Reigning German Formula 3 Champion Marvin Kirchhofer took his maiden GP3 Series pole position in front of his home fans at Hockenheim. The German took his ART Grand Prix machine to the top in the closing stages to beat current championship leader Alex Lynn of Carlin.
It was a close session in hot conditions with Lynn missing out on the four points for pole position by just 0.059s as Kirchhofer was not to be denied. Nick Yelloly will start third for Status Grand Prix, and was just over a tenth of a second away from top spot.
The second Carlin of Emil Bernstorff will line-up alongside Yelloly for an all-British second row, while Jimmy Eriksson took fifth but the Koiranen GP driver will have to start back in tenth due to the five-place grid penalty carried over for causing a collision at Silverstone.
Mitchell Gilbert will therefore start from the fifth position for Trident Racing; the Australian will be making his first GP3 race start of the year this afternoon after his first event at Silverstone ended early when he crashed at high speed and did a backwards somersault in the wet qualifying session.
Dino Zamparelli will start sixth for ART Grand Prix ahead of Friday practice pace setter Richie Stanaway of Status Grand Prix in seventh, while Matheo Tuscher of Jenzer Motorsport will start eighth. Dean Stoneman will start this afternoon’s race from ninth for Marussia Manor Racing, alongside the penalised Eriksson.
Hockenheim Qualifying Times
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Marvin Kirchhofer | GER | ART Grand Prix | 1:28.647 |
2 | Alex Lynn | GBR | Carlin | 1:28.706 |
3 | Nick Yelloly | GBR | Status Grand Prix | 1:28.749 |
4 | Emil Bernstorff | GBR | Carlin | 1:28.910 |
5 | Mitchell Gilbert | AUS | Trident Racing | 1:28.995 |
6 | Dino Zamparelli | GBR | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.133 |
7 | Richie Stanaway | NZL | Status Grand Prix | 1:29.205 |
8 | Matheo Tuscher | SWI | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:29.212 |
9 | Dean Stoneman | GBR | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:29.247 |
10* | Jimmy Eriksson | SWE | Koiranen GP | 1:28.949 |
11 | Roman de Beer | RSA | Trident Racing | 1:29.338 |
12 | Robert Visoiu | ROM | Arden International | 1:29.400 |
13 | Jann Mardenborough | GBR | Arden International | 1:29.405 |
14 | Riccardo Agostini | ITA | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:29.516 |
15 | Alfonso Celis Jr | MEX | Status Grand Prix | 1:29.531 |
16* | Alex Fontana | SWI | ART Grand Prix | 1:29.329 |
17 | Patric Niederhauser | SWI | Arden International | 1:29.672 |
18 | Sebastian Balthasar | GER | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:29.849 |
19 | Luis Sa Silva | MAC | Carlin | 1:29.951 |
20 | Nelson Mason | CAN | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:30.082 |
21 | Ryan Cullen | GBR | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:30.180 |
22 | Patrick Kujala | FIN | Marussia Manor Racing | 1:30.272 |
23 | Adderly Fong | CHN | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:30.646 |
24* | Pal Varhaug | NOR | Jenzer Motorsport | 1:29.870 |
25 | Santiago Urrutia | URU | Koiranen GP | 1:30.977 |
26 | Victor Carbone | BRZ | Trident Racing | 1:31.219 |
27 | Carmen Jorda | ESP | Koiranen GP | 1:32.951 |
*Five Place Penalty carried over from Silverstone* |