Pau European F3: Prema's Jake Dennis claims first pole

The Racing Steps Foundation-backed Briton was in the second group, which benefited from the sun breaking through at the midway point.

A red flag with five minutes to go led to a further improvement in conditions, and Dennis grabbed pole position at the last gasp in his Prema Powerteam Dallara-Mercedes.

It had earlier looked as though no one from this group would catch the time set by Charles Leclerc to top the opening stanza in his Van Amersfoort Racing Dallara-Volkswagen.

But when Michele Beretta lightly hit the wall at the Foch chicane, and was unavoidably T-boned by Ryan Tveter, that gave the track more time to dry during the ensuing stoppage.

Red Bull junior Callum Ilott, bouncing back from his morning adventures, was the first to eclipse Leclerc's time, the Briton getting his Carlin car at lurid angles and even tapping the wall on the exit of Foch.

Ilott's provisional pole time was then beaten by Mucke Motorsport rookie Maximilian Gunther, before Dennis's last-gasp effort.

The VAR car of free practice pacesetter Alessio Lorandi was fourth in the group, with Carlin man George Russell breaking into the top five on the final lap of the session.

Tveter, meanwhile, rejoined with a new front wing, only to derange the left-side suspension before parking in the access road at Foch.

Leclerc never looked in danger of being beaten in the opening session, which also featured a brief red-flag intermission.

The Monegasque was often almost a second clear of his opposition, many of whom took it in turns to trade second place.

Championship leader Antonio Giovinazzi finally took the position in his Carlin car, four tenths adrift of Leclerc, with Alex Albon giving Signature - a team that has a proud history of Pau success - a good return to the circuit with third place.

Mucke's Mikkel Jensen was fourth in the group, while Arjun Maini ensured that all three VAR drivers will start race one in the top 10 by taking fifth.

Last year's Pau Grand Prix winner Felix Rosenqvist was marooned down in seventh place behind team-mate Lance Stroll, with the Prema cars appearing to relatively struggle when conditions are at their worst.

The two non-qualifiers are Mahaveer Raghunathan and Nicolas Pohler, who each anchored their respective group.

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STARTING GRID:

QUALIFYING GROUP ONE:

QUALIFYING GROUP TWO: