The German, who is bidding to become the first driver ever to win back-to-back Masters titles, produced an incredible lap in the dying seconds of the session to pinch the pole from his ART Grand Prix teammate Jules Bianchi.
Bianchi was more than half a second clear of the field for half the top 20 shootout after staying out on his first set of tyres for three laps longer than his rivals. Several attempts to topple Bianchi with new tyres failed, until Dani Clos's stranded Prema Powerteam car forced the session to be red flagged.
Once it was recovered, there was only time for two flying laps each. Several drivers took it turns to catapult themselves into the top six, but none could match Bianchi's earlier effort. Hulkenberg's first effort was two tenths shy and only good enough for third, but he improved by half a second on his final lap to snatch the pole from Bianchi by more than quarter of a second.
"It was quite tough," said Hulkenberg. "We are at the top of the pit lane so there were a lot of cars in front of me after the red flag. I knew that last lap would have to be perfect, but I thought there would be too much traffic. There was a little, but I also got a tow which helped a bit.
"Of course I want to win every race, but because this isn't part of a championship I am quite relaxed about it. We will either win or we won't, lets just see what happens tomorrow."
Renger van der Zande got within a tenth of Bianchi with his last effort and earned third place on the grid, while Koudai Tsukakoshi completed the second row, heading a train of 14 cars covered by less than half a second.
Stefano Coletti finished up fifth, ahead of Max Chilton, who was best of the British championship drivers in sixth. Jon Lancaster, Mika Maki, Brendon Hartley, and Daniel Campos-Hull completed the top ten.
Tom Dillman set the best time of the Group B session to earn 21st place on the grid. He was embroiled in a three way battle with Atte Mustonen and Sam Bird for much of the half hour, but Dillman secured the top spot from Bird as the times dipped into the high 1:24s at the end.
Yann Clairay pipped Mustonen for third (23rd) at the end, and James Jakes took fifth (25th) with his final lap of the session.
Group A Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Nico Hulkenberg ART D/M 1:24.280 2. Jules Bianchi ART D/M 1:24.550 +0.270 3. Renger van der Zande Prema D/M 1:24.640 +0.360 4. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor D/M 1:24.813 +0.533 5. Stefano Coletti Prema D/M 1:24.869 +0.589 6. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 1:24.884 +0.604 7. Jon Lancaster ART D/M 1:25.044 +0.764 8. Mika Maki Mucke D/M 1:25.058 +0.778 9. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 1:25.071 +0.791 10. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR D/M 1:25.086 +0.806 11. Rodolfo Gonzalez Carlin D/M 1:25.109 +0.829 12. Richard Philippe Carlin D/M 1:25.113 +0.833 13. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 1:25.117 +0.837 14. Henkie Waldschmidt SG D/M 1:25.139 +0.859 15. Edoardo Mortara Signature D/V 1:25.203 +0.923 16. Christian Vietoris Mucke D/M 1:25.294 +1.014 17. Roberto Merhi Hitech D/M 1:25.299 +1.019 18. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 1:25.452 +1.172 19. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 1:25.597 +1.317 20. Dani Clos Prema D/M 1:26.157 +1.877 Group B Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Tom Dillman Jo Zeller D/M 1:24.860 2. Sam Bird Carlin D/M 1:24.900 +0.040 3. Yann Clairay SG D/M 1:25.129 +0.269 4. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 1:25.233 +0.373 5. James Jakes ART D/M 1:25.471 +0.611 6. Erik Janis Mucke D/M 1:25.502 +0.642 7. Daniel Ricciardo SG D/M 1:25.525 +0.665 8. John Martin Double R D/M 1:25.682 +0.822 9. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 1:25.725 +0.865 10. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature D/V 1:25.729 +0.869 11. Kazuya Oshima Manor D/M 1:25.789 +0.929 12. Niall Breen Manor D/M 1:25.921 +1.061 13. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 1:25.939 +1.079 14. Basil Shaaban HBR D/M 1:26.160 +1.300 15. Martin Plowman Signature D/V 1:26.349 +1.489 16. Franck Mailleux Signature D/V 1:26.565 +1.705 17. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 1:27.207 +2.347
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