Championship leader Daniel Ricciardo will start the 15th round of the Cooper Tires British Formula 3 International Series from pole position after a masterclass performance in qualifying for the opening race of the weekend

Five of the 20-year-old Australian's laps were good enough for the pole, and he set the benchmark at 1m 14.783s, nearly two-tenths of a second than his closest rival; Carlin team-mate Max Chilton.

It marked the fourth pole of the season for Ricciardo, as he seeks to extend his championship lead.

"That's just the way I wanted to start the weekend," he said. "Hopefully I can do the same again in the second qualifying session and then go on to get a good haul of points in the races."

Ricciardo's closest championship challenger, Austrian Walter Grubmuller, will start from fourth on the grid, behind his Hitech team-mate Renger van der Zande. Raikkonen Robertson racer Carlos Huertas was fifth fastest.

Brazil's Gabriel Dias won the National Class pole battle, pipping points leader Daniel McKenzie by two-tenths of a second.

Championship newcomers Michele Faccin and Adil Hermanto both impressed on their debut; Italian Faccin outpaced his Team West-Tec team-mate Max Snegirev, while Indonesia's Hermanto achieved a similar feat in his Litespeed SLC to finish ahead of his team-mate, Victor Correa.