Sims takes first F3 pole at Norisring

The British driver edged championship leader Jules Bianchi at the end of the session, as times tumbled on a drying track.

The order changed every time a car crossed the line as conditions improved dramatically in the final few minutes, and Sims, who had featured towards the top throughout the session, finished his lap shortly after Bianchi to beat the French driver to pole.

The second row is an all ART affair, with rookies Adrien Tambay and Esteban Gutierrez having their strongest performances to date, ahead of championship contender Stefano Coletti in fifth.

The late flurry of activity left several of the season's frontrunners further down the order than they would have hoped. Mika Maki missed out on the top 10 for Signature, while Roberto Merhi will join him on the sixth row.

Mucke team-mates Christian Vietoris and Sam Bird are 14th and 16th respectively, while F3 Masters winner Valtteri Bottas spent the middle part of the session in the pits, and could only get himself up to 19th.

Pos  Driver               Team            Car  Time     Gap
 1.  Alexander Sims       Mucke           D/M  55.367s
 2.  Jules Bianchi        ART             D/M  55.620s  + 0.253s
 3.  Adrien Tambay        ART             D/M  55.644s  + 0.277s
 4.  Esteban Gutierrez    ART             D/M  55.712s  + 0.345s
 5.  Stefano Coletti      Prema           D/M  55.797s  + 0.430s
 6.  Matteo Chinosi       Prema           D/M  55.848s  + 0.481s
 7.  Henkie Waldschmidt   SG              D/M  55.852s  + 0.485s
 8.  Atte Mustonen        Motopark        D/M  55.888s  + 0.521s
 9.  Jean Karl Vernay     Signature       D/V  55.931s  + 0.564s
10.  Marco Wittmann       Mucke           D/M  55.974s  + 0.607s
11.  Mika Maki            Signature       D/V  56.023s  + 0.656s
12.  Roberto Merhi        Manor           D/M  56.025s  + 0.658s
13.  Nick Tandy           Kolles & Heinz  D/V  56.076s  + 0.709s
14.  Christian Vietoris   Mucke           D/M  56.143s  + 0.776s
15.  Brendon Hartley      Carlin          D/V  56.160s  + 0.793s
16.  Sam Bird             Mucke           D/M  56.213s  + 0.846s
17.  Andrea Caldarelli    SG              D/M  56.239s  + 0.872s
18.  Christopher Zanella  Motopark        D/M  56.252s  + 0.885s
19.  Valtteri Bottas      ART             D/M  56.268s  + 0.901s
20.  Basil Shaaban        Prema           D/M  56.344s  + 0.977s
21.  Kevin Mirocha        HBR             D/M  56.784s  + 1.417s
22.  Tiago Geronimi       Signature       D/V  56.826s  + 1.459s
23.  Pedro Enrique        Manor           D/M  56.934s  + 1.567s
24.  Johan Jokinen        Kolles & Heinz  D/V  56.974s  + 1.607s
25.  Jake Rosenzweig      Carlin          D/V  57.041s  + 1.674s
26.  Cesar Ramos          Manor           D/M  57.318s  + 1.951s
27.  Johnny Cecotto Jr    HBR             D/M  58.984s  + 3.617s