Stoneman claims maiden GP3 pole, Stanaway 6th

Autosport

Dean Stoneman will start the first-ever GP3 race at Sochi Autodrom in Russia from pole position later today after dominating qualifying by almost half a second.

Stoneman has switched from the absent Manor team, which failed to make the trip to Sochi due to commercial reasons, to Koiranen GP this weekend.

Still wearing his Marussia-branded overalls, Stoneman led the way for the majority of the 30-minute session.

After topping the first runs with a 1m52.501s laptime, Stoneman set a stunning 1m51.715s on his second set of new tyres.

The closest anyone came was the ART trio of Alex Fontana, Marvin Kirchhofer and Dino Zamparelli, who all lapped within 0.084s of each other. Stoneman’s advantage over Fontana was 0.489s.

Koiranen’s Jimmy Eriksson will start fifth, 0.6s off the pole time of his new team-mate, while title contender Richie Stanaway (Status GP) was sixth fastest, 0.7s off the pace.

Stanaway needs to overturn a 50-point deficit to points leader Alex Lynn over the next four races to wrest the title away.

Carlin driver Lynn was on target to take pole on his final lap, but a huge lock-up at Turn 13 ruined his chances having set a purple first sector and personal-best second sector. He will start eighth, behind Kevin Ceccon.

Patric Niederhauser and Emil Bernstorff rounded out the top 10.

PosDriverTeamTimeGapLaps
1Dean StonemanKoiranen GP1m51.715s11
2Alex FontanaART Grand Prix1m52.204s0.489s13
3Marvin KirchhoferART Grand Prix1m52.208s0.493s12
4Dino ZamparelliART Grand Prix1m52.288s0.573s12
5Jimmy ErikssonKoiranen GP1m52.388s0.673s12
6Richie StanawayStatus Grand Prix1m52.476s0.761s13
7Kevin CecconJenzer Motorsport1m52.499s0.784s13
8Alex LynnCarlin1m52.506s0.791s12
9Patric NiederhauserArden International1m52.527s0.812s14
10Emil BernstorffCarlin1m52.537s0.822s14
11Nick YellolyStatus Grand Prix1m52.607s0.892s12
12Jann MardenboroughArden International1m52.906s1.191s13
13Matheo TuscherJenzer Motorsport1m52.981s1.266s14
14Robert VisoiuArden International1m53.019s1.304s15
15Riccardo AgostiniHilmer Motorsport1m53.151s1.436s14
16Mitchell GilbertTrident1m53.190s1.475s12
17Pal VarhaugJenzer Motorsport1m53.193s1.478s15
18Patrick KujalaTrident1m53.386s1.671s13
19Alfonso CelisStatus Grand Prix1m53.693s1.978s14
20Luis Jorge Sa SilvaCarlin1m53.742s2.027s14
21Santiago UrrutiaKoiranen GP1m53.744s2.029s14
22Nelson MasonHilmer Motorsport1m54.191s2.476s14
23Nikolay MartsenkoHilmer Motorsport1m54.700s2.985s14

Stoneman claims maiden GP3 pole, Stanaway 6th

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