Bianchi takes Brands Hatch pole

Run in split qualifying sessions for the first time for the Euro Series, due to Brands Hatch's ultra-short Indy circuit, Bianchi set the fastest time in the first session, for even-numbered cars, which stood as the quickest time overall.

Series leading ART Grand Prix teammate Nico Hulkenberg was fastest in the second session, but his 41.780 was over a tenth slower than Bianchi's 41.668.

Koudai Tsukakoshi will start third for Manor, his lap just 0.002 slower than Hulkenberg's, but even if he'd gone quicker than that he would still have started third due to the split sessions.

Sam Bird carries the flame for Britain with fourth place for Manor Motorsport, ahead of fellow Brit James Jakes (ART) - who was on pole here last year with Manor.

Christian Vietoris will start sixth for Mucke Motorsport, whose regular frontrunner Mika Maki will start 17th after he ran wide at Graham Hill Bend and damaged the underside of his car on the kerbs early on.

Yann Clairay was next up for SG Formula, ahead of former points leader Edoardo Mortara (Signature).

Ninth place starter Niall Breen brought the first session to a premature close when he shunted heavily on the exit of Paddock Hill Bend, swiping the right-hand corners off his Manor car.

Free practice pacesetter Renger van der Zande (Prema) could only manage tenth on the grid, with the third Brit, Jon Lancaster (ART), down in 12th.

Pos  Driver                Team       Car  Time
 1.  Jules Bianchi         ART        D/M  41.668
 2.  Nico Hulkenberg       ART        D/M  41.780  + 0.112
 3.  Koudai Tsukakoshi     Manor      D/M  41.782  + 0.114
 4.  Sam Bird              Manor      D/M  41.795  + 0.127
 5.  James Jakes           ART        D/M  41.899  + 0.231
 6.  Christian Vietoris    Mucke      D/M  41.809  + 0.141
 7.  Yann Clairay          SG         D/M  41.966  + 0.298
 8.  Edoardo Mortara       Signature  D/V  41.856  + 0.188
 9.  Niall Breen           Manor      D/M  41.970  + 0.302
10.  Renger van der Zande  Prema      D/M  41.887  + 0.219
11.  Franck Mailleux       Signature  D/V  41.975  + 0.307
12.  Jon Lancaster         ART        D/M  42.029  + 0.361
13.  Jean-Karl Vernay      Signature  D/V  42.036  + 0.368
14.  Daniel Clos           Prema      D/M  42.054  + 0.386
15.  Henkie Waldschmidt    SG         D/M  42.065  + 0.397
16.  Kazuya Oshima         Manor      D/M  42.154  + 0.486
17.  Mika Maki             Mucke      D/M  42.067  + 0.399
18.  Stefano Coletti       Prema      D/M  42.161  + 0.493
19.  Rodolfo Gonzalez      Carlin     D/M  42.091  + 0.423
20.  Daniel Campos         HBR        D/M  42.229  + 0.561
21.  Erik Janis            Mucke      D/M  42.230  + 0.562
22.  Cheng Cong Fu         RC         D/V  42.368  + 0.700
23.  Jens Klingmann        RC         D/V  42.736  + 1.068
24.  Richard Philippe      Carlin     D/M  42.525  + 0.857
25.  Martin Plowman        RC         D/V  42.894  + 1.226
26.  Basil Shaaban         HBR        D/M  42.683  + 1.015