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Photo: FOTOSPEEDY/f3open.net
Canadian newcomer Nelson Mason kept?his great form from the Winter Series to the main one, and won the first qualifying of the new season at Paul Ricard.
Beside Mason, another rookie, Hector Hurst took the other place on the front row, as he was beaten by Mason by only half a tenth.
Mason’s teammate at Team West-Tec, Roberto La Rocca, took third place. The Venezuelan beat Sandy Stuvik by only 17 milliseconds. Behind the top four, the order was Santiago Urrutia, Alexey Chuklin, Mattia Vita, Igor Urien, who was the best Copa class driver. The top ten was completed by a BVM driver, Mario Marasca, and the American rookie, Spencer Pigot.
Qualfying results:
| Pos. | Driver | Team | Time | Gap | Laps |
| 1 | Nelson Mason | Team West-Tec | 2:20.315 | 13 | |
| 2 | Hector Hurst | EmillioDeVillota | 2:20.364 | + 0.049 | 13 |
| 3 | Roberto La Rocca | Team West-Tec | 2:20.447 | +?0.132 | 13 |
| 4 | Sandy Stuvik | RP Motorsport | 2:20.464 | +?0.149 | 14 |
| 5 | Santiago Urrutia | RP Motorsport | 2:20.706 | +?0.391 | 14 |
| 6 | Alexey Chuklin | EmillioDeVillota | 2:21.171 | +?0.856 | 14 |
| 7 | Mattia Vita | Top F3 | 2:21.171 | +?0.856 | 13 |
| 8 | Igor Urien | EmillioDeVillota | 2:21.176 | +?0.861 | 13 |
| 9 | Mario Marasca | BVM | 2:21.212 | +0.897 | 13 |
| 10 | Spencer Pigot | Team West-Tec | 2:21.431 | +?1.116 | 13 |
| 11 | Alex Toril | RP Motorsport | 2:21.536 | +?1.221 | 13 |
| 12 | Che One Lim | EmillioDeVillota | 2:21.677 | +?1.362 | 13 |
| 13 | Denis Nagulin | Campos Racing | 2:21.793 | +?1.478 | 13 |
| 14 | Cameron Twynham | Team West-Tec | 2:21.839 | +?1.524 | 13 |
| 15 | Yarin Stern | EmillioDeVillota | 2:21.985 | +?1.670 | 12 |
| 16 | Liam Venter | Team West-Tec | 2:22.004 | +?1.689 | 14 |
| 17 | Alexander Cougnaud | RP Motorsport | 2:22.070 | +?1.755 | 13 |
| 18 | Andr?s Saravia | EmillioDeVillota | 2:22.096 | +?1.781 | 13 |
| 19 | Gerardo Nieto | DAV Racing | 2:22.113 | +?1.798 | 13 |
| 20 | Tommaso Menchini | Corbetta Competizioni | 2:22.258 | +?1.943 | 13 |
| 21 | Valeria Carballo | Campos Racing | 2:22.464 | +?2.149 | 10 |
| 22 | Vicky Piria | BVM | 2:22.735 | +?2.420 | 12 |
| 23 | Luca Orlandi | Team West-Tec | 2:22.858 | +?2.543 | 12 |
| 24 | Richard Gonda | Drivex School | 2:23.188 | +?2.873 | 12 |
| 25 | Nicholas Pohler | DAV Racing | 2:23.312 | +?2.997 | 13 |
| 26 | Sean Walkinshaw | Team West-Tec | 2:23.339 | +?3.024 | 11 |
| 27 | Lorenzo Paggi | Corbetta Competizioni | 2:23.650 | +?3.335 | 13 |
| 28 | Damiano Fioravanti | Corbetta Competizioni | 2:24.006 | +?3.691 | 13 |
| 29 | Huan Zhu | Team West-Tec | 2:24.422 | +?4.107 | 12 |
| 30 | Artur Janosz | Campos Racing | 2:26.764 | +?6.449 | 12 |
| 31 | Saud Al Faisal | RP Motorsport | 2:28.776 | +?8.461 | 13 |