Sochi GP3: Mazepin beats Pulcini to grab pole

ART Grand Prix driver Mazepin, second in the championship, delivered a rapid lap as the sun set to edge out Campos Racing's Leo Pulcini, Callum Ilott (ART) and Trident's Giuliano Alesi.

Although the race started in light, it was almost completely dark as the drivers still managed to improve with later runs despite decreased visibility.

It was an important four points for Mazepin as it edges him ahead of Ilott, his teammate who had been tied with him for second in the standings with four races left.

Points leader Anthoine Hubert could only manage fifth with his last lap despite leading most of the session in his ART car.

The fourth ART car of Jake Hughes was in contention until the final lap, when he clipped a kerb and ran wide at Turn 2.

He headed Ryan Tveter and Simo Laaksonen, both enjoying a strong run of form, while Richard Verschoor took eighth in his best qualifying since joining the series at Spa from the Formula Renault Eurocup.

Aussie Joey Mawson (Arden) and Hughes rounded out the top 10.

David Beckmann stopped with what appeared to be an engine failure, bringing his run of two poles in a row to an end.

Rookie Sacha Fenestraz, replacing Julien Falchero at Arden, managed 13th.

Cla	Driver	Team	Time	Gap
1	Nikita Mazepin	ART Grand Prix	1'52.569
2	Leonardo Pulcini	Campos Racing	1'52.586	0.017
3	Callum Ilott	ART Grand Prix	1'52.655	0.086
4	Giuliano Alesi	Trident	1'52.664	0.095
5	Anthoine Hubert	ART Grand Prix	1'52.798	0.229
6	Ryan Tveter	Trident	1'52.826	0.257
7	Simo Laaksonen	Campos Racing	1'52.844	0.275
8	Richard Verschoor	MP Motorsport	1'52.865	0.296
9	Joey Mawson	Arden International	1'53.178	0.609
10	Jake Hughes	ART Grand Prix	1'53.218	0.649
11	Pedro Piquet	Trident	1'53.262	0.693
12	Juan Manuel Correa	Jenzer Motorsport	1'53.362	0.793
13	Sacha Fenestraz	Arden International	1'53.435	0.866
14	Tatiana Calderon	Jenzer Motorsport	1'53.661	1.092
15	David Beckmann	Trident	1'53.765	1.196
16	Devlin DeFrancesco	MP Motorsport	1'53.992	1.423
17	Gabriel Aubry	Arden International	1'54.007	1.438
18	Diego Menchaca	Campos Racing	1'54.614	2.045
19	Jannes Fittje	Jenzer Motorsport	1'54.846	2.277