Parente Claims First Pole at Spa

Parente, who didn't make the grid at the season opener in Donington due to sponsorship problems, was surprisingly quick in the dry session, stopping the clock with a lap of 2 minutes 14.990 to claim pole just 0.027 seconds ahead of Marko Asmer.

The pair have been the fastest drivers in practice, with Asmer half a second to the good in both sessions, but in qualifying the Portuguese driver found enough to edge out his rival.

The session was briefly red flagged after Barton Mauer ran off track and hit the wall. The crash looked worse than it was, and the Australian was unhurt in the incident.

Ryan Lewis was disappointing in qualifying after running third quickest in practice - his qualifying time was only good enough for eighth on the grid. Christian Bakkerud's session ran the opposite way, ending up third after being no higher than sixth in practice.

Tim Bridgeman and Dan Clarke rounded out the top five in qualifying, running consistent times all day, while series leader Danilo Dirani could run no higher than tenth on the opening day.

Salvador Duran was the leading National class driver, five hundredths ahead of Charlie Hollings.

British Formula Three First Qualifying, Spa Francorchamps

Pos Driver              Chassis/Engine          Time       Gap    Laps
 1. Alvaro Parente      Dallara F305 Honda      2:14.990          12
 2. Marko Asmer         Dallara F305 Honda      2:15.017  +0.027  15
 3. Christian Bakkerud  Dallara F305 Honda      2:15.488  +0.498  13
 4. Tim Bridgman        Dallara F305 Honda      2:15.592  +0.602  15
 5. Daniel Clarke       Dallara F305 Honda      2:15.713  +0.723  14
 6. Charlie Kimball     Dallara F305 Honda      2:15.741  +0.751  11
 7. James Walker        Dallara F305 Opel       2:15.941  +0.951  14
 8. Ryan Lewis          Dallara F305 Honda      2:16.275  +1.285  13
 9. Mike Conway         Dallara F305 Opel       2:16.287  +1.297  12
10. Danilo Dirani       Lola B05/30 Honda       2:16.348  +1.358  11
11. Michael Herck       Dallara F305 Opel       2:16.521  +1.531   9
12. Stephen Jelley      Dallara F305 Opel       2:16.844  +1.854  15
13. Bruno Senna         Dallara F305 Honda      2:17.004  +2.014  13
14. Salvador Duran      Dallara F304 Honda      2:17.153  +2.163  11
15. Charlie Hollings    Lola-Dome F106/4 Honda  2:17.205  +2.215  14
16. Steven Kane         Lola B05/30 Honda       2:17.416  +2.426  13
17. Ronayne O'mahony    Dallara F305 Opel       2:17.484  +2.494  14
18. Suk Sandher         Dallara F304 Honda      2:18.150  +3.160  15
19. Keiko Ihara         Dallara F305 Honda      2:18.156  +3.166  14
20. Jonathan Kennard    Dallara F304 Honda      2:18.541  +3.551  14
21. Juho Annala         Dallara F304 Honda      2:18.646  +3.656  13
22. Josh Fisher         Dallara F304 Honda      2:18.680  +3.690  13
23. Lou Men Cheong      Dallara F304 Honda      2:21.129  +6.139  13
24. Ricardo Teixeira    Dallara F304 Honda      2:21.584  +6.594  14
25. Nick Jones          Dallara F304 Honda      2:22.496  +7.506  14
26. Barton Mawer        Dallara F304 Honda      2:23.140  +8.150   2