Agostini stuns the field to take the opening pole position

The 2013 Auto GP championship celebrated its first polesitter of the season as Riccardo Agostini scored the fastest lap in qualifying for MP Motorsport. The Padua-based racer topped the charts in 1'35"782 as the series' brand-new car continued to improve its marks throughout the sessions. Agostini was followed by three fellow Italians as Sergio Campana, driving for the debuting Ibiza Racing Team, topped Vittorio Spavone and Andrea Roda, respectively fielded by Super Nova and Virtuosi UK.

The youngest driver of the pack, Team Ghinzani's Robert Visoiu, rounded out the top-5 after leading the first practice session and was followed by Japanese youngster Kimiya Sato. Fellow countryman and Euronova team-mate Yoshitaka Kuroda took 6th and was trailed by Giuseppe Cipriani on the second Ibiza Racing Team car, with the Spanish-based squad showing great progress.

Cipriani found good confidence with a car he had brought on-track for the first time at Vallelunga last month. Giacomo Ricci finished in 9th for MLR71, one of the latest teams to receive the 2013 upgrades, but he showed good potential ahead of tomorrow's Race 1. The top-10 was rounded out by Luciano Bacheta, while his Zele Racing team-mate Narain Karthikeyan was slowed down by a flat tire, ending up in 12th.

Riccardo Agostini:“I'm incredibly happy with this pole at my first run in Auto GP. I won the Italian F.3 Championship last year at Monza and I hope to carry on in the same fashion. I thank MP Motorsport for the great job done which provided us with a well-deserved maiden championship point".

Sergio Campana:“Second place is a surprise for me as I faced some struggles in practice and qualifying with the rear tires locking up a bit. I see this as a fantastic result for a rookie squad like Ibiza Racing Team".

Vittorio Ghirelli:“After having scored the best lap time of practice we expected to be slightly faster. The car did not respond perfectly to the set-up changes we made but we're still at the front and we expect to have our say in tomorrow's Race 1"".