Senna on pole at Spa, but Chandhok suffers double penalty

iSport team-mates Karun Chandhok and Bruno Senna took a clean sweep of the first two positions during qualifying for tomorrow’s GP2 Series race at Spa, but only provisionally. Chandhok was faster by just 0.061s, but he knew beforehand that he faced a 10-position grid penalty for his part in an accident during the previous race in Valencia. To compound his pain, he was then put back another five places for failing to slow sufficiently at the scene of yellow warning flags.

There were no such problems for Senna, who took pole position for the third time this season and gained two bonus points as he seeks to catch championship leader Giorgio Pantano.

"I’m really pleased with my performance today. It was a session in which patience paid off. The track was getting drier throughout the session, despite frequent showers, but it was important not to push so hard that you wrecked your tyres on some of the dry patches that were appearing – consistency was imperative.

"The car was very good and I felt very confident in the rain. I don’t mind if conditions remain that way tomorrow, but equally I know we’ll be competitive in the dry. I don’t mind what happens because I absolutely adore this circuit and love racing here whatever the weather."

"Spa has always been good to me. I qualified on pole here for a wet F3 race and it was also the scene of my first GP2 victory.

That was a good lap today and I really don’t think I could have done more. I don’t know why I was called up for speeding past yellow flags – the track was getting drier and most drivers were going faster than before through certain sectors, but I have to take it on the chin. At least Bruno inherits my ‘pole’, which helps him in the title chase."

- Hayley Smith-