Max Chilton will start the 17th round of the GP2 Series at the Hungaroring from his first pole position in the category.
Chilton's Carlin entry was the very last car to cross the finish line at the end of the 30-minute session, and he was the only man to dip below the 1m29s barrier with a stunning 1m28.980s effort. Before that, he had been languishing outside the top 20 for much of the session.
James Calado (Lotus) was second fastest, just 0.023sec slower than Chilton's time, but will start fourth due to his two-place penalty for impeding Felipe Nasr during free practice. Calado set his best time much earlier in the session, just past the halfway mark.
Davide Valsecchi will start second for DAMS, missing out on the four points for pole by just 0.054sec. Jolyon Palmer set a stunning middle sector time, but lost out in the closing yards in his iSport machine, his fourth-fastest time becoming third thanks to Calado's penalty.
Title contender Luiz Razia will start fifth for Arden, and will be relieved that Valsecchi did not get pole to erode his 10-point lead in the championship.
Giedo van der Garde was sixth, ahead of Esteban Gutierrez, Fabio Leimer, Marcus Ericsson and early pacesetter Johnny Cecotto Jr.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap
1. Max Chilton Carlin 1m28.980a
2. James Calado Lotus 1m29.003a + 0.023s
3. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m29.034a + 0.054s
4. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m29.093a + 0.113s
5. Luiz Razia Arden 1m29.177a + 0.197s
6. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m29.202a + 0.222s
7. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m29.248a + 0.268s
8. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m29.334a + 0.354s
9. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m29.345a + 0.365s
10. Johnny Cecotto Jr Addax 1m29.367a + 0.387s
11. Josef Kral Addax 1m29.472a + 0.492s
12. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m29.496a + 0.516s
13. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m29.574a + 0.594s
14. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m29.637a + 0.657s
15. Sergio Canamasas Lazarus 1m29.666a + 0.686s
16. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m29.717a + 0.737s
17. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m29.786a + 0.806s
18. Victor Guerin Ocean 1m29.786a + 0.806s
19. Stefano Coletti Coloni 1m29.906a + 0.926s
20. Stephane Richelmi Trident 1m30.027a + 1.047s
21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m30.201a + 1.221s
22. Julian Leal Trident 1m30.202a + 1.222s
23. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1m30.475a + 1.495s
24. Simon Trummer Arden 1m30.655a + 1.675s
25. Daniel de Jong Rapax 1m30.930a + 1.950s
26. Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus 1m33.093a + 4.113s