Bianchi takes Le Mans pole
Jules Bianchi has taken pole position on home soil for the first F3 Euro Series race of the weekend at Le Mans
The French driver grabbed the top spot in the final minute of the session, robbing Stefano Coletti of what would have been a surprise pole position for the Prema Powerteam driver.
The Monegasque driver did improve his time marginally, but it was not enough to make any impression on Bianchi's stunning lap.
Championship leader Nico Hulkenberg will start Saturday's race from third on the grid, and his hopes of wrapping up the title sooner rather than later were boosted by Edoardo Mortara struggling down in 19th position.
Behind Hulkenberg, Sam Bird's impressive recent form appears to have carried into this weekend, as the British driver lines up fourth for Manor Motorsport.
After starting the session well, British F3 front-runner Brendon Hartley was bumped down the order, but his final lap of the session was good enough to vault him back up to the fifth position he held at the halfway stage.
However, the Carlin driver was one of several to have his best lap taken away after the session, as a flurry of times were set at the end while there were yellow flags out after James Jakes spun off.
That meant that Hartley dropped to 11th, promoting Koudai Tsukakoshi to fifth. Christian Vietoris had a spin at the end of his first run, but he recovered to take sixth on the grid.
Mika Maki, Dani Clos and Jean Karl Vernay complete the top 10, while Renger van der Zande was another to lose out due to the yellow flags, and he was moved back to 14th place having originally qualified ninth.
Pos Driver Team Car Time 1. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:31.328 2. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:31.809 + 0.481 3. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:31.915 + 0.587 4. Sam Bird Manor D/M 1:32.023 + 0.695 5. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:32.068 + 0.740 6. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:32.107 + 0.779 7. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:32.146 + 0.818 8. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:32.283 + 0.955 9. Daniel Clos Prema D/M 1:32.331 + 1.003 10. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:32.365 + 1.037 11. Brendon Hartley RC D/V 1:32.370 + 1.042 12. Robert Wickens Signature D/V 1:32.457 + 1.129 13. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:32.653 + 1.325 14. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:32.764 + 1.436 15. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:32.792 + 1.464 16. Daniel Campos HBR D/M 1:32.807 + 1.479 17. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:32.814 + 1.486 18. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:32.830 + 1.502 19. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:32.879 + 1.551 20. Jens Klingmann RC D/V 1:32.887 + 1.559 21. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:32.907 + 1.579 22. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:32.910 + 1.582 23. Cheng Cong Fu RC D/V 1:32.989 + 1.661 24. James Jakes ART D/M 1:33.130 + 1.802 25. Nelson Panciatici RC D/V 1:33.209 + 1.881 26. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:33.212 + 1.884 27. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:33.506 + 2.178 28. Stephane Richelmi Barazi-Epsilon D/M 1:34.919 + 3.591
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