Fabio Leimer leads the Italian way 19.09.2009: Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer claimed a dominant sixth International Formula Master (IFM) pole position today, for the Series' fifteenth round at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.

Jenzer Motorsport's Fabio Leimer claimed a dominant sixth International Formula Master (IFM) pole position today, for the Series' fifteenth round at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari in Imola, Italy.

The young Swiss was fastest throughout the entire 30-minute session, improving his lap times steadily to a record-breaking 1:38.703 which beat 2008 champion Chris van der Drift's quickest effort of 1:38.783 set in race one last season.

Second place was a hard fought battle featuring JD Motorsport trio Vladimir Arabadzhiev, Sergey Afanasiev and Josef Kral as well as Jenzer Motorsport's Pål Varhaug and Iris Project's Patrick Reiterer.

All five drivers took turns to post a lap good enough for this afternoon's P2 grid position, with Kral eventually taking the slot thanks to a fastest time of 1:39.371. Varhaug was third quickest, completing his best lap of the Italian track in 1:39.458, whilst Arabadzhiev will start the race in fourth place after setting a fastest time of 1:39.498.

Reiterer eventually qualified fifth with a best of 1:39.550 with ISR's Alexander Rossi set to start round 15 alongside him in sixth after posting a fastest time of 1:39.594.

Fellow Iris Project driver Simon Trummer set the seventh fastest lap in 1:39.625, whereas JD Motorsport's Afanasiev failed to capitalise on his earlier pace and will line up eighth on this afternoon's grid after a best lap of 1:39.693.

This afternoon's race will take place at 14.05 local time, with Eurosport's coverage beginning at 14.00 (CET) on Eurosport 2. Sunday's race two will also be broadcasted on Eurosport International, from 11.30 (CET).


Fabio Leimer, Jenzer Motorsport
"It's really important for me to win today's race so when you have a good qualification then you are in the best place to have a good race. For that reason I really wanted to be on pole so I can have a good start and go for the race win record!

"So far the track has been quite slippery but the last ten minutes was better and better and the car had more and more grip. I was hoping to complete a perfect lap and right at the end, that's what happened. I'm pretty happy about it!"


Josef Kral, JD Motorsport
"It's going to be a good race! This is a track where you can really overtake, so I'm really looking forward to it; this is not a Hungaroring or an Oschersleben... You can really move here. And the starting position is good so we'll see. I need to have a good start like I did in Oschersleben and see what happens!"


Pål Varhaug, Jenzer Motorsport
"Unfortunately I made a mistake when I was on a good lap so I spun. On the second set I wanted to push as much as possible but I didn't have a perfect lap so I know I can be a lot faster than this. I'm still very happy with the result and I'll be aiming to finish the race on the podium so I'll be fighting for it!"



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