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Ricciardo takes Hungary pole

Daniel Ricciardo has claimed pole position for this afternoon's opening Formula Renault 3.5 race at the Hungaroring

The Red Bull Formula 1 reserve driver set a searing pace, his time of 1m31.168s over half a second quicker than championship leader Mikhail Aleshin.

On a good day for Tech 1 Racing, Ricciardo's team-mate Brendon Hartley will start third. The Kiwi will be aiming to recover lost ground in the championship race after a first lap accident and technical trouble resulted in non-scoring at the previous round at Magny-Cours.

"It wasn't a great session to be honest, but I'll take third," said Hartley. "My starts are usually pretty good. Last year I got pushed to the outside and spun, so I won't be making that mistake again.

"Tyre wear could be a problem here. Perhaps some people will be trying to preserve their tyres, but I think will be pushing on. A podium is my minimum objective."

Fortec drivers Sten Pentus and Jon Lancaster will line-up in fourth and fifth. Estonian Pentus edged out his British team-mate by 0.011s. Former GP2 racer Nelson Panciatici will join Lancaster on the third row for Junior Lotus Racing.

Magny-Cours winner Nathanael Berthon brought out the red flags six minutes into the half hour session. The Frenchman, who was second fastest in free practice on Friday, will start last after being stripped of his only time.

"As it was the start of qualifying, the car had a lot of fuel in it," said Berthon. "I just touched a kerb and went off. It was the really fast right hander (Turn 10). I took a little knock to my head but otherwise I am okay. It's my first accident of the season, but it's not over yet. I need points, even if I can't make it into the top five, I will be trying for a top 10."

Italian Formula 3 champion Daniel Zampieri also lost his fastest lap and will start 11th. The Ferrari Academy driver was penalised for running over the white line dividing the track and the pitlane exit.

"I crossed it by a really small amount," said Zampieri. "The rules are you lose your best lap, but it's a shame as were looking really fast."

Pos Driver                 Team             Time       Gap   Laps
 1. Daniel Ricciardo       Tech 1           1m33.168s          15
 2. Mikhail Aleshin        Carlin           1m33.728s  +0.560  12
 3. Brendon Hartley        Tech 1           1m33.902s  +0.734  16
 4. Sten Pentus            Fortec           1m33.988s  +0.820  12
 5. Jon Lancaster          Fortec           1m33.999s  +0.831  14
 6. Nelson Panciatici      Junior Lotus     1m34.261s  +1.093  14
 7. Walter Grubmuller      P1               1m34.285s  +1.117  11
 8. Anton Nebylitskiy      KMP              1m34.346s  +1.178  15
 9. Jan Charouz            P1               1m34.383s  +1.215  11
10. Victor Garcia          KMP              1m34.404s  +1.236  14
11. Daniel Zampieri        Pons             1m34.414s  +1.246  12
12. Stefano Coletti        Comtec           1m34.424s  +1.256  13
13. Federico Leo           Pons             1m34.450s  +1.282  14
14. Keisuke Kunimoto       Epsilon          1m34.686s  +1.518  13
15. Jake Rosenzweig        Carlin           1m34.812s  +1.644  13
16. Albert Costa           Epsilon          1m34.855s  +1.687  16
17. Julian Leal            Draco            1m34.871s  +1.703  13
18. Daniil Move            Junior Lotus     1m34.962s  +1.794  15
19. Greg Mansell           Comtec           1m35.025s  +1.857  13
20. Sergio Canamasas       Interwetten      1m35.070s  +1.902  14
21. Bruno Mendez           Interwetten      1m35.767s  +2.599   9
22. Nathanael Berthon      Draco            times deleted       9

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