Ramos on pole at Monza

The reigning Italian Formula 3 champion made full use of his circuit knowledge, and a small tow towards the end of his pole lap to record a time of 1m36.254s.

Daniel Ricciardo will join Ramos on the front row for this afternoon's race. The ISR man, who set the pace on Friday, was shaded for the top spot by just 0.065s.

"It was a good lap, and then I think I had a small tow on the exit of Ascari," said Ramos. "I was not really close [to the car in front], but I think it may have made a difference as I was taking Parabolica pretty quick.

"Experience from Italian Formula 3 definitely helps here, and actually I have been on pole at Monza in Formula Renault 2.0, F3 and now in World Series. At this circuit, pole is only useful in getting down to the first corner in first. It is difficult to pull away, but I hope myself, Ricciardo and [Robert] Wickens can make an early break and then fight later in the race."

Championship leader Wickens will start third. The Carlin driver was pleased to be featuring at the sharp end once more, but was left dismayed by the track manners of some rivals.

"I think that the drivers have lost all respect for each other today," said Wickens. "The racing has been really clean in the first two rounds, so I don't know why that it is. There was so much blocking going on, perhaps people feel they can do that to pick up a slipstream. I had the car for pole today, but I didn't even get a clear lap on my second set.

"Personally, I didn't even attempt to try for a tow. In my experience it only works out on about one lap in ten, I think you're better off trying to find some clear space."

Motorland's second race winner, and reigning Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup champion, Kevin Korjus bounced back from a difficult weekend at Spa-Francorchamps to take fourth.

Ramos' 2010 Italian F3 title rival Stephane Richelmi produced his qualified strongest effort of the season with fifth for Draco Racing.

P1 Motorsport's series veteran Daniil Move continued his consistent 2011 showings to complete the top-six, just 0.003s behind Richelmi.

Spa winner Jean-Eric Vergne was left to rue a mystery ailment on his Carlin car which left him an unfamiliar 12th. "We had a problem with the brakes, and a vibration through the steering," said Vergne. "It was the same problem that I had yesterday, and I really hope we can find what's wrong before the race. I don't think there's going to be as much overtaking here with these cars as there was in F3, but at least it is one of the circuits where you can pass."

Early season points leader Alexander Rossi [Fortec] was equally frustrated in 17th. "I had a perfect car on my first set of tyres," said Rossi. "We were right up there doing the same times as everyone else, and then on my second set we suddenly, totally, lost rear-end grip."

Following his part in an incident during the last round at Spa-Francorchamps, Gravity-Charouz driver Jan Charouz will be relegated from 19th to 25th on today's grid. The Czech elected to sit out the first part of qualifying this morning, and ran five laps less than the majority of his rivals.

Pos  Driver               Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Cesar Ramos          Fortec           1m36.254s  +
 2.  Robert Wickens       Carlin           1m36.534s  + 0.280s
 3.  Kevin Korjus         Tech 1           1m36.769s  + 0.515s
 4.  Stephane Richelmi    Draco            1m36.814s  + 0.560s
 5.  Daniil Move          P1               1m36.817s  + 0.563s
 6.  Sergio Canamasas     BVM Target       1m36.858s  + 0.604s
 7.  Nathanael Berthon    ISR              1m36.875s  + 0.621s
 8.  Chris van der Drift  Mofaz            1m36.888s  + 0.634s
 9.  Daniel Zampieri      BVM Target       1m36.974s  + 0.720s
10.  Brendon Hartley      Gravity-Charouz  1m37.011s  + 0.757s
11.  Jean-Eric Vergne     Carlin           1m37.035s  + 0.781s
12.  Jake Rosenzweig      Mofaz            1m37.052s  + 0.798s
13.  Walter Grubmuller    P1               1m37.069s  + 0.815s
14.  Albert Costa         EPIC             1m37.085s  + 0.831s
15.  Arthur Pic           Tech 1           1m37.118s  + 0.864s
16.  Alexander Rossi      Fortec           1m37.157s  + 0.903s
17.  Anton Nebylitskiy    KMP              1m37.294s  + 1.040s
18.  Jan Charouz          Gravity-Charouz  1m37.319s  + 1.065s
19.  Andre Negrao         Draco            1m37.417s  + 1.163s
20.  Oliver Webb          Pons             1m37.509s  + 1.255s
21.  Sten Pentus          EPIC             1m37.575s  + 1.321s
22.  Nelson Panciatici    KMP              1m37.908s  + 1.654s
23.  Daniel McKenzie      Comtec           1m37.933s  + 1.679s
24.  Filip Salaquarda     Pons             1m37.990s  + 1.736s
25.  Daniel de Jong       Comtec           1m38.113s  + 1.859s
  *  Daniel Ricciardo     ISR              1m36.319s  + 0.065s
  
* Ricciardo excluded from qualifying following a technical infringement