The ART Grand Prix driver snatched his second pole of the season in Sepang today. iSport International Karun Chandhok will start next to him tomorrow on the grid of Race 1.
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 tyres. 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 results
1. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:44.182 13
2. KarunChandhok iSport International 1:44.965 14
3. AdrianValles 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 MilosPavlovic 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
** Cars 27, 5, 26 and 25 ignored a waved yellow flag during Free Practice and will be dropped 5 places on the grid for Race 1.
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