Jules Bianchi topped a close-fought GP2 qualifying session at Silverstone to claim pole for tomorrow's feature race.
Seven different drivers took turns up front, but Bianchi (ART) finally secured the honors with a best lap of 1m39.189s, enough to put him 0.136sec clear of Pastor Maldonado (Rapax).
Racing Engineering's rookie Christian Vietoris was an excellent third, although the German will drop to 13th due to a 10-place grid penalty carried over from the previous round in Valencia. Similar penalties await 2009 Silverstone winner Alberto Valerio (Coloni), who was ninth fastest, and Trident's Johny Cecotto, who was 18th.
Vietoris' demotion means that his team-mate Dani Clos will start from third alongside iSport's Oliver Turvey, with ART's Sam Bird and Arden's Charles Pic just behind them, the latter having rebounded well from losing virtually all of free practice to an engine problem.