The streets of Pau, France, saw JD Motorsport driver Chris van der Drift claim pole position in today's Formula Master qualifying session with a fastest time of 1:11.179.
With the session divided into two sets of 14 cars, allowing the Formula Master drivers to set times without fear of traffic, van der Drift dominated the first group and improved his time throughout the session.
ADM Motorsport's Norbert Siedler was second fastest in group one, setting his best time of 1:12.388 within seconds of the chequered flag and demoting Iris Project's Michael Ammermüller and his best lap of 1:12.414 to third fastest.
Arturo Llobell, driving for Cram Competition, claimed the fourth best time in this evening's first group with a lap of 1:12.493 and will start tomorrow's race in seventh position. Due to the two-part qualification session, group one will align on the right-hand side of the grid whilst group two will be on the left side.
With the second group qualifying in intermittent wet weather conditions, JD Motorsport's Sergey Afanasiev posted the fastest lap of the set, 1:12.515, and will begin tomorrow's race in position two. Team-mate Vladimir Arabadzhiev qualified just 0.056 seconds behind with a time of 1:12.571, whilst Alejandro Nüñez was third fastest in this evening's second qualifying group with a 1:12.659 lap for his team, Trident Racing.
Team-mate Harald Schlegelmilch claimed fourth fastest in the session with a best lap of 1:12.696 and will therefore start tomorrow's race in eighth place.
Eurosport's coverage for Formula Master's race weekend in Pau, France, will begin Saturday 31 May with race one shown live at 12:15 (CET) on Eurosport 2 and Asia Pacific. Race two will be broadcast live on Eurosport 2 and Asia Pacific at 14:00 (CET).
Session One
Chris van der Drift, JD Motorsport
"I think this is the best fun I've had all day! This morning went well but I had to be careful as we didn't want to crash but during qualifying I really pushed. It was a good time to go out, I didn't get caught up in traffic and the time of the day favoured the track. There was good grip and the car was fast. On my best lap everything was balanced and just flowed. It was perfect."
Norbert Siedler, ADM Motorsport
"I put on a new set of tyres and the first two laps after that were to warm them up. Then I did the lap; it was my first flying lap actually and I even had a driver in my way towards the end... It was a good lap but we could have been even better!"
Michael Ammermüller, Iris Project
"It's a shame to have lost second position right at the end, especially since the track was feeling better and better. I had yellow flags on my last lap so who knows what could have been but tomorrow's another day... We'll see how the race goes."
Session Two
Sergey Afanasiev, JD Motorsport
"Overall I'm very happy with the qualifying position but I think I could have done better. After we changed to the second set of tyres I made a mistake and scuffed the wall in turn one, which caused a push in the car. I kept my lap times consistent though, despite the traffic and rain and that's good. The team did a fantastic job in the conditions and I am really happy for my team-mate, Vladimir Arabadzhiev."
Vladimir Arabazhiev, JD Motorsport
"This was my first time on a street circuit, so it was very strange driving in such a tight space. But throughout practice and qualifying, my team-mates helped me and I continued to improve. I'm very glad to be at the front."
Alejandro Nüñez, Trident Racing
"Qualifying was difficult, as when the rain came we were not sure what to do, especially after seeing some of the other drivers' incidents. There was a thin film of water on the grid, but the track dried quickly. I'm happy qualifying third, but if I had improved by one tenth of a second, I could have been at the front. I'm hoping for a good result this weekend."
-Aurélie Donzelot -
