Tobias Hegewald takes pole at Brands Hatch after Mirko Bortolotti crashed

Bortolotti moved to the top of the sheets with just under eight minutes left, but on the very next lap became involved in a clash with Alex Brundle on the run up to Hawthorn.

Both cars were damaged, with each driver blaming the other in the immediate aftermath, and the matter is being investigated by the stewards.

Bortolotti's problem created an opportunity for his rivals, and Jack Clarke and Ramon Pineiro briefly held the top spot before Hegewald settled things with a 1m16.199s lap; 0.109s quicker than Pineiro's.

Bortolotti is currently third subject to the investigation ahead of Clarke and Brundle.

Mihai Marinescu was sixth-fastest but will be issued a three-place grid penalty for failing to observe a red flag yesterday, which will drop him behind Miki Monras, Benjamin Lariche and title contender Christopher Zanelli.

Pos  Driver                Time       Gap
 1.  Tobias Hegewald       1m16.199s  +
 2.  Ramon Pineiro         1m16.308s  + 0.109s
 3.  Mirko Bortolotti      1m16.311s  + 0.112s
 4.  Jack Clarke           1m16.344s  + 0.145s
 5.  Alex Brundle          1m16.559s  + 0.360s
 6.  Mihai Marinescu       1m16.591s  + 0.392s
 7.  Miki Monras           1m16.641s  + 0.442s
 8.  Benjamin Lariche      1m16.681s  + 0.482s
 9.  Christopher Zanella   1m16.789s  + 0.590s
10.  Maxim Snegirev        1m16.847s  + 0.648s
11.  Thiemo Storz          1m16.919s  + 0.720s
12.  Kelvin Snoeks         1m17.010s  + 0.811s
13.  Mikkel Mac            1m17.039s  + 0.840s
14.  Jordan King           1m17.093s  + 0.894s
15.  Armaan Ebrahim        1m17.205s  + 1.006s
16.  James Cole            1m17.636s  + 1.437s
17.  Plamen Kralev         1m17.753s  + 1.554s
18.  Jose Luis Abadin      1m17.852s  + 1.653s
19.  Parthiva Sureshwaren  1m18.189s  + 1.990s
20.  Tom Mun               1m19.820s  + 3.621s