Alex Lynn kept his incredible run of GP3 Series success going in Germany by booking second place in qualifying at Hockenheim.

It means the 20-year-old from Dunmow will start this afternoon’s feature race on the front row of the grid – the fourth consecutive race that he has secured that position.

Lynn told the Times this week how important qualifying was to GP3 success and the current series leader looked to have secured a third pole position of the season heading into the dying stages of the session.

He was trumped at the very end by a fastest lap from home favourite Marvin Kirchhöfer, but was nonetheless pleased to be on the front row again.

He said: “I think I did a really good job on my first set of new tyres.

“I made a big jump and was two tenths clear and then really I just didn’t find a lot of my second set.

“I think I only improved by one tenth where as everybody else seemed to improve by a bit more “ I was missing less than half a tenth on the track today.

“It was a good session though and good to be on the front row again.

“Marvin did the best job.”

The feature race is due to take place this afternoon – at 4.20pm British time – and Lynn is expecting his Carlin team car to be as quick as it has been at the previous three rounds of the GP3 Series.

He added: “Yes I think we are always quite strong in the race, our pace is always good. I think we showed that in Silverstone and in the two races I won at the Red Bull Ring and Barcelona.

“It depends which way the start goes but either way I hope to be fast.”