Leal takes shock Auto GP pole

Heavy rain early in the morning meant the track was damp and times tumbled throughout the session. But a red flag with just over three minutes remaining created a thrilling conclusion.

DAMS racer Edoardo Piscopo was on top when the session was stopped. He was initially usurped by sometime GP2 man Giacomo Ricci (RP Motorsport) on his series debut, but the championship leader was soon back on top with a lap that was over a second quicker than his nearest rival at the time.

But having crossed the line with just seconds left on the clock, Leal still had another run left in the rapidly improving conditions. His time eclipsed Piscopo's by just under 0.1 seconds.

Ex-A1GP star Jonny Reid took third for Super Nova, while Briton Duncan Tappy was fourth in the second DAMS entry. Ricci ended up fifth.

Having set the pace in free practice, Formula 1 tester Romain Grosjean failed to make the best of the improving conditions and will start eighth for DAMS.

McLaren AUTOSPORT Award winner Alexander Sims is making his series debut for Charouz-Gravity this weekend. He was as high as second at one stage, but slipped back to 10th in the late rush. GP2 race winner Luca Filippi will start 12th for Super Nova.

Pos  Driver            Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Julian Leal       Trident          1m30.322s
 2.  Edoardo Piscopo   DAMS             1m30.421s  + 0.099s
 3.  Jonny Reid        Super Nova       1m31.137s  + 0.815s
 4.  Duncan Tappy      DAMS             1m31.177s  + 0.855s
 5.  Giacomo Ricci     RP               1m31.363s  + 1.041s
 6.  Jan Charouz       Charouz-Gravity  1m31.659s  + 1.337s
 7.  Fabio Onidi       Lazarus          1m32.082s  + 1.760s
 8.  Romain Grosjean   DAMS             1m32.182s  + 1.860s
 9.  Carlos Iaconelli  Durango          1m32.225s  + 1.903s
10.  Alexander Sims    Charouz-Gravity  1m32.331s  + 2.009s
11.  Adrien Tambay     Charouz-Gravity  1m32.439s  + 2.117s
12.  Luca Filippi      Super Nova       1m32.443s  + 2.121s
13.  Natacha Gachnang  Charouz-Gravity  1m34.064s  + 3.742s
14.  Stefano Bizzarri  RP               1m40.826s  + 10.504s