Formula V8 3.5's new era starts with Arden's Egor Orudzhev on pole

The Arden racer's final effort of 1m40.328s, recorded after the chequered flag, was sufficient to move ahead of Friday pacesetter Louis Deletraz and claim a maiden pole in the category.

Orudzhev headed the field for the majority of the half hour session, and only Fortec's reigning Formula Renault 2.0 NEC champion Deletraz offered a threat to the Russian.

Single-seater veteran Tom Dillmann finished in third place for AVF, and will line up on the second row of Saturday afternoon's grid alongside Teo Martin Motorsport runner Yu Kanamaru, who improved from eighth to fourth in the closing seconds of qualifying.

GP2 refugee Rene Binder starts fifth for the Charouz-run Lotus team, ahead of the second Teo Martin entry of Beitske Visser.

Pietro Fittipaldi took seventh spot by edging out Force India Formula 1 Friday practice driver Alfonso Celis Jr.

Last year's Formula Renault 3.5 runner-up Matthieu Vaxiviere, who finished a close second at Aragon last year, held a position in the top-three of the classification in the early stages of qualifying, but could only manage a lowly 10th place on his second run on new tyres.

The session was free from red flags, but Lotus driver Roy Nissany is under investigation.

QUALIFYING RESULTS