Adrien Simon has taken pole position for the 2018 Australian V-Prix after a last-gasp effort put him just half a tenth clear of defending Champion Nathaniel Powers, who will complete the front row. All of this took place well after an earlier red flag however; following an incident involving Viktor Ostberg and Klaas van Snelheid that confined both of them to starts at the back of the grid. The pair collided whilst fighting over track position and both suffered suspension damage, with a heated discussion taking place between the friends before marshals intervened. At this point it was Allar Kangur sitting on pole position, but with forty minutes to go in the session things were bound to change. The track warmed up as they readied the chequered flag, with first Ryota Yoshida, and then team mate Puccio Giodano claiming pole in what looked set to be a shock Ocelot front row lockout. There was more to come however with the final laps as James Vasquez ruined the Japanese manufacturers dream by splitting the pair, before Nathaniel Powers smashed Giodano's time by four tenths of a second to deny them pole position. Enrique Ruiz lapped a couple tenths off but managed to push Giodano from the front row while Kangur and Will Hoskins got between the rookie pair of Vasquez and Yoshida, demoting the latter to eighth. Olen Inman was the penultimate driver to cross the line but only managed a disappointing thirteenth in his first qualifying for Franklin, while behind Simon looked as though he would fall a tenth short of pole and have to settle for second. A mighty final sector turned it around however, and with the last lap of the session Simon claimed an impressive pole position, and will therefore head the field for the opening race of the season. Jean Mattson and Tumo Kinnumen completed the top ten ahead of the Westwood duo, while after turning some heads in practice Phoenix failed to capitalise as neither car managed to set a time. Carson Davenport spun at the final corner early on and broke a rear wishbone, but limped the car back to the pits; where he joined Sergio Alvarez, who was enduring the same water leak problem his team mate suffered in practice. See below for full qualifying classification and grid with tyre choices:
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