Bahrain F3.5: Isaakyan on pole, Fittipaldi fourth

With the temperature rising as the desert track reached mid-day, the SMP Racing driver left it until his last lap of the session to set a 1m44.727s, edging out Fittipaldi by 0.095 seconds.

Championship leader Fittipaldi was the pace-setter for much of the 30-minute session as he battled with series debutants Tatiana Calderon and Henrique Chaves, who were both immediately on the qualifying pace.

Chaves, who is racing with AVF this weekend, clocked a 1m44.899s, putting him on provisional pole with two minutes remaining until the championship contenders relegated him to the second row.

But a track limits penalty for Fittipaldi reinstates the newcomer on front row, while the Brazilian himself will line up fourth - right behind teammate Rene Binder.

The third-row is occupied by RP Motorsport teammates Calderon and Yu Kanamaru, with SMP Racing stand-in Konstantin Tereshchenko seventh.

Fortec Motorsports’ Diego Menchaca and Alfonso Celis Jr will start race one in eighth and ninth as the latter complained of a continuing lack of speed and overheating issues with his car’s engine.

Rounding out the field is Roy Nissany as the RP Motorsport driver focussed on fine-tuning his set-up for tonight’s race after a bent steering column hampered his practice yesterday.

Joe Hudson