Reigning world champion Nathaniel Powers made it three poles out of three by a narrow margin of just under a tenth of a second, clocking in just ahead of former teammate Will Hoskins. Rounding out the top three was Elroy Wagner, who remains the only driver to qualify in the top three every race so far this season. Q1 Q1 had slightly higher stakes this time around, as the last race before the teams in Q1 were no longer based on last season's finishing positions. Finn Schnyder immediately looked to have the advantage by setting the fastest time, but Brynildsen managed to find himself in second within a tenth of the Swiss driver. Beckenbauer only really had Milkovich for contest as both Meteors were off pace as expected, while Takahashi seemed to struggle with a suspected lack of power. As they went out for their final runs, Brynildsen struck first and went ahead of Schnyder, only for the time to be bested by Schnyder moments later by a mere margin of half a tenth. Max Meyer was solid, a tenth off of his teammate, while Beckenbauer proved his worth again by beating out Milkovich for the final spot on the grid. Q2 It was a frantic affair of drivers desperate to get their times in before traffic became a big issue, with many queueing at the end of the pitlane in order to get the coveted clean air. It was Wagner who went fastest first, having been first at the end of the pitlane. He was followed by Hoskins and Ruiz to complete the early top three, with Thunstrom setting a respectable time to go fifth fastest. As the track began to rubber in, teams expected times to tumble, however the temperatures had been rising and the drivers seemed unable to get enough grip to set any representative times. The cars also seemed to be struggling for rear end grip in the heat, with some exceptional displays of car control for the crowd. However, as a cloud cover rolled in and the track cooled, everyone was waiting until the last possible moment to go out for their final runs, and get the cooler more rubbered in track surface. Powers was able to take full advantage, and when fastest after lighting up sector after sector with purple times. Hoskins was able to improve marginally to retake second, while Wagner was actually unable to improve on his time. Despite this, it was still good enough to stay third. Further back Thunstrom put in a fine performance to take seventh behind Klaas van Snelheid, who will have been happy with a relatively clean qualifying session. The traffic however soon reared its ugly head, as drivers such as Forini, Perez, and Simon found themselves baulked and forced to abort their laps. Ingram were left disappointed after an incredibly strong practice session, while Westwood built on the success of Friday to qualify 13th and 18th. Xylander once again showed his teammate the way in what has slowly become the theme that nobody expected for the Phoenix pairing in 2021, although Alvarez seemed to struggle with setup problems for the duration of the session, something which will leave him and the team concerned about for tomorrow's race. Full classification below. With temperatures forecast to be even higher tomorrow, expect a hard race where both man and machine are pushed to their absolute limit. We'll be bringing you all the coverage live as it happens, so tune in to see the action unfold! Thankyou for joining us, and we'll see you on the grid!
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