GP2 Pole for Romain Grosjean
The leader of the 2008 GP2 Asia Series is back on top form this Friday: after he set the pace in this morning’s Free Practice, the RDD driver was once again quickest during qualifying in a 1:44.182. He will fight for a third win. Also back at the top: Karun Chandhok who signed the second fastest lap time of the day at the wheel of his iSport International car in a 1:44.965. As for Adrian Valles and his FMS International car, they were once again very competitive as they complete the Top 3.
Title runner-up Bruno Senna still has a very good chance to fight for the win as he will be starting from the fourth place. Sébastien Buemi and Fairuz Fauzy will place their Trust Team Arden and Super Nova Racing cars on the 4th line in front of TDP Kamui Kobayashi, Davide Valsecchi, Yelmer Buurman and Christian Bakkerud.
Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix): “This is a fantastic result! This pole position was one of my goals of the weekend. The second one is to win tomorrow on this beautiful track. I don’t feel any extra pressure from racing in front of the Formula One paddock: I just keep focused on my objectives. This is still a learning period for me."
Karun Chandhok (iSport International): “I’m happy that I did my best lap in the very last minutes of the session. Of course, I was aiming at pole position, but I’m really happy with the car and the balance. Bruno Senna’s time is also very good: we should be both really competitive tomorrow. As for the start of Race 1, I hope it will be better than the one in Dubai… After that, anything’s possible: I will definitely fight for the win!"
Adrian Valles (FMS International): “It’s a really nice track… This morning, I did a few laps and I had the opportunity to learn the track. I finished third that time too. In the qualifying session, I was struggling a bit because I had some problems with the gear box. I also had problems with the first set of tires. However, I’m really happy with the balance of the car. We are quite strong here. I hope everything will go well tomorrow and I think we can be fighting for the win."
Race 1 will take place tomorrow at 15:45, local time.
Sepang – Qualifying session
Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Laps |
1. | Romain Grosjean | ART Grand Prix | 1:44.182 | 13 |
2. | Karun Chandhok | iSport International | 1:44.965 | 14 |
3. | Adrián Valles | Fisichella Motor Sport International | 1:45.035 | 15 |
4. | Bruno Senna | iSport International | 1:45.094 | 13 |
5. | Luca Filippi** | Qi-Meritus Mahara | 1:45.166 | 14 |
6. | Sébastien Buemi | Trust Team Arden | 1:45.182 | 15 |
7. | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 1:45.367 | 14 |
8. | Kamui Kobayashi | Dams | 1:45.401 | 15 |
9. | Davide Valsecchi | Durango | 1:45.471 | 14 |
10. | Yelmer Buurman | Trust Team Arden | 1:45.560 | 14 |
11. | Christian Bakkerud | Super Nova Racing | 1:45.576 | 15 |
12. | Vitaly Petrov** | Barwa International Campos Team | 1:45.668 | 14 |
13. | Ho-Pin Tung | Trident Racing | 1:45.704 | 15 |
14. | Hiroki Yoshimoto** | Qi-Meritus Mahara | 1:45.719 | 15 |
15. | Ben Hanley | Barwa International Campos Team | 1:45.879 | 14 |
16. | Stephen Jelley | ART Grand Prix | 1:45.901 | 14 |
17. | Alberto Valerio | Durango | 1:45.932 | 14 |
18. | Jérôme d’Ambrosio | Dams | 1:46.019 | 12 |
19. | Harald Schleghelmilch | Trident Racing | 1:46.069 | 14 |
20 | Milos Pavlovic | BCN Competicion | 1:46.093 | 13 |
21. | Diego Nunes | DPR | 1:46.186 | 13 |
22. | Michael Herck | Fisichella Motor Sport International | 1:46.258 | 15 |
23. | Marco Bonanomim | Piquet Sports | 1:46.281 | 8 |
24. | Jason Tahinci** | BCN Competicion | 1:46.710 | 15 |
25 | Marcello Puglisi | Piquet Sports | 1:46.923 | 14 |
26. | Aarman Ebrahim | DPR | 1:47.720 | 15 |