ART Grand Prix’s Nikita Mazepin claimed his maiden GP3 Series pole position during a tightly-contested qualifying session at Sochi.
Mazepin clocked a time of 1:52.569 to finish just 0.017s clear of Campos rival Leonardo Pulcini to seal top spot on home territory.
The lap also enabled Mazepin to bag the additional four points on offer for pole position, reducing team-mate Anthoine Hubert’s advantage from 29 to 25 points.
Hubert was just 0.229s behind Mazepin but that proved quick enough for only fifth, as Pulcini, Callum Ilott and Giuliano Alesi all finished within a tenth of the occasional Force India F1 tester.
Ryan Tveter (Trident), Simo Laaksonen (Campos) and Richard Verschoor (MP Motorsport) capped a top eight that was separated by less than three tenths of a second.
A comparatively substantial gap split Verschoor and ninth-placed Joey Mawson (Arden) as the fourth ART of Jake Hughes rounded out the top 10.
Saturday’s GP3 Feature Race will begin at 10:15 local time
