Robert Wickens produced an outstanding lap of the
Silverstone circuit to claim his first ever World Series by Renault pole position ahead of the fourth round of the season.
The Canadian headed into the grid-deciding Superpole on a confidence high after proving quickest during the group stages, but while he left it late to make his play, his time in the final five minutes was enough to resist championship leader Giedo van der Garde by a good three tenths.
Also a first pole position of the season for Carlin Motorsport, Wickens clawed back the two tenths he lost in the first sector with an outstanding run in sectors two and three to guarantee himself pole position for the second race of the weekend.
Starting eighth for the first race – as a result of the Superpole system that sees the top eight drivers reversed -, Wickens will start alongside van der Garde, who looked like he was heading for the top spot having been in charge for much of the session.
Still, while he missed out on the top spot, second place does still mark the fourth time of the Dutchman has started on the front row this year.
Behind Wickens and van der Garde, Esteban Guerrieri arguably provided the surprise of the day with a superb drive to third on the grid ahead of his maiden outing with Ultimate Signature. The Argentine was the only big mover in the latter stages of a session that began to lose pace as clouds descended over the Northamptonshire circuit.
Salvador Duran will start fourth in his Interwetten Racing machine, while Marcos Martinez – who initially set the pace – mirrored his impressive form in practice to take a season's best fifth on the grid for himself and Pons Racing.
In the battle of the brothers, Marco Barba got the better of older sibling Alvaro for the first time as the Draco driver also made his debut appearance in Superpole. The Spaniard will start sixth, with Alvaro eighth, the pair sandwiching Fabio Carbone, who rounded off Ultimate's excellent start to day in seventh.
![Robert Wickens - Carlin Motorsport [pic credit: Renault Sport Media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/397440.jpg)
