Martin, Soucek rue qualifying errors

Martin, who races for the local Beijing Guoan club, lost out to Olympiacos's Ben Hanley in the head-to-head final after making his error at the last corner.

"Unfortunately I made a mistake in the final corner, but it's a fourth consecutive front row start so I have to be pleased with that," said Martin. "The car has been quick all morning. I really like the circuit. The first part is quite slow and technical but the last sector is really quick."

Soucek went out at the semi-final stage against poleman Hanley, and he too made a mistake near the end of the lap having been ahead of his rival at both timing splits.

"I'm disappointed to be honest," said Soucek. "I was nearly half a second quicker than anyone in my group, and then I won my quarter final by three seconds! But then I made a big mistake in the last sector of the semi-final and that cost me a place in the final.

"I believe I could have had pole today, but the good news is that we've got the pace and we're consistent which bodes well for the race."

Hanley, whose Olympiacos club is fifth in the title race, said he was "really delighted" with pole.

"We had a few problems in practice but the team did a great job and we've now got a well balanced car," he said. "John made a mistake in the last corner of the final so I really pushed and managed to get pole. Tomorrow it's important to score as many points as we can so we can close in on the four clubs above us."