Jolyon Palmer was unbeatable in GP2 qualifying at Hockenheim, to take his third pole of the season and to maintain his perfect record of front row starts this year.

Palmer's lap of 1m23.383s was set on his first flying lap in qualifying, and it proved the ultimate benchmark throughout the session, initially almost four tenths quicker than championship rival Felipe Nasr.

Several drivers chipped away at the gap, but he was still almost three tenths of a second quicker than ART GP's Stoffel Vandoorne at the end of the session.

Pole position gives Jolyon four championship points, meaning he extends his championship lead over Nasr to 42 points. Tomorrow's Feature race will be the 200th GP2 race since the F1 feeder series was formed in 2005.

Jolyon commented: "I'm delighted with pole! After coming so close in the last two qualifying sessions, to be back on pole feels great. It was a relatively comfortable session, I did my best lap on the first push and then I waited in the pits and saved the tyres. Tyre degradation should be high tomorrow, so having a new set of options will hopefully give me a big advantage."

Hockenheim GP2 Qualifying result:

1. J Palmer, DAMS, 1m23.383s
2. S Vandoorne, ART, +0.282s
3. S Coletti, Racing, +0.339s
4. T Dillmann, Caterham, +0.393s
5. F Nasr, Carlin, +0.398s
6. A Pic, Campos, +0.476s
7. J Cecotto, Trident, +0.477s
8. R Marciello, Racing, +0.535s
9. A Rossi, Campos, +0.582s
10. S Trummer, Rapax, +0.600s