Enrique Ruiz pulled off a stunning lap at the death of the session the claim pole position. This is the first time since the V-Prix in Australia that a non-Downton driver has topped a session. The rest of the grid however was covered by just over a second in yet another incredibly close qualifying. Q1 With Arrow disappointed last time out and unable to take an excellent chance to get themselves out of Q1, they came out of the gates in fine form today; Takahashi in particular. The Japanese driver who looked set for points in France set a blistering time that nobody could get within three and a half tenths of. North Star seemed unable to find an answer, particularly Kidd who initially could not set a lap good enough for the top four - his lack of running on Friday clearly affecting him. As the session finished, Takahashi improved further to a 1:10.4, with his nearest rivals barely able to get within two tenths of him. Meteor and Highwind gave it their all, but on a day like today they simply seemed to lack the raw underlying pace of their rivals. Q2 As the drivers left the pits for their first runs, temperatures were soaring and tensions were building. At such a tight track as Jerez, jokingly labelled by some as a "street circuit without walls", everybody knew the stakes. At this circuit, qualifying is king and traffic is a nightmare. It was a late effort that saw the Brazilian take pole, with a lap that was close to perfection. It had been Klaas Van Snelheid on top early doors, however he snatched the inside front into the final hairpin on his last run and lost a couple of tenths; enough time to cost him pole. Powers was still unable to best his teammate, and lines up on the second row; the wrong way around yet again strategy wise for Downton. Simon was right there in the fight, initially being third fastest but unable to match the pace at the end of qualifying that his rivals were achieving, he completes the second row. Lopez qualified 5th and 7th, while Franklin managed 6th and 8th; both teams undoubtedly happy to get two cars inside the top ten in their respective championship battles. Meanwhile the fifth row is occupied by FIRST, who were able to separate themselves from the midfield but in the heat just couldn't find the grip to move up any further. They'll be nervously checking behind for the underdogs of Giodano and Thunder on row six. Thunstrom struggled, unable to hook up a clean lap and stuck down in 23rd, and will be hoping for better come race day. Xylander yet again bested Alvarez, once again showing his progress this season. In the battle for Q1 is Kinnumen and Takahashi occupying the ninth row, the Finn undoubtedly worried about the amazing speed Takahashi displayed in France. AMR and North Star struggled, with none of them doing better than 20th place, while the back row was occupied by Barclay and Brynildsen respectively. Full classification below. We're set for a tense V-Prix tomorrow with many teams going for harder tyres in the hopes of pulling off a good result. We'll be providing live coverage the whole way through, and we look forward to you joining us for the spectacle.
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