Reid takes inaugural Auto GP pole

The former A1GP frontrunner has returned to single-seater racing in the new championship for the first time since competing in Indy Lights in 2008, having most recently raced Porsches.

Reid made the best of the warm qualifying conditions - very different to the wind that had affected testing and practice - to put his Super Nova car on pole ahead of Lazarus driver Fabio Onidi, who had been a title contender in Auto GP's forerunner Euroseries 3000.

Edoardo Piscopo (DAMS) and Adrian Zaugg (Trident) share row two, ahead of late signings Luca Filippi (Euronova) and Vladimir Arabadzhiev (DAMS).

Former GP2 champion and ex-grand prix driver Giorgio Pantano, Auto GP's highest-profile recruit, was only ninth, having struggled with understeer and traffic in Super Nova's second car.

The new Auto GP series is based on the original Lola A1GP car, and has attracted a number of current GP2 squads. The 12-round championship boasts a large prize fund, and features a similar race format to GP2 - with mandatory pitstops in race one, and the top eight finishers reversed on the grid for the shorter and pitstop-free race two.

Pos  Driver                Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Jonny Reid            Super Nova       1m43.829s
 2.  Fabio Onidi           Lazarus          1m44.025s  + 0.196s
 3.  Edoardo Piscopo       DAMS             1m44.219s  + 0.390s
 4.  Adrian Zaugg          Trident          1m44.314s  + 0.485s
 5.  Luca Filippi          Euronova         1m44.322s  + 0.493s
 6.  Vladimir Arabadzhiev  DAMS             1m44.346s  + 0.517s
 7.  Duncan Tappy          DAMS             1m44.513s  + 0.684s
 8.  Julian Leal           Trident          1m44.515s  + 0.686s
 9.  Giorgio Pantano       Super Nova       1m44.523s  + 0.694s
10.  Jan Charouz           Charouz-Gravity  1m44.609s  + 0.780s
11.  Carlos Iaconelli      Durango          1m44.897s  + 1.068s
12.  Adrien Tambay         Charouz-Gravity  1m44.914s  + 1.085s
13.  Walter Grubmuller     Charouz-Gravity  1m45.290s  + 1.461s
14.  Celso Miguez          RP               1m45.730s  + 1.901s
15.  Stefano Bizzari       RP               1m45.745s  + 1.916s
16.  Tomas Kostka          Charouz-Gravity  1m48.332s  + 4.503s