Evans tops ultra-close pole fight

Tech 1's Caldarelli had set the pace for much of the session. But the lap times really started to tumble in the final five minutes, with several drivers taking a turn at the top.

Valtteri Bottas (ART) was the first to up the pace, yet his best lap was eventually only good enough for 10th on the grid. The first driver to edge him out was Marlon Stockinger, but he would have to settle for third as Evans and Caldarelli began a head-to-head scrap for pole.

Evans was running slightly ahead of the Italian on track as they started their hot laps with four minutes remaining. When the MW Arden driver took pole for the first time, Caldarelli snatched it back just seconds later.

Both drivers were on course to improve on their second laps, and Evans duly took first position back. Caldarelli was set to take it back yet again, but a small lock up into the final chicane left him 0.001 seconds shy.

Stockinger (Atech CRS) will be joined on the second row by Tech 1's Aaro Vainio, who put together a string of good laps late in the session. James Calado took fifth for ART, just ahead of championship leader Nigel Melker (Mucke) and Friday's pacesetter Nico Muller (Jenzer).

Michael Christensen did not set a time after having a session to forget. He lost his left rear wheel on his first run, and his session came to an end after he smashed into a fire extinguisher as he went to leave the pits for a second attempt.

Pos  Driver                  Team       Time       Gap
 1.  Mitch Evans             MW Arden   1m38.498s
 2.  Andrea Caldarelli       Tech 1     1m38.499s  + 0.001s
 3.  Marlon Stockinger       Atech CRS  1m38.739s  + 0.241s
 4.  Aaro Vainio             Tech 1     1m38.778s  + 0.280s
 5.  James Calado            ART        1m38.825s  + 0.327s
 6.  Nigel Melker            RSC Mucke  1m38.826s  + 0.328s
 7.  Nico Muller             Jenzer     1m38.914s  + 0.416s
 8.  Tamas Pal Kiss          Tech 1     1m38.991s  + 0.493s
 9.  Dean Smith              Addax      1m39.052s  + 0.554s
10.  Valtteri Bottas         ART        1m39.074s  + 0.576s
11.  Nick Yelloly            Atech CRS  1m39.091s  + 0.593s
12.  Adrian Quaife-Hobbs     Manor      1m39.106s  + 0.608s
13.  Vittorio Ghirelli       Jenzer     1m39.132s  + 0.634s
14.  Maxim Zimin             Jenzer     1m39.132s  + 0.634s
15.  Dominic Storey          Addax      1m39.165s  + 0.667s
16.  Alexander Sims          Status     1m39.183s  + 0.685s
17.  Antonio Felix da Costa  Status     1m39.225s  + 0.727s
18.  Pedro Nunes             ART        1m39.229s  + 0.731s
19.  Gabby Chaves            Addax      1m39.231s  + 0.733s
20.  Lewis Williamson        MW Arden   1m39.251s  + 0.753s
21.  Matias Laine            Manor      1m39.273s  + 0.775s
22.  Ivan Lukashevich        Status     1m39.277s  + 0.779s
23.  Rio Haryanto            Manor      1m39.334s  + 0.836s
24.  Zoel Amberg             Atech CRS  1m39.382s  + 0.884s
25.  Conor Daly              Carlin     1m39.516s  + 1.018s
26.  Daniel Morad            Carlin     1m39.601s  + 1.103s
27.  Leonardo Cordeiro       Carlin     1m39.610s  + 1.112s
28.  Simon Trummer           MW Arden   1m39.713s  + 1.215s
29.  Luciano Bacheta         RSC Mucke  1m40.301s  + 1.803s
30.  Michael Christensen     RSC Mucke  1m49.478s  + 10.980s