Maldonado takes race two pole
Pastor Maldonado has taken pole position for this afternoon's second World Series race at Istanbul
Taking to the track in the first B Group of the split qualifying session, the Draco driver impressed with a half second advantage over Alx Danielsson.
Joining Maldonado on the front row is championship leader Borja Garcia who set the fastest time in the A Group.
Garcia was made to work hard to overhaul a startling performance from nineteen-year-old Russian Michael Aleshin, who headed the times with five minutes remaining. Competing for Trevor Carlin, the runner-up in last year's German Formula Renault championship missed out by a tenth and will line up behind Danielsson in fourth.
Another notable performance goes to Epsilon Euskadi's Davide Valsecchi who swapped times spiritedly with Ben Hanley for a fifth place starting spot.
The Italian looked to have secured the position only to be penalised by virtue of crossing the white line of the pit exit. It was therefore Hanley who claimed the place, ahead of race one podium-placed man Alvaro Parente.
Yesterday's winner Andy Soucek was back in tenth as Interwetten teammate Eric Salignon continued his miserable weekend. The Frenchman, who came into the weekend as joint championship leader, crashed yesterday on the opening lap with Hanley, and compounded his misfortune by starting a lowly twentieth.
Race two grid: Pos Driver Team 1. Pastor Maldonado Draco 2. Borja Garcia RC 3. Alx Danielsson Comtec 4. Michael Aleshin Carlin 5. Ben Hanley Cram 6. Alvaro Parente Victory 7. Davide Valsecchi Epsilon 8. Hayanari Shimoda Victory 9. Patrick Pilet GD 10. Andy Soucek Interwetten 11. Colin Fleming Carlin 12. Jaap van Lagen Comtec 13. Sean McIntosh KTR 14. Christian Montanari Prema 15. James Rossiter Pons 16. Tomas Kostka Draco 17. Alvaro Barba Jenzer 18. Gregory Franchi Prema 19. Enrico Toccacelo Eurointernational 20. Eric Salignon Interwetten 21. Robbie Kerr KTR 22. Steven Kane Epsilon 23. Celso Miguez Pons 24. Bruce Jouanny RC 25. Milos Pavlovic Cram 26. Matteo Meneghello GD 27. Ryo Fukuda Tech 1 28. Jerome D'Ambrosio Tech 1 29. Jason Tahinci Eurointernational 30. Alessandro Bonetti Jenzer Qualifying Group A times: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Borja Garcia RC 1:39.974 2. Michael Aleshin Carlin 1:39.988 + 0.014 3. Alvaro Parente Victory 1:40.060 + 0.086 4. Hayanari Shimoda Victory 1:40.090 + 0.116 5. Andy Soucek Interwetten 1:40.264 + 0.290 6. Jaap van Lagen Comtec 1:40.287 + 0.313 7. Christian Montanari Prema 1:40.293 + 0.319 8. Tomas Kostka Draco 1:40.518 + 0.544 9. Gregory Franchi Prema 1:40.563 + 0.589 10. Eric Salignon Interwetten 1:40.656 + 0.682 11. Steven Kane Epsilon 1:40.767 + 0.793 12. Bruce Jouanny RC 1:41.076 + 1.102 13. Matteo Meneghello GD 1:41.226 + 1.252 14. Jerome D'Ambrosio Tech 1 1:41.307 + 1.333 15. Alessandro Bonetti Jenzer 1:41.310 + 1.336 Qualifying Group B times: Pos Driver Team Time 1. Pastor Maldonado Draco 1:39.530 2. Alx Danielsson Comtec 1:40.064 + 0.534 3. Ben Hanley Cram 1:40.245 + 0.715 4. Davide Valsecchi Epsilon 1:40.364 + 0.834 5. Patrick Pilet GD 1:40.394 + 0.864 6. Colin Fleming Carlin 1:40.401 + 0.871 7. Sean McIntosh KTR 1:40.444 + 0.914 8. James Rossiter Pons 1:40.905 + 1.375 9. Alvaro Barba Jenzer 1:40.915 + 1.385 10. Enrico Toccacelo Eurointernational 1:40.993 + 1.463 11. Robbie Kerr KTR 1:41.087 + 1.557 12. Celso Miguez Pons 1:41.239 + 1.709 13. Milos Pavlovic Cram 1:41.872 + 2.342 14. Ryo Fukuda Tech 1 1:41.887 + 2.357 15. Jason Tahinci Eurointernational 1:42.876 + 3.346
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