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Friday, 22 June 2012 20:11 |
 GP2 Series report and result of the qualifying session at the Iberian harbour circuit - Englishman James Calado has claimed his second pole position of the season with a scorching lap in hot conditions to take the top spot by just 0.007 seconds from Felipe Nasr and Esteban Gutierrez this afternoon in Valencia.
The Briton's best time of 1'47.342 was set at the halfway point of the session on the soft compound Pirelli tyres, on which most of the field started, and everyone’s tyres was affected when Giancarlo Serenelli spun at the bridge on the first flying lap, grinding to a halt in the middle of the track and prompting a red flag period as his rivals made their way back to the pits, with most unable to complete a lap.
If there were any questions about the super softs having any life left in them, they were soon answered when Davide Valsecchi set the fastest lap on the red wall tyres with which he began the session, but over the next 2 minutes Gutierrez, then Nasr, then Calado pushed the Italian down the order, with the Englishman going five thousandths faster again a few minutes later before returning for fresh boots.
Max Chilton was the first man back on track, wearing super softs for good measure, and though he improved to P6 with a clear track most of his rivals were not so lucky, Calado even managed a spin late in the session as he looked for more time, but managed to stay off the walls and slunk back to the pits as the clock wound down to zero.
Just behind the top three were Valsecchi and Giedo van der Garde with two tenths splitting the top five drivers, ahead of Chilton, Fabio Leimer (who also improved on his second set), Jolyon Palmer, this morning's quickest man Marcus Ericsson and Rio Haryanto, all well within a second of pole.
With temperatures set to raise yet further tomorrow, the feature race promises scorching battles up and down the grid.
Fabio Leimer
"During today's qualifying session I actually didn't have a single clear lap. Every time I wanted to set a fast lap, I had traffic. The car was pretty good and I felt good as well. When I saw that I was only 0.4s off the fastest time, I knew that pole was possible today, but that's racing. It's not always the fastest on pole, you also need a clear track to do it, and today I simply didn't have a chance. The problem is that drivers stay on the racing line, don't look in the mirrors when they are on their slow laps and could easily go one meter towards the left or right. It's not really correct, when others have to pass them on track while on their flying laps. Tomorrow we start from 7th position and I know much more would have been possible today. But we will try to have a good start and push from the very beginning to pass as many cars as possible and drive at the front."
Nathanael Berthon
"The results show that this was not what we expected. But I am nevertheless quite happy with my lap and the car as well. The car wasn't too bad and I therefore really do not know why I am so far from the top. But I think we have a pretty good chance in tomorrow's race as I have an advantage compared to the others. This is my first time at the Valencia Street Circuit and I have to say it's a very fast track with some fantastic braking areas, so I expected to be higher up than in P16. But tomorrow is another day and we know we are strong during the races. I am sure I can fight for a position in the top 8 in tomorrow's feature race."
Luiz Razia
“I didn’t do too much running during free practice, because our strategy for the weekend has been to save tyres. We made some chassis changes before qualifying, but a few small things didn’t go our way and that cost me a better grid position. I felt confident I could qualify in the top five, but it wasn’t to be, We now need to focus hard on getting as much as we can from the car in a race that’s sure to be tough. This has been an average result, given the high standards we’ve set this season, but the fightback starts here...”
Simon Trummer
“We knew the high track temperatures would take their toll on tyres, so I did only a few laps in free practice. It’s not easy to get into a rhythm or find reference points in such a short amount of time, so I was quite pleased to lap within 1.5 seconds of the quickest time. I tried both types of tyre in qualifying, soft and supersoft, but ended up setting my best time on the former, because I had to pass a couple of yellow flags on my second run. I’m not happy with the final outcome, but at the same time I’m not too disheartened because I know the car had the potential to do better. It’s also my best qualifying result of the season, so I’m looking to build on that and move forwards tomorrow.”
2012 GP2 Valencia – Qualifying session results
| Pos. |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Laps |
| 1 |
James Calado |
Lotus GP |
1'47.342 |
12 |
| 2 |
Felipe Nasr |
DAMS |
1'47.349 |
12 |
| 3 |
Esteban Gutiérrez |
Lotus GP |
1'47.444 |
12 |
| 4 |
Davide Valsecchi |
DAMS |
1'47.458 |
13 |
| 5 |
Giedo van der Garde |
Caterham Racing |
1'47.543 |
12 |
| 6 |
Max Chilton |
Carlin |
1'47.674 |
13 |
| 7 |
Fabio Leimer |
Racing Engineering |
1'47.779 |
13 |
| 8 |
Jolyon Palmer |
iSport International |
1'47.801 |
13 |
| 9 |
Marcus Ericsson |
iSport International |
1'47.972 |
13 |
| 10 |
Rio Haryanto |
Carlin |
1'47.996 |
13 |
| 11 |
Luiz Razia |
Arden International |
1'48.155 |
11 |
| 12 |
Tom Dillmann |
Rapax |
1'48.176 |
12 |
| 13 |
Stefano Coletti |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'48.222 |
10 |
| 14 |
Stéphane Richelmi |
Trident Racing |
1'48.288 |
13 |
| 15 |
Johnny Cecotto |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'48.390 |
9 |
| 16 |
Nathanaël Berthon |
Racing Engineering |
1'48.518 |
8 |
| 17 |
Simon Trummer |
Arden International |
1'48.565 |
12 |
| 18 |
Fabio Onidi |
Scuderia Coloni |
1'48.578 |
13 |
| 19 |
Josef Kral |
Barwa Addax Team |
1'48.626 |
13 |
| 20 |
Julian Leal |
Trident Racing |
1'48.641 |
13 |
| 21 |
Fabrizio Crestani |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
1'48.846 |
13 |
| 22 |
Rodolfo Gonzalez |
Caterham Racing |
1'48.936 |
13 |
| 23 |
Nigel Melker |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'49.021 |
13 |
| 24 |
Victor Guerin |
Ocean Racing Technology |
1'49.335 |
12 |
| 25 |
Daniel De Jong |
Rapax |
1'49.900 |
12 |
| 26 |
Giancarlo Serenelli |
Venezuela GP Lazarus |
No time |
2 |
F1SA.com
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