Monza GP3: Luca Ghiotto beats Esteban Ocon to pole by a second
GP3 championship leader Luca Ghiotto stormed to pole position in damp conditions at his home race at Monza, beating title rival Esteban Ocon by a second
Mercedes junior Ocon traded fastest times with Trident's Ghiotto in the latter stages of the session on the drying track, but fell way short of the mark.
Ghiotto, who crossed the line ahead of Ocon's ART car, saved his best time for his final lap with a 1m50.007s, to eclipse his nearest championship challenger by a staggering margin.
The Italian was the only driver on track to make it into the 1m50s.
Matt Parry mastered the conditions to climb up the order to third on his final run, a GP3 career best grid slot for the 2013 McLaren AUTOSPORT BRDC award winner.
Parry's late surge for Koiranen demoted Aren International team-mates Kevin Ceccon, who was outside the top 10 before his last lap, and Emil Bernstorff to fourth and fifth place.
Marvin Kirchhofer also left it late to improve. He jumped to sixth ahead of Campos Racing's Alex Palou on his final run.
Ferrari protege Antonio Fuoco was eighth in front of his home crowd.
Status Grand Prix's Seb Morris had an eventful session with numerous off track excursions. He was able to pull a strong lap together though to qualify ninth ahead of Jimmy Eriksson, who completed the top 10.
GP3 newcomer Amaury Bonduel had a good first outing in qualifying. The youngster qualified 13th ahead of fellow rookie Brandon Maisano in 19th.
Jenzer Motorsport's Ralph Boschung failed to set a time due to mechanical issues.
QUALIFYING TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Luca Ghiotto | Trident | 1m50.007s | - |
| 2 | Esteban Ocon | ART Grand Prix | 1m51.007s | 1.000s |
| 3 | Matt Parry | Koiranen GP | 1m51.292s | 1.285s |
| 4 | Kevin Ceccon | Arden International | 1m51.415s | 1.408s |
| 5 | Emil Bernstorff | Arden International | 1m51.428s | 1.421s |
| 6 | Marvin Kirchhofer | ART Grand Prix | 1m51.442s | 1.435s |
| 7 | Alex Palou | Campos Racing | 1m51.452s | 1.445s |
| 8 | Antonio Fuoco | Carlin | 1m51.720s | 1.713s |
| 9 | Seb Morris | Status Grand Prix | 1m51.723s | 1.716s |
| 10 | Jimmy Eriksson | Koiranen GP | 1m51.748s | 1.741s |
| 11 | Artur Janosz | Trident | 1m51.806s | 1.799s |
| 12 | Matheo Tuscher | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m51.813s | 1.806s |
| 13 | Amaury Bonduel | Trident | 1m52.048s | 2.041s |
| 14 | Sandy Stuvik | Status Grand Prix | 1m52.095s | 2.088s |
| 15 | Pal Varhaug | Jenzer Motorsport | 1m52.219s | 2.212s |
| 16 | Zaid Ashkanani | Campos Racing | 1m52.373s | 2.366s |
| 17 | Alex Fontana | Status Grand Prix | 1m52.383s | 2.376s |
| 18 | Mitch Gilbert | Carlin | 1m52.501s | 2.494s |
| 19 | Brandon Maisano | Campos Racing | 1m52.653s | 2.646s |
| 20 | Alex Bosak | Arden International | 1m54.052s | 4.045s |
| - | Ralph Boschung | Jenzer Motorsport | - | - |
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