Bianchi claims maiden GP2 pole
On a much cleaner track compared to this morning’s practice session, the ART man made a statement very early into the qualifying session, topping the timing sheet ahead of returnee Alvaro Parente and Javier Villa. On a different tire strategy and leaving the pits later than most, Valsecchi waited for a clear lap in the middle of the session to push back Bianchi in second place, while the Italian’s teammate Oliver Turvey moved up to third place.
With ten minutes left on the clock, Luca Filippi moved to provisional pole, but not for long though as Bianchi, clearly on a mission and on a flyer, improved in the first and third sectors while setting an impressive second sector. Meanwhile, Villa moved up to second place, pushing Valsecchi back to fourth.
In the last sixty seconds of the session, Valsecchi improved his best lap time and looked set to claim his second pole position of the season. By then, the top 4 was within six hundredths. In his last effort and ten seconds before the checkered flag, Bianchi found it in him to improve even more earning his first GP2 pole position.
Behind Bianchi and Valsecchi, Villa and Filippi remained respectively third and fourth while Parente finished a strong fifth for Coloni ahead of Turvey, Giacomo Ricci, GP2 Asia race winner Christian Vietoris, Round 2 poleman Charles Pic and Sergio Perez. Tomorrow’s feature race will start at 1pm local time.
Lineup
Pos |
Driver | Team | Time | Behind |
1. | Jules Bianchi | ART | 1m43.474s | +0.000s |
2. | Davide Valsecchi | iSport | 1m43.478s | +0.004s |
3. | Javier Villa | Arden | 1m43.519s | +0.045s |
4. | Luca Filippi | Meritus | 1m43.523s | +0.049s |
5. | Alvaro Parente | Coloni | 1m43.714s | +0.240s |
6. | Oliver Turvey | iSport | 1m43.818s | +0.344s |
7. | Giacomo Ricci | DPR | 1m43.918s | +0.444s |
8. | Christian Vietoris | DAMS | 1m44.086s | +0.612s |
9. | Charles Pic | Arden | 1m44.172s | +0.698s |
10. | Sergio Perez | Addax | 1m44.246s | +0.772s |
11. | Sam Bird | ART | 1m44.253s | +0.779s |
12. | Edoardo Piscopo | DAMS | 1m44.338s | +0.864s |
13. | Max Chilton | Addax | 1m44.617s | +1.143s |
14. | Michael Herck | DPR | 1m44.671s | +1.197s |
15. | Alexander Rossi | Meritus | 1m44.713s | +1.239s |
16. | Yelmer Buurman | Ocean | 1m44.724s | +1.250s |
17. | Vladimir Arabadzhiev | Rapax | 1m44.759s | +1.285s |
18. | Adrian Zaugg | Trident | 1m44.781s | +1.307s |
19. | Daniele Zampieri | Rapax | 1m45.079s | +1.605s |
20. | Will Bratt | Coloni | 1m45.320s | +1.846s |
21. | Fabio Leimer | Ocean | 1m45.371s | +1.897s |
22. | Josef Kral | Super Nova | 1m45.424s | +1.950s |
23. | Jake Rosenzweig | Super Nova | 1m45.980s | +2.506s |
24. | Plamen Kralev | Trident | 1m47.243s | +3.769s |