SUPERSTAR STONEMAN SEALS BRANDS POLE

Dean Stoneman converted his dominant practice form into pole position for Saturday's Formula 2 race at Brands Hatch.

The 19-year-old sealed his third pole position of the year by four tenths of a second from Sergei Afanasiev.

He will be looking to close the gap to championship leader Jolyon Palmer, who could only manage seventh on the grid.

Jack Clarke will start from the head of the second row, after holding provisional pole for much of the session by just 0.001s from Afanasiev before the late improvements.

Will Bratt will line up alongside Jack, with Tom Gladdis fifth, Ivan Samarin sixth and Palmer making sure all five British drivers will start in the top seven for their home race.

Philipp Eng, Kazim Vasiliauskas and Nicola de Marco completed the top 10.

Benjamin Bailly's recent good form ended as he qualified down in 16th, just ahead of series debutant Julian Theobald.

The session was halted three minutes early when Plamen Kralev crashed at Stirlings. There was only time for one flying lap each after the restart, but there were no further improvements.