Kobayashi is beatable, say rivals

After losing the lead briefly away the line, Kobayashi retook first position quickly and had opened up a comfortable three-second margin over eventual second placed finisher Marko Asmer by the end of the second lap. He extended it further over the next few laps before controlling the gap to the chequered flag.

That controlled performance has put Kobayashi in pole position for tomorrow's main race - but many of his challengers are convinced that they can do much better than they showed today.

Third placed finisher Kohei Hirate claimed a brush with the wall on the formation lap, which damaged his right front suspension, left him unable to mount a challenge for the lead.

"I just made a mistake and was quite lucky it wasn't all over then," said Hirate, who had started second but eventually finished third behind Asmer. "That caused a problem with the wheel toe-in, so on the straight I was losing speed.

"It was quite hard to follow the cars in front, but the lap time was consistent so I am looking forward to tomorrow. I've got a good car and I can still win the race."

Kobayashi's ASM teammate Paul di Resta, who finished fourth, is equally adamant that he has everything he needs to beat Kobayashi to the flag.

"Kamui has been here twice before (in Formula Renault) and he is a good driver, but he is not the fastest guy here in terms of pace," said di Resta.

"He has done a good but has been quite lucky that some quick guys have had problems. I think I can beat him and win from fourth on the grid.

"I was so comfortable with my pace in the second half of the race, so I know I can go a bit quicker. If I make a good start tomorrow then I think I can even take the lead by the first corner."

Kobayashi insists that he did not show his true potential, though, and that he was simply pacing himself in the second part of the race.

"I pushed in the first few laps but I think after about seven laps I had a good gap to Marko and then I just focused on making it to the finish," he said. "I made a few mistakes, but since I was more than four seconds ahead early on I thought it was okay."