Gutierrez claims title with pole bonus
Esteban Gutierrez has secured the inaugural GP3 Series title by taking pole position for the final round at Monza in this morning's qualifying session
Having moved to the top of the order with five minutes remaining, ART driver Gutierrez improved his time by almost 0.5 seconds on his final flying lap to claim pole with a 1m43.425s.
In doing so, he protected himself from a late charge from Mucke's Renger van der Zande, who also improved his time dramatically on his last lap but ended up falling 0.288s short. The two points on offer for pole were enough to finally put Gutierrez beyond the reach of rival Robert Wickens.
Jenzer driver Nico Muller, who led the early phase of the session, will share the second row with Tobias Hegewald (Mucke), leaving Wickens (Status) consigned to fifth alongside Atech CRS driver Roberto Merhi, who endured two spins along the way.
The session was interrupted by two brief bursts of yellow flags after Tech 1's Daniel Juncadella and Gutierrez's ART team-mate Alexander Rossi skidded into the barriers, while Vittorio Ghirelli also had to get a lift back to the pits after spinning his Atech CRS car into the gravel just after the chequered flag.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m43.425s 2. Renger van der Zande RSC Mucke 1m43.713s + 0.288s 3. Nico Muller Jenzer 1m43.788s + 0.363s 4. Tobias Hegewald RSC Mucke 1m43.891s + 0.466s 5. Robert Wickens Status 1m43.940s + 0.515s 6. Roberto Merhi Atech CRS 1m43.971s + 0.546s 7. Josef Newgarden Carlin 1m43.980s + 0.555s 8. Nigel Melker RSC Mucke 1m44.040s + 0.615s 9. Daniel Morad Status 1m44.097s + 0.672s 10. Rio Haryanto Manor 1m44.109s + 0.684s 11. James Jakes Manor 1m44.170s + 0.745s 12. Felipe Guimaraes Addax 1m44.225s + 0.800s 13. Simon Trummer Jenzer 1m44.370s + 0.945s 14. Pedro Nunes ART 1m44.422s + 0.997s 15. Oliver Oakes Atech CRS 1m44.460s + 1.035s 16. Doru Sechelariu Tech 1 1m44.462s + 1.037s 17. Mirko Bortolotti Addax 1m44.540s + 1.115s 18. Lucas Foresti Carlin 1m44.548s + 1.123s 19. Pablo Sanchez Lopez Addax 1m44.560s + 1.135s 20. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Manor 1m44.609s + 1.184s 21. Pal Varhaug Jenzer 1m44.728s + 1.303s 22. Leonardo Cordeiro MW Arden 1m44.736s + 1.311s 23. Daniel Juncadella Tech 1 1m44.810s + 1.385s 24. Miki Monras MW Arden 1m44.898s + 1.473s 25. Michael Christensen MW Arden 1m44.902s + 1.477s 26. Dean Smith Carlin 1m45.098s + 1.673s 27. Vittorio Ghirelli Atech CRS 1m45.184s + 1.759s 28. Alexander Rossi ART 1m45.353s + 1.928s 29. Stefano Coletti Tech 1 1m45.378s + 1.953s 30. Ivan Lukashevich Status 1m45.991s + 2.566s
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