By GP2 Series
Giorgio Pantano stormed to pole position in Friday afternoon's qualifying session at the Hockenheimring, claiming the top spot ahead of Romain Grosjean and Andreas Zuber.
The Italian's best lap of 1:21.650 put him three tenths ahead of his nearest rivals in the first half of the session, and with temperatures dropping as time passed, his rivals were unable to respond on track.
The session opened under blue skies, prompting all of the drivers to get out on track immediately to set banker laps: Zuber, Bruno Senna, Pantano and Grosjean set the early running when they were able to find a hole in the traffic, but Pantano stayed out for one lap longer than most of his rivals and was able to take advantage of the clear track to set his best lap of the session, before spinning on the next lap and coming back to the pits for fresh tyres.
With ten minutes remaining all bar Pantano had re-emerged onto the track, but with clouds closing in over the circuit the temperature dropped immediately and, despite everyone's best efforts, there was no chance of improving for anyone in the top half of the timesheet, leaving Grosjean unable to match his top spot from this morning's practice session.
Behind the top three Sébastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi, Senna, Alvaro Parente, Kamui Kobayashi, Javier Villa and Vitaly Petrov rounded out the first four rows for today's grid, with the top ten places within a second of pole raising the possibility of a thrilling race one this afternoon.
Kobayashi penalised**
Kamui Kobayashi has been handed a five grid position penalty by the race stewards after finding him guilty of blocking during Friday's qualifying session at the Hockenheimring.
The Japanese driver, who finished the session in 8th position, was judged to have held up Lucas di Grassi during the session by the stewards, who had no option but to hand down the penalty.
Kobayashi will now start from 13th on the grid in race one this afternoon.
Qualifying Results:
Positionpiloteteamgaplapsbest time
1G. PantanoRacing Eng.-1401'21"650
2R. GrosjeanART00'00"2841301'21"934
3A. ZuberPiquet Sports00'00"3541401'22"004
4S. BuemiArden00'00"5211501'22"171
5L. Di GrassiCampos00'00"5221401'22"172
6B. SennaiSport00'00"5661601'22"216
7A. ParenteSuper Nova00'00"7411501'22"391
8 J. VillaRacing Eng.00'00"9101601'22"560
9 V. PetrovCampos00'00"9371201'22"587
10K. ChandhokiSport00'01"1091701'22"759
11S. YamamotoART00'01"1381701'22"788
12L. FilippiArden00'01"1521501'22"802
13 K. KobayashiDAMS00'00"8091701'22"459**
14J. D'AmbrosioDAMS00'01"2571801'22"907
15P. MaldonadoPiquet Sports00'01"3191701'22"969
16A. SoucekSuper Nova00'01"3421701'22"992
17H. TungTrident00'01"6141601'23"264
18D. ValsecchiDurango00'01"6701501'23"320
19A. ValerioDurango00'01"7281801'23"378
20M. ConwayTrident00'01"7831901'23"433
21D. NunesDPR00'01"7841401'23"434
22R. RodriguezFMS00'01"8471501'23"497
23C. IaconelliBCN Comp.00'02"2631601'23"913
24M. AsmerFMS00'02"3611601'24"011
25A. VallesBCN Comp.00'02"6231201'24"273
26M. HerckDPR00'02"9911601'24"641
Giorgio Pantano stormed to pole position in Friday afternoon's qualifying session at the Hockenheimring, claiming the top spot ahead of Romain Grosjean and Andreas Zuber.
The Italian's best lap of 1:21.650 put him three tenths ahead of his nearest rivals in the first half of the session, and with temperatures dropping as time passed, his rivals were unable to respond on track.
The session opened under blue skies, prompting all of the drivers to get out on track immediately to set banker laps: Zuber, Bruno Senna, Pantano and Grosjean set the early running when they were able to find a hole in the traffic, but Pantano stayed out for one lap longer than most of his rivals and was able to take advantage of the clear track to set his best lap of the session, before spinning on the next lap and coming back to the pits for fresh tyres.
With ten minutes remaining all bar Pantano had re-emerged onto the track, but with clouds closing in over the circuit the temperature dropped immediately and, despite everyone's best efforts, there was no chance of improving for anyone in the top half of the timesheet, leaving Grosjean unable to match his top spot from this morning's practice session.
Behind the top three Sébastien Buemi, Lucas di Grassi, Senna, Alvaro Parente, Kamui Kobayashi, Javier Villa and Vitaly Petrov rounded out the first four rows for today's grid, with the top ten places within a second of pole raising the possibility of a thrilling race one this afternoon.
Kobayashi penalised**
Kamui Kobayashi has been handed a five grid position penalty by the race stewards after finding him guilty of blocking during Friday's qualifying session at the Hockenheimring.
The Japanese driver, who finished the session in 8th position, was judged to have held up Lucas di Grassi during the session by the stewards, who had no option but to hand down the penalty.
Kobayashi will now start from 13th on the grid in race one this afternoon.
Qualifying Results:
Positionpiloteteamgaplapsbest time
1G. PantanoRacing Eng.-1401'21"650
2R. GrosjeanART00'00"2841301'21"934
3A. ZuberPiquet Sports00'00"3541401'22"004
4S. BuemiArden00'00"5211501'22"171
5L. Di GrassiCampos00'00"5221401'22"172
6B. SennaiSport00'00"5661601'22"216
7A. ParenteSuper Nova00'00"7411501'22"391
8 J. VillaRacing Eng.00'00"9101601'22"560
9 V. PetrovCampos00'00"9371201'22"587
10K. ChandhokiSport00'01"1091701'22"759
11S. YamamotoART00'01"1381701'22"788
12L. FilippiArden00'01"1521501'22"802
13 K. KobayashiDAMS00'00"8091701'22"459**
14J. D'AmbrosioDAMS00'01"2571801'22"907
15P. MaldonadoPiquet Sports00'01"3191701'22"969
16A. SoucekSuper Nova00'01"3421701'22"992
17H. TungTrident00'01"6141601'23"264
18D. ValsecchiDurango00'01"6701501'23"320
19A. ValerioDurango00'01"7281801'23"378
20M. ConwayTrident00'01"7831901'23"433
21D. NunesDPR00'01"7841401'23"434
22R. RodriguezFMS00'01"8471501'23"497
23C. IaconelliBCN Comp.00'02"2631601'23"913
24M. AsmerFMS00'02"3611601'24"011
25A. VallesBCN Comp.00'02"6231201'24"273
26M. HerckDPR00'02"9911601'24"641