Zande   Prema         D/M     2:12.402  +0.556
 8. Oliver Turvey          Carlin        D/M     2:12.404  +0.558
 9. Jaime Alguersuari      Carlin        D/M     2:12.412  +0.566
10. James Jakes            ART           D/M     2:12.423  +0.577
11. Brendon Hartley        Carlin        D/M     2:12.573  +0.727
12. Stefano Coletti        Prema         D/M     2:12.835  +0.989
13. Max Chilton            Hitech        D/M     2:12.869  +1.023
14. Mika Maki              Signature     D/V     2:12.942  +1.096
15. Marcus Ericsson        Carlin        D/M     2:12.988  +1.142
16. Kazuya Oshima          Manor         D/M     2:13.110  +1.264
17. Jules Bianchi          ART           D/M     2:13.124  +1.278
18. Kei Cozzolino          Now           D/T     2:13.504  +1.658
19. Walter Grubmuller      Hitech        D/M     2:13.710  +1.864
20. Franky Cheng           Signature     D/V     2:13.777  +1.931
21. Daniel Campos-Hull     HBR           D/M     2:14.325  +2.479
22. James Winslow          Ombra         D/H     2:14.399  +2.553
23. Jon Lancaster          Manor         D/M     2:14.620  +2.774
24. Basil Shaaban          HBR           D/M     2:15.412  +3.566
25. Koki Saga              Le Beausset   D/T     2:15.969  +4.123
26. Atte Mustonen          Double R      D/M     2:16.029  +4.183
27. Michael Ho             Double R      D/M     2:18.606  +6.760
28. Massaki Matsushita     PTRS/Ombra    D/H     2:18.667  +6.821
29. Laurens Vanthoor       RC            D/V     no time

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