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Ricciardo takes Monaco pole

ISR's Daniel Ricciardo achieved his second consecutive Monaco Formula Renault 3.5 pole position during qualifying in the principality this morning

To minimise congestion, qualifying was split into two 25-minute sessions, and the Australian's time of 1m26.427s in the opening A group edged out Gravity-Charouz Racing's Brendon Hartley's B group benchmark of 1m26.464s.

Kiwi Hartley, who arguably staged the drive of the race for Tech 1 Racing last year, was left disappointed to miss out on pole after being drawn in theoretically the faster session.

"As a racing driver you always want more and when you are fastest you want to be faster by a greater margin," said Hartley, who is chasing a maiden victory in the series. "I had traffic on my three fastest laps, and even on my last lap I was obliged to pit because of traffic. I know I shouldn't be upset starting on the front row, but inside the cockpit I was going a little bit crazy."

Robert Wickens will start third for Carlin. The Canadian was fastest for the majority of the first session before Ricciardo's time, leading team-mate Jean-Eric Vergne and Mofaz Racing's Jake Rosenzweig, whose good run ended when he hit the barriers at Tabac.

The season's only double winner, Kevin Korjus, jumped up to third with a late effort, ahead of KMP Racing's Nelson Panciatici.

Korjus's Tech 1 Racing team-mate and fellow rookie Arthur Pic caused an upset by demoting championship leader Vergne to the sixth row for Sunday's race.

"I think the performance of the car was there," said Vergne. "Obviously it is fun being in Monaco but we still have to do a job and the same points are on offer as any other race. Starting from 12th we have to accept this is going to be one race where I will drop some points to my rivals in the championship."

Aragon winner Alexander Rossi set the early B group pace for Fortec from KMP Racing's Anton Nebylitskiy and Hartley.

In fourth spot, Epic Racing's Albert Costa was lucky to avoid a more serious accident when he spun on the entry to Massenet. The Spaniard tapped the Armco with the rear of his car, sustaining only slight damage. Costa salvaged third in his group.

Hartley found a relatively clear lap to secure his place on the front row of tomorrow's race with seconds to spare. Rossi, second in the points standings, will join Wickens on the second row.

In other incidents, Pons Racing's Oliver Webb damaged his left-rear wheel following contact with the barriers at Portier and Sergio Canamasas damaged his BVM Target car on the exit of Sainte Devote.

Group A:

Pos  Driver               Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Daniel Ricciardo     ISR              1m26.427s
 2.  Robert Wickens       Carlin           1m27.075s  + 0.648s
 3.  Kevin Korjus         Tech 1           1m27.098s  + 0.671s
 4.  Nelson Panciatici    KMP              1m27.288s  + 0.861s
 5.  Arthur Pic           Tech 1           1m27.487s  + 1.060s
 6.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Carlin           1m27.537s  + 1.110s
 7.  Jake Rosenzweig      Mofaz            1m27.658s  + 1.231s
 8.  Andre Negrao         Draco            1m27.930s  + 1.503s
 9.  Daniel Zampieri      BVM Target       1m28.430s  + 2.003s
10.  Nathanael Berthon    ISR              1m28.447s  + 2.020s
11.  Sergio Canamasas     BVM Target       1m28.536s  + 2.109s
12.  Cesar Ramos          Fortec           1m28.697s  + 2.270s
13.  Daniel de Jong       Comtec           1m30.144s  + 3.717s

Group B:

Pos  Driver               Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Brendon Hartley      Gravity-Charouz  1m26.464s
 2.  Alexander Rossi      Fortec           1m26.469s  + 0.005s
 3.  Albert Costa         Epic             1m26.743s  + 0.279s
 4.  Jan Charouz          Gravity-Charouz  1m26.816s  + 0.352s
 5.  Anton Nebylitskiy    KMP              1m27.176s  + 0.712s
 6.  Adrien Tambay        Pons             1m27.458s  + 0.994s
 7.  Walter Grubmuller    P1               1m27.611s  + 1.147s
 8.  Chris van der Drift  Mofaz            1m27.757s  + 1.293s
 9.  Sten Pentus          Epic             1m27.783s  + 1.319s
10.  Daniil Move          P1               1m27.871s  + 1.407s
11.  Stephane Richelmi    Draco            1m28.017s  + 1.553s
12.  Oliver Webb          Pons             1m28.824s  + 2.360s
13.  Daniel McKenzie      Comtec           1m29.152s  + 2.688s

Starting grid:

Pos  Driver               Team
 1.  Daniel Ricciardo     ISR
 2.  Brendon Hartley      Gravity-Charouz
 3.  Robert Wickens       Carlin
 4.  Alexander Rossi      Fortec
 5.  Kevin Korjus         Tech 1
 6.  Albert Costa         Epic
 7.  Nelson Panciatici    KMP
 8.  Jan Charouz          Gravity-Charouz
 9.  Arthur Pic           Tech 1
10.  Anton Nebilitskiy    KMP
11.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Carlin
12.  Adrien Tambay        Pons
13.  Jake Rosenzweig      Mofaz
14.  Walter Grubmüller    P1
15.  Andre Negrao         Draco
16.  Chris van der Drift  Mofaz
17.  Daniel Zampieri      BVM Target
18.  Sten Pentus          Epic
19.  Nathanael Berthon    ISR
20.  Daniil Move          P1
21.  Sergio Canamasas     BVM Target
22.  Stephane Richelmi    Draco
23.  Cesar Ramos          Fortec
24.  Oliver Webb          Pons
25.  Daniel de Jong       Comtec
26.  Daniel McKenzie      Comtec

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