The Hitech driver had moved to the top of the timesheets with less than 10 minutes remaining as drivers unleashed their best efforts on new tyres.
It put him just 0.006 seconds ahead of Theodore Prema’s Gabriele Mini, but there remained plenty of time for his rivals to try to knock him off the front spot.
Mini had looked most likely to do that, but a first effort that was on course to be good enough for pole position was wrecked with five minutes to go by red flags after Marcus Armstrong crashed at Dona Maria Bend and Ugo Ugochukwu ended up blocking the track at Moorish Hill.
A restart with five minutes to go left drivers with enough time for one final flying lap, and early sector times suggested that Mini had the pace needed to go better and knock Browning off pole.
However, another red flag, triggered by Hitech’s Isack Hadjar crashing at Moorish Hill meant that the session was suspended – left Browning’s pole position spot intact.
Theodore Prema’s Dino Beganovic ended up third fastest in the end with a late effort, while Hadjar’s earlier fastest lap was good enough to secure him fourth.
The final red flag, which meant nobody could improve, also ensured that Armstrong was able to hold on to fifth, ahead of Alex Dunne and Oliver Goethe.
Source: Autosport