Daniel Abt grabs maiden GP3 pole position in Germany
Daniel Abt will start the ninth round of the GP3 Series at Hockenheim from pole position
The German scored his first-ever GP3 pole with two laps good enough for the top spot in his Lotus-run machine, his eventual 1m31.961s coming on his last lap of the session, which coincided with a couple of yellow flags around the circuit. That lap was 0.23 seconds ahead of championship leader Mitch Evans (MW Arden), who ditched his final effort, despite setting the fastest sector one time, due to encountering a spinning Carmen Jorda at the Spitzkehre hairpin on his final lap.
That meant Evans lost the chance to increase his points lead by a further four points for pole, as Abt stole them with his top spot. The second Lotus entry of Conor Daly was third quickest, with practice pacesetter Tio Ellinas fourth fastest for Marussia Manor.
Title contender Aaro Vainio was only fifth fastest, and slowest of the Lotus entries, ahead of Carlin's Antonio Felix da Costa.
The driver with the most on his plate in the half-hour session was Dmitry Suranovich, who survived a high-flying moment on the exit of Turn 1 only for his Marussia Manor car to later suddenly judder to a halt in the pitlane exit, causing a late yellow flag at the first corner.
Series returnee Lewis Williamson could only manage 16th in his Status-run car, 1.3s off the pace.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Daniel Abt Lotus 1m31.961s 2. Mitch Evans MW Arden 1m32.191s + 0.230s 3. Conor Daly Lotus 1m32.267s + 0.306s 4. Tio Ellinas Manor 1m32.381s + 0.420s 5. Aaro Vainio Lotus 1m32.551s + 0.590s 6. Antonio Felix da Costa Carlin 1m32.564s + 0.603s 7. David Fumanelli MW Arden 1m32.658s + 0.697s 8. Patric Niederhauser Jenzer 1m32.689s + 0.728s 9. Marlon Stockinger Status 1m32.773s + 0.812s 10. Kevin Ceccon Ocean 1m33.010s + 1.049s 11. Giovanni Venturini Trident 1m33.079s + 1.118s 12. Matias Laine MW Arden 1m33.079s + 1.118s 13. Alex Brundle Carlin 1m33.089s + 1.128s 14. Will Buller Carlin 1m33.115s + 1.154s 15. Robert Visoiu Jenzer 1m33.133s + 1.172s 16. Lewis Williamson Status 1m33.263s + 1.302s 17. Tamas Pal Kiss Atech CRS 1m33.347s + 1.386s 18. Alice Powell Status 1m33.583s + 1.622s 19. Dmitry Suranovich Manor 1m33.861s + 1.900s 20. Ethan Ringel Atech CRS 1m34.035s + 2.074s 21. Robert Cregan Ocean 1m34.258s + 2.297s 22. Fabiano Machado Manor 1m34.270s + 2.309s 23. Vicky Piria Trident 1m34.756s + 2.795s 24. Carmen Jorda Ocean 1m36.073s + 4.112s
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