Bianchi secures pole at Barcelona
Formula 3 Euro Series championship leader Jules Bianchi took his fourth pole position of the season in qualifying for the opening race of the weekend at Barcelona
The ART Grand Prix driver, who had his substantial championship lead cut from 25 points to 16 after failing to score at Brands Hatch last time out, grabbed the top spot for the first time with two minutes to go, and was never headed from there.
Bianchi even parked his car in the pits before the end of the session as the other main runners stayed out until the chequered flag, but his margin of 0.065 seconds over Andrea Caldarelli remained in tact.
Caldarelli was on course for a shock pole before the championship leader raised his game, as SG Formula enjoyed its best qualifying session of the season by far. Henkie Waldschmidt will line up fourth for the team, with long-time provisional pole-sitter Alexander Sims (Mucke) splitting the SG cars in third.
Bianchi's closest championship rival Christian Vietoris could only manage fifth on the grid for Mucke after spending much of the session in second, and he will be joined on the third row by Mexican rookie Esteban Gutierrez (ART).
Valtteri Bottas, who is hoping to overhaul Vietoris to give ART a one-two in the championship lines up seventh, while Mucke's Marco Wittmann and Sam Bird, and Signature's Tiago Geronimi complete the top 10.
Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1m07.007s 2. Andrea Caldarelli SG D/M 1m07.072s + 0.065s 3. Alexander Sims Mucke D/M 1m07.097s + 0.090s 4. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1m07.117s + 0.110s 5. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1m07.149s + 0.142s 6. Esteban Gutierrez ART D/M 1m07.216s + 0.209s 7. Valtteri Bottas ART D/M 1m07.237s + 0.230s 8. Marco Wittmann Mucke D/M 1m07.283s + 0.276s 9. Sam Bird Mucke D/M 1m07.286s + 0.279s 10. Tiago Geronimi Signature D/V 1m07.292s + 0.285s 11. Mika Maki Signature D/V 1m07.293s + 0.286s 12. Jean Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1m07.339s + 0.332s 13. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1m07.372s + 0.365s 14. Adrien Tambay ART D/M 1m07.489s + 0.482s 15. Renger van der Zande Motopark D/M 1m07.532s + 0.525s 16. Nick Tandy Kolles & Heinz D/V 1m07.601s + 0.594s 17. Jake Rosenzweig Carlin D/V 1m07.757s + 0.750s 18. Basil Shaaban Prema D/M 1m07.762s + 0.755s 19. Roberto Merhi Manor D/M 1m07.851s + 0.844s 20. Cesar Ramos Manor D/M 1m07.867s + 0.860s 21. Tim Sandtler Prema D/M 1m07.886s + 0.879s 22. Carlo Van Dam SG D/V 1m07.942s + 0.935s 23. Christopher Zanella Motopark D/M 1m07.970s + 0.963s 24. Pedro Enrique Manor D/M 1m08.039s + 1.032s 25. Johan Jokinen Kolles & Heinz D/V 1m09.485s + 2.478s
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