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Friday, 11 May 2012 07:33 |
 GP2 Series report and result of the qualifying session in Spain - Englishman James Calado claimed his maiden GP2 pole position when he stormed to the top of the timesheets with a controlled but aggressive lap in the opening minutes of this afternoon's qualifying session at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The Briton left his more experienced rivals in the shade as he took the top spot in the blazing heat ahead of Fabio Leimer and Stephane Richelmi with a lap time of 1'30.655, giving him a two tenths cushion over his closest rivals, and the gap only closing slightly later in the session when Leimer improved his time.
Calado, along with most of the grid, chose to go out early on the soft compound tyre to take advantage of the Formula 1 rubber left on the track surface by the premier class cars, and the only question after the first few laps was whether the gamble taken by the few remaining drivers would pay off.
Ther fastest driver from the morning practice session, Josef Kral, took to the circuit as most of his rivals came back into the pits, but he was unable to match his earlier performance.
Marcus Ericsson and Fabio Leimer also delayed using their single set of option, but the Swiss driver was an impressive P4 on his first set, and while the Swede was unable to improve his times, Leimer pushed up two spots but was unable to match Calado's best lap.
With little chance to improve, many drivers used the remainder of the session as a bonus practice session ahead of tomorrow's feature race, which will see Max Chilton, Giedo van der Garde, Fabio Onidi, Davide Valsecchi, Stefano Coletti, Jolyon Palmer and Nathanael Berthon line up behind the top three.
With conditions forecast to be much the same as this afternoon's session, Race 1 promises to be a scorcher.
2012 Spain - Barcelona qualifying results:
| Pos. |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Laps |
| 1 |
James Calado |
Lotus GP |
1'30.655 |
6 |
| 2 |
Fabio Leimer |
Racing Engineering |
1'30.865 |
10 |
| 3 |
Stephane Richelmi |
Trident Racing |
1'30.902 |
9 |
| 4 |
Max Chilton |
Carlin |
1'30.962 |
10 |
| 5 |
Giedo van der Garde |
Caterham Racing |
1'31.006 |
9 |
| 6 |
Fabio Onidi |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'31.167 |
9 |
| 7 |
Davide Valsecchi |
DAMS |
1'31.212 |
12 |
| 8 |
Stefano Coletti |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'31.212 |
12 |
| 9 |
Jolyon Palmer |
iSport International |
1'31.269 |
11 |
| 10 |
Nathanael Berthon |
Racing Engineering |
1'31.308 |
8 |
| 11 |
Esteban Gutiérrez |
Lotus GP |
1'31.320 |
11 |
| 12 |
Nigel Melker |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'31.332 |
10 |
| 13 |
Luiz Razia |
Arden International |
1'31.377 |
10 |
| 14 |
Marcus Ericsson |
iSport International |
1'31.391 |
12 |
| 15 |
Johnny Cecotto |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'31.565 |
9 |
| 16 |
Josef Kral |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'31.599 |
9 |
| 17 |
Fabrizio Crestani |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1'31.677 |
13 |
| 18 |
Tom Dillmann |
Rapax |
1'31.682 |
11 |
| 19 |
Simon Trummer |
Arden International |
1'31.939 |
13 |
| 20 |
Rodolfo Gonzalez |
Caterham Racing |
1'31.966 |
10 |
| 21 |
Victor Guerin |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'32.270 |
13 |
| 22 |
Felipe Nasr |
DAMS |
1'32.325 |
11 |
| 23 |
Julian Leal |
Trident Racing |
1'32.691 |
11 |
| 24 |
Rio Haryanto |
Carlin |
1'33.010 |
12 |
| 25 |
Ricardo Teixeira |
Rapax |
1'33.083 |
8 |
| 26 |
Giancarlo Serenelli |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1'33.329 |
10 |
F1SA.com
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