Ricciardo takes pole for FR3.5 debut

The Tech 1 Racing man usurped series returnee Mikhail Aleshin at the top of the timesheets in the dying minutes of the half-hour qualifying session.

Reigning Italian F3 champion Daniel Zampieri clinched third spot on his debut for Pons Racing.

In conditions made treacherous by heavy overnight rain, Carlin's Aleshin initially appeared to have a comfortable advantage. The Russian's first qualifying lap was sufficient to put him P1, where he would remain for the first third of the session.

F3 Euro Series graduate Stefano Coletti stole the top spot with 18 minutes to go, only for Aleshin to fight back and reclaim provisional pole on his next flying lap. Comtec's Coletti would eventually settle for sixth, 0.011s adrift of Argentinean Esteban Guerrieri.

The fastest time would improve by five seconds over the duration of the session. Unlike the split qualifying format used in previous years, the revised 2010 regulations require the entire field to be on track in the same session.

Ricciardo secured his pole by displacing Aleshin by just 0.039 seconds. Fighting to regain pole, Aleshin locked up his brakes and ran off-track. With the Carlin machine stranded in a dangerous position, and only three minutes left on the clocks, the session was abandoned.

Aleshin was stripped of his fastest lap for bringing out the red flag, but his next best effort was sufficient for a place alongside Ricciardo on the front row of this afternoon's race.

After three seasons, the Formula Renault 3.5 Series has also dispensed with reversed grids this year. Tomorrow's second race will have another, independent, half-hour qualifying session in the morning.

Pos Driver                    Team               Time          Gap
 1. Daniel Ricciardo          Tech 1             2m01.886s
 2. Mikhail Aleshin           Carlin             2m02.528s  +0.642
 3. Daniel Zampieri           Pons               2m02.633s  +0.747
 4. Esteban Guerrieri         ISR                2m03.025s  +1.139
 5. Stefano Coletti           Comtec             2m03.036s  +1.150
 6. Jon Lancaster             Fortec             2m03.276s  +1.390
 7. Julian Leal               Draco              2m03.673s  +1.787
 8. Filip Salaquarda          ISR                2m03.776s  +1.890
 9. Federico Leo              Pons               2m03.839s  +1.953
10. Brendon Hartley           Tech 1             2m03.977s  +2.091
11. Jake Rosenzweig           Carlin             2m04.089s  +2.203
12. Walter Grubmuller         P1t                2m04.133s  +2.247
13. Nelson Panciatici         Junior             2m04.347s  +2.461
14. Greg Mansell              Comtec             2m04.403s  +2.517
15. Keisuke Kunimoto          Epsilon            2m04.461s  +2.575
16. Daniil Move               Junior Lotus       2m04.897s  +3.011
17. Sten Pentus               Fortec             2m05.498s  +3.612
18. Bruno Mendez              Interwetten        2m05.564s  +3.678
19. Jan Charouz               P1                 2m05.728s  +3.842
20. Nathanael Berthon         Draco              2m05.878s  +3.992
21. Albert Costa              Epsilon            2m06.158s  +4.272
22. Victor Garcia             KMP                2m06.529s  +4.643
23. Anton Nebylitskiy         KMP                2m07.277s  +5.391
24. Sergio Canamasas          Interwetten        2m08.444s  +6.558