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Lewis Williamson secures maiden GP3 pole position in Valencia

Lewis Williamson (MW Arden) scored his maiden GP3 pole position in qualifying for the first race of the weekend in Valencia

Last year's McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner moved to the top of the times in the final minute of the session, having been on the fringes of the fight for pole throughout the 30 minutes.

The Scot's time knocked Adrian Quaife-Hobbs off the top of the times, and the Manor driver was bumped back a further place when Addax's Dean Smith moved up to second as the chequered flag fell.

Quaife-Hobbs enjoyed a long spell at the head of the field. But the lap that gave him pole for a while was hindered by traffic in the final sector, so he could have set an even tougher target for his rivals to beat.

Behind the all-British top three, Mitch Evans took fourth in a session where he completed fewer laps than everybody else. The Kiwi set the pace during the first runs, but he then spent a long time in the pits.

The MW Arden driver emerged with two minutes to go, but he pitted again at the end of his out-lap to leave him fourth on the grid.

Aaro Vainio (Tech 1) and Alexander Sims (Status) made late improvements to get themselves onto the third row, while Istanbul pole-sitter Tom Dillmann (Addax) appeared to be mounting a challenge at the death, but his lap fell away in the final sector to leave him seventh.

Championship leader Nigel Melker had a tough session on his way to 12th. The RSC Mucke driver dropped as low as 18th with five minutes remaining, but he repaired some of the damage in the closing stages.

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap
 1.  Lewis Williamson        MW Arden   1m58.693s
 2.  Dean Smith              Addax      1m58.857s  + 0.164s
 3.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      1m58.881s  + 0.188s
 4.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m58.892s  + 0.199s
 5.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1     1m58.984s  + 0.291s
 6.  Alexander Sims          Status     1m58.986s  + 0.293s
 7.  Tom Dillmann            Addax      1m58.986s  + 0.293s
 8.  Gabby Chaves            Addax      1m59.023s  + 0.330s
 9.  Valtteri Bottas         ART        1m59.025s  + 0.332s
10.  James Calado            ART        1m59.105s  + 0.412s
11.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden   1m59.251s  + 0.558s
12.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke  1m59.284s  + 0.591s
13.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status     1m59.322s  + 0.629s
14.  Pedro Nunes             ART        1m59.360s  + 0.667s
15.  Matias Laine            Manor      1m59.375s  + 0.682s
16.  Rio Haryanto            Manor      1m59.456s  + 0.763s
17.  Nico Muller             Jenzer     1m59.496s  + 0.803s
18.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke  1m59.542s  + 0.849s
19.  Daniel Morad            Carlin     1m59.557s  + 0.864s
20.  Luciano Bacheta         RSC Mucke  1m59.627s  + 0.934s
21.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1     1m59.638s  + 0.945s
22.  Marlon Stockinger       Atech CRS  1m59.706s  + 1.013s
23.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m59.765s  + 1.072s
24.  Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin     1m59.791s  + 1.980s
25.  Conor Daly              Carlin     1m59.817s  + 1.124s
26.  Nick Yelloly            Atech CRS  1m59.895s  + 1.202s
27.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status     1m59.920s  + 1.227s
28.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Jenzer     2m00.011s  + 1.318s
29.  Thomas Hylkema          Tech 1     2m00.083s  + 1.390s
30.  Zoel Amberg             Atech CRS  2m00.434s  + 1.741s

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