Carlin's Antonio Felix da Costa on pole for GP3 opener at Barcelona
Antonio Felix da Costa gave Carlin the first pole of the 2012 GP3 season at Barcelona
The Portuguese driver edged out Lotus duo Conor Daly and Aaro Vainio in a top three covered by just 0.090 seconds.
Mitch Evans held pole for MW Arden early on, but was edged back to fourth on the grid, 0.193s off the pace.
Status driver Marlon Stockinger completed the top five, while Manor's Tio Ellinas secured sixth and top rookie honours despite missing free practice - although he is under investigation over a potential yellow flag infringement.
Daniel Abt (Lotus), Patric Niederhauser (Jenzer), practice pacesetter Matias Laine (MW Arden) and Dmitry Suranovich (Manor) completed the top 10.
Auto GP champion Kevin Ceccon will start on the back row after failing to set a time in his Ocean car.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1m38.642s 2. Conor Daly Lotus 1m38.720s + 0.078s 3. Aaro Vainio Lotus 1m38.732s + 0.090s 4. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m38.835s + 0.193s 5. Marlon Stockinger Status 1m38.867s + 0.225s 6. Tio Ellinas Manor 1m38.894s + 0.252s 7. Daniel Abt Lotus 1m38.945s + 0.303s 8. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer 1m38.988s + 0.346s 9. Matias Laine MW Arden 1m39.151s + 0.509s 10. Dmitry Suranovich Manor 1m39.164s + 0.522s 11. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1m39.175s + 0.533s 12. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS 1m39.201s + 0.559s 13. Alex Brundle Carlin 1m39.228s + 0.586s 14. William Buller Carlin 1m39.512s + 0.870s 15. Robert Visoiu Jenzer 1m39.553s + 0.911s 16. Kotaro Sakurai Status 1m39.701s + 1.059s 17. Antonio Spavone Trident 1m39.932s + 1.290s 18. Alice Powell Status 1m40.002s + 1.360s 19. Fabiano Machado Manor 1m40.278s + 1.636s 20. John Wartique Atech CRS 1m40.578s + 1.936s 21. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS 1m40.640s + 1.998s 22. Jakub Klasterka Jenzer 1m41.053s + 2.411s 23. Robert Cregan Ocean 1m41.112s + 2.470s 24. Carmen Jorda Ocean 1m42.066s + 3.424s 25. Vicky Piria Trident 1m43.509s + 4.867s 26. Kevin Ceccon Ocean
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