Vergne takes two poles at Oulton

Under British F3's new-for-2010 race format, where a driver's two fastest times from one 30-minute qualifying session set the grids for races one and three, all the runners needed two good laps to give themselves the best chance of qualifying well.

Red Bull-backed Carlin driver Vergne managed the situation best, setting three times good enough for pole in his Dallara-Volkswagen and therefore immediately earning two poles.

The session began on damp, but drying track, so the first 20 minutes of qualifying became a largely irrelevant circuit-cleaning exercise.

Vergne's Carlin team-mate Rupert Svendsen-Cook headed the times at that stage, and traded the top spot with Vergne in the late stages as the track began to come good.

Inevitably pole would go to the driver who hooked up the best lap at the very death of the session, and that's when Vergne unleashed the full extent of his speed to claim the top spot.

With 60 seconds remaining, the Frenchman led the way on a 1m28.810s best and then banged in a 1m28.872s time on his next lap to annex both poles. Vergne improved to a 1m28.751s on his final tour to underline his superiority around the Cheshire parkland circuit.

Similarly last-gasp efforts from Raikkonen Robertson's Carlos Huertas and Fortec's Oli Webb vaulted them to second and third in the times, both just under three tenths adrift of Vergne's best.

Early pacesetter Svendsen-Cook ended the session fourth fastest, a further tenth back, and a tenth clear of the impressive Jay Bridger, who produced his best ever British F3 qualifying performance to go fifth in his ex-ART Dallara-Mercedes.

Hitech's Gabriel Dias rounded out the top six, ahead of Carlin's Adriano Buzaid (whose fire extinguisher went off unexpectedly early on in the session), Welsh privateer Hywel Lloyd, and Raikkonen Robertson's Daisuke Nakajima. T-Sport's Formula 2 defector Alex Brundle completed the top 10 on the timesheet.

Carlin's James Calado suffered a differential failure during the crucial late portion of the session, so wound up 14th fastest, while reigning Formula BMW Europe champion Felipe Nasr totalled his car after only a handful of laps and wound up last of the 20 runners.

Race one qualifying:

Pos Driver                Team                 Car  Time           Gap
 1. Jean-Eric Vergne      Carlin               D/V  1m28.810s
 2. Oli Webb              Fortec               D/M  1m29.086s  +0.276s
 3. Rupert Svendsen-Cook  Carlin               D/V  1m29.269s  +0.459s
 4. Carlos Huertas        Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  1m29.316s  +0.506s
 5. Adriano Buzaid        Carlin               D/V  1m29.657s  +0.847s
 6. Jay Bridger           Litespeed            D/M  1m29.907s  +1.097s
 7. Hywel Lloyd           CF/Manor             D/M  1m30.025s  +1.215s
 8. Daisuke Nakajima      Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  1m30.147s  +1.337s
 9. Jazeman Jarfar        Carlin               D/V  1m30.159s  +1.349s
10. Gabriel Dias          Hitech               D/V  1m30.276s  +1.466s
11. Alex Brundle          T-Sport              D/V  1m30.611s  +1.801s
12. William Buller        Hitech               D/V  1m30.664s  +1.854s
13. Daniel McKenzie       Fortec               D/M  1m30.726s  +1.916s
14. Menasheh Idafar       T-Sport              D/H  1m31.388s  +2.578s
15. James Calado          Carlin               D/V  1m31.568s  +2.758s
16. James Cole            T-Sport              D/H  1m31.648s  +2.838s
17. Max Snegirev          Fortec               D/M  1m31.854s  +3.044s
18. Adderley Fong         Sino Vision          D/M  1m33.185s  +4.375s
19. Lucas Foresti         Carlin               D/V  1m34.251s  +5.441s
20. Felipe Nasr           Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  no time

Race three qualifying:

Pos Driver                Team                 Car  Time           Gap
 1. Jean-Eric Vergne      Carlin               D/V  1m28.751s
 2. Carlos Huertas        Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  1m29.028s  +0.277s
 3. Oli Webb              Fortec               D/M  1m29.044s  +0.293s
 4. Rupert Svendsen-Cook  Carlin               D/V  1m29.104s  +0.353s
 5. Jay Bridger           Litespeed            D/M  1m29.272s  +0.521s
 6. Gabriel Dias          Hitech               D/V  1m29.495s  +0.744s
 7. Adriano Buzaid        Carlin               D/V  1m29.549s  +0.798s
 8. Hywel Lloyd           CF/Manor             D/M  1m29.843s  +1.092s
 9. Daisuke Nakajima      Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  1m30.010s  +1.259s
10. Alex Brundle          T-Sport              D/V  1m30.049s  +1.298s
11. William Buller        Hitech               D/V  1m30.066s  +1.315s
12. Jazeman Jarfar        Carlin               D/V  1m30.126s  +1.375s
13. Daniel McKenzie       Fortec               D/M  1m30.452s  +1.701s
14. James Calado          Carlin               D/V  1m31.097s  +2.346s
15. Menasheh Idafar       T-Sport              D/H  1m31.277s  +2.526s
16. James Cole            T-Sport              D/H  1m31.559s  +2.808s
17. Max Snegirev          Fortec               D/M  1m31.803s  +3.052s
18. Adderley Fong         Sino Vision          D/M  1m32.921s  +4.170s
19. Lucas Foresti         Carlin               D/V  1m33.408s  +4.657s
20. Felipe Nasr           Raikkonen Robertson  D/M  no time