Hulkenberg claims pole at Hockenheim

Nico Hulkenberg claimed pole position for the first Formula 3 Euro Series round at Hockenheim this weekend in what will likely be his final F3 outing.

The champion, who is set to graduate to GP2 with ART and will miss next month's Macau Grand Prix, pipped Christian Vietoris and Edoardo Mortara to the top spot by less than a tenth of a second in the final laps of the session.

Hulkenberg went ahead early on but was pushed down to third at one point as Renger van der Zande and Vietoris each had a turn at the top following their first laps on a second set of tyres.

But Hulkenberg responded on his second set of tyres to continue his domination of the series with his sixth pole of the year.

Mortara returned to form now that the title is out of his reach and is well placed to defend his second place in the standings from Jules Bianchi and Mika Maki with third on the grid. Van der Zande ended up fourth, with Bianchi fifth and Stefano Coletti completing the top six.

Maki will have his work cut out to close the nine points between him and Mortara from eighth on the grid, behind Koudai Tsukakoshi, while Britons James Jakes and Sam Bird round out the top ten.

Series debutants Oliver Oakes and Frederic Vervisch qualified 25th and 27th respectively.

Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Nico Hulkenberg ART 1:33.218 15 2. Christian Vietoris Mucke 1:33.296 +0.078 15 3. Edoardo Mortara Signature 1:33.307 +0.089 17 4. Renger van der Zande Prema 1:33.450 +0.232 16 5. Jules Bianchi ART 1:33.483 +0.265 15 6. Stefano Coletti Prema 1:33.665 +0.447 16 7. Koudai Tsukakoshi Manor 1:33.713 +0.495 17 8. Mika Maki Mucke 1:33.824 +0.606 16 9. James Jakes ART 1:33.837 +0.619 15 10. Sam Bird Manor 1:33.844 +0.626 17 11. Dani Clos Prema 1:33.874 +0.656 16 12. Jean-Karl Vernay Signature 1:34.003 +0.785 16 13. Robert Wickens Signature 1:34.056 +0.838 15 14. Richard Philippe SG 1:34.105 +0.887 16 15. Daniel Campos-Hull HBR 1:34.174 +0.956 17 16. Erik Janis Mucke 1:34.182 +0.964 16 17. Yann Clairay SG 1:34.234 +1.016 15 18. Kazuya Oshima Manor 1:34.307 +1.089 11 19. Franck Mailleux Signature 1:34.316 +1.098 16 20. Brendon Hartley Carlin 1:34.404 +1.186 15 21. Henkie Waldschmidt SG 1:34.445 +1.227 15 22. Jon Lancaster ART 1:34.525 +1.307 15 23. Franky Cheng RC 1:34.871 +1.653 16 24. Basil Shaaban HBR 1:34.947 +1.729 15 25. Oliver Oakes Carlin 1:35.120 +1.902 16 26. Jens Klingmann RC 1:35.124 +1.906 15 27. Frederic Vervisch RC 1:35.924 +2.706 12 28. Stephane Richelmi Barazi-Epsilon 1:36.612 +3.394 14

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