Calado clinches maiden F3 poles

The Racing Steps Foundation-backed Carlin driver leapt to the top of the times in the second half of the session with a 1m53.198s best, to take pole for tomorrow's 40-minute feature race.

The 2009 Formula Renault UK runner-up then set another time within a tenth of his best to secure the top spot for this afternoon's first race.

Fellow Brit Oli Webb (Fortec) jumped into second late-on with a 1m53.483s lap, then improved to 1m53.329s on his final flying lap to also annex a front row start for races one and three.

Hitech's William Buller found himself mired in the midfield during the first half of the session, but sprang into life later on to go third quickest, just under three tenths adrift of pole and just over a tenth clear of fellow rookie Felipe Nasr (Raikkonen Robertson Racing).

The reigning Formula BMW Europe champion will be relieved with such a strong performance, after destroying his Dallara-Mercedes on the first flying lap during qualifying for the season opener at Oulton Park last month.

The Brazilian's Japanese team-mate Daisuke Nakajima, who is understood to be under investigation by the stewards for a yellow flag infringement during the session, produced his best lap right at the death to go fifth, just 0.009s quicker than Hitech's Gabriel Dias. The 2009 National Class runner-up annexed both pole positions during the fast half of the session, but slipped down the order as others improved and he didn't on a second set of new slick tyres.

Championship leader Jean-Eric Vergne struggled with traffic during the quicker second part of the session and wound up only eighth fastest, sandwiched by seventh placed team-mate Adriano Buzaid and Raikkonen Robertson's Carlos Huertas.

Rupert Svendsen-Cook (Carlin), the only man other than Vergne to win a race at Oulton last month, rounded out the top 10, just ahead of team-mates Jazeman Jaafar and Lucas Foresti.

Leading F3 Euro Series squad ART struggled badly in qualifying. Mexican Esteban Gutierrez wound up 13th, just ahead of team-mate and 2008 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC Award winner Alexander Sims, who improved to a time 1.1s off the pace on his final flying lap.

T-Sport's Menasheh Idafar was the fastest National Class runner. The British-born Bahraini went 17th fastest, 1.205s off pole and 0.4s quicker than his International Class team-mate Alex Brundle (18th).

Pos Driver                Team          Car    Time          Gap
 1. James Calado          Carlin        D/V    1m53.198s
 2. Oli Webb              Fortec        D/M    1m53.329s  +0.131
 3. William Buller        Hitech        D/V    1m53.496s  +0.298
 4. Luiz Felipe Nasr      Raikkonen     D/M    1m53.602s  +0.404
 5. Daisuke Nakajima      Raikkonen     D/M    1m53.636s  +0.438
 6. Gabriel Dias          Hitech        D/V    1m53.645s  +0.447
 7. Adriano Buzaid        Carlin        D/V    1m53.649s  +0.451
 8. Jean-Eric Vergne      Carlin        D/V    1m53.687s  +0.489
 9. Carlos Huertas        Raikkonen     D/M    1m53.839s  +0.641
10. Rupert Svendsen-Cook  Carlin        D/V    1m53.961s  +0.763
11. Jazeman Jaafar        Carlin        D/V    1m53.999s  +0.801
12. Lucas Foresti         Carlin        D/V    1m54.055s  +0.857
13. Esteban Gutierrez     ART           D/M    1m54.209s  +1.011
14. Alexander Sims        ART           D/M    1m54.303s  +1.105
15. Hywel Lloyd           CF/Manor      D/M    1m54.346s  +1.148
16. Daniel McKenzie       Fortec        D/M    1m54.489s  +1.291
17. Menasheh Idafar       T-Sport       D/H    1m54.493s  +1.295
18. Alex Brundle          T-Sport       D/V    1m54.813s  +1.615
19. Rio Haryanto          CF/Manor      D/M    1m55.381s  +2.183
20. Maxim Snegirev        Fortec        D/M    1m55.622s  +2.424
21. Jay Bridger           Litespeed     D/M    1m55.782s  +2.584
22. James Cole            T-Sport       D/H    1m56.323s  +3.125
23. Jim Pla               ART           D/M    1m56.376s  +3.178
24. Luiz Razia            West-Tec      D/H    1m56.435s  +3.237
25. Adderly Fong          Sino Vision   D/M    1m57.232s  +4.034
26. Kevin Chen            Sino Vision   D/M    1m59.531s  +6.333