F2 : 2010 Portimao - Jolyon Palmer posts Formula 2 pole in first qualifying

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Source - Formula Two / F1SA

Saturday, 03 July 2010 02:00

Formula Two report - Jolyon Palmer put in a stunning late effort to take a last gasp pole position ahead of Benjamin Bailly for the opening race in the Algarve, the fourth time the Briton will have started from the front.

Photo credit Formula 2

Palmer's late surge denied Benjamin Bailly a second consecutive pole, although the Belgian will be happy after securing a front row starting berth for the third race in a row.

Behind them Jack Clarke continued his impressive recent form to take third, with Nicola De Marco lining up alongside him in fourth.

De Marco led for much of the early running on used rubber, bettering his own benchmark at the midway stage.

Times began to tumble in the final 15 minutes however, as Russian racer Ivan Samarin became the first driver to set a time on fresh tyres.

His 1:36.296s lap time was initially good enough for provisional pole but it was clear that times would drop further, as Bailly immediately jumped to the top of the order.

Clarke followed Bailly across the line, falling short of the RACB backed driver by just 0.018s. Nicola De Marco, Kazim Vasiliauskas and Philipp Eng slotted in behind, which at one stage left the top five positions separated by less than one tenth of a second.

Championship top two Jolyon Palmer and Dean Stoneman were seemingly stuck down in 12th and tenth respectively with little over five minutes remaining, after their first few flying lap attempts fell some way short of what was required.

Palmer responded in magnificent fashion however, as he punched in three quick laps in succession, launching himself to the summit of the times in the process.

The gap back to Bailly was a healthy 0.215s, which was all the more impressive considering the next 12 drivers were covered by a little over six tenths of a second.

"I knew once I got a lap in I'd be at the sharp end, but whereabouts I wasn't sure. Obviously I was happy to come over the line and see 35.7 on the dash. I've just got to push for the win and hopefully score good points for the championship," said Palmer.

Bailly and Clarke had to settle for second and third at the finish, ahead of De Marco, Vasiliauskas and Eng. Briton Will Bratt came home seventh while Ivan Samarin's earlier pace setting lap was only good enough for eighth as the chequered flag waved.

Dean Stoneman was left down in a disappointing ninth despite a slight improvement late on and Ricardo Teixeira rounded out the top ten.

The Angolan racer ran as high as fourth in the early stages of qualifying, but he had to make do with a row five starting berth after failing to get the very best out of his new tyres in the latter stages.

Kelvin Snoeks and Benjamin Lariche followed, whilst Natalia Kowalska was 13th.

The Polish female racer continues to develop in F2 and this was one of her best sessions so far as she ended up just eight tenths off the pole position time around the technical 4.69km circuit.

Sergey Afanasiev, Mihai Marinescu and Armaan Ebrahim all endured challenging sessions and could only manage 14th, 15th and 16th respectively.

Weather/Track: Sun 23C/Dry 23C

Qualifying 1 results:

Pos.	N°	*	Driver	Nat.	Sponsor	Time	Laps	Gap	Speed
1	3		Jolyon PALMER	GBR	Comma	1'35.700	16		175.03
2	4		Benjamin BAILLY	BEL	RACB	1'35.915	14	0.215	174.64
3	11		Jack CLARKE	GBR	KSS Design	1'35.933	16	0.233	174.6
4	19		Nicola DEMARCO	ITA	SpritzOne	1'35.957	15	0.257	174.56
5	21		Kazim VASILIAUSKAS	LTU	Darsena	1'36.009	14	0.309	174.47
6	33		Philipp ENG	AUT		1'36.012	16	0.312	174.46
7	2		Will BRATT	GBR	Michelangelo Search	1'36.172	15	0.472	174.17
8	7		Ivan SAMARIN	RUS	Luding	1'36.296	14	0.596	173.95
9	48		Dean STONEMAN	GBR	Silver Lining	1'36.382	14	0.682	173.79
10	5		Ricardo TEIXEIRA	ANG	Sonangol	1'36.442	15	0.742	173.68
11	12		Kelvin SNOEKS	NED	HDI Gerling	1'36.495	13	0.795	173.59
12	10		Benjamin LARICHE	FRA	Quick Sorel	1'36.502	15	0.802	173.58
13	77		Natalia KOWALSKA	POL	Cyfra +	1'36.550	14	0.85	173.49
14	14		Sergei AFANASIEV	RUS	Lukoil	1'36.788	16	1.088	173.06
15	9		Mihai MARINESCU	ROM	KG Clean Energy	1'36.855	16	1.155	172.94
16	6		Armaan EBRAHIM	IND	JK Racing	1'37.031	15	1.331	172.63
17	26		Parthiva SURESHWAREN	IND	Indigo / Ice Blue	1'37.068	12	1.368	172.56
18	8		Plamen KRALEV	BUL	Bulgarian State	1'37.769	13	2.069	171.33