Van der Garde tops qualifying at Spa

Giedo van der Garde and Marco Bonanomi were fastest in a qualifying session each as the new Super Pole format was introduced to the Formula Renault 3.5 series at Spa-Francorchamps this morning.

Bonanomi put a controversial weekend in Monza behind him to lead the B group. Belgian Bertrand Baguette was second fastest for Draco, having endured persistent gearbox problems over two days of practice.

Baguette's rookie Draco teammate Marco Barba caused the sessions to be red flagged after crashing heavily at the left hand Fagnes.

Barba had been fourth in group behind compatriot Borja Garcia, but loses his fastest time as a consequence of causing the stoppage. Briton James Walker moves in to sixth in group as a result of Barba's demise, to claim the final Super Pole slot.

Although conditions in the Ardennes were clear and dry, the gruelling challenge presented by the four mile circuit remains undiminished. The downhill Rivage corner claimed a casualty in Fortec's Julian Theobald, who crashed into the tyre barrier on his first lap. Marcos Martinez came close to repeating the German's fate, running off through the gravel trap on two occasions.

Marco Barba's more experienced brother, Alvaro, caused the second, A group, to be red flagged by spinning and stalling in the middle of the circuit, fortunately without damage to his Prema machine.

Salvador Duran initially headed the A qualifiers, setting a time of 2:03s, before being shaded by a hundredth of a second by Alex Marsoin in the improving Epsilon Euskadi team.

Van der Garde put their efforts into context by moving one second clear at the top of the time sheets on his first run. The time remained unbeaten, despite much movement behind in the classification.

Robert Wickens and Miguel Molina exchanged position no fewer than three times in their dispute of third spot behind Duran. The matter was settled in the dying moments, after the chequered flag, in Molina's favour. Guillaume Moreau and Pablo Sanchez complete the Super Pole runners from the A group.

Group A                                                         
Pos Driver                Team          Time         Gap
 1. Giedo van der Garde   P1            2:02.118        
 2. Salvador Duran        Interwetten   2:02.193  +0.075
 3. Miguel Molina         Prema         2:02.297  +0.179
 4. Robert Wickens        Carlin        2:02.365  +0.247
 5. Guillaume Moreau      KTR           2:02.501  +0.383
 6. Pablo Sanchez         Interwetten   2:02.707  +0.589
 7. Charles Pic           Tech 1        2:02.782  +0.664
 8. Alex Marsoin          Epsilon       2:03.015  +0.897
 9. Alvaro Barba          Prema         2:03.312  +1.194
10. Aleix Alcaraz         RC            2:03.338  +1.220
11. Pippa Mann            P1            2:03.352  +1.234
12. Daniil Move           KTR           2:03.477  +1.359
13. Mario Romancini       Epsilon       2:03.702  +1.584

Group B                                           
Pos Driver                Team          Time         Gap
 1. Marco Bonanomi        Comtec        2:02.374         
 2. Bertrand Baguette     Draco         2:02.578  +0.204
 3. Borja Garcia          RC            2:02.672  +0.298
 4. Julien Jousse         Tech 1        2:02.730  +0.356
 5. Mikhail Aleshin       Carlin        2:02.783  +0.409
 6. James Walker          Fortec        2:03.222  +0.848
 7. Marco Barba           Draco         2:03.496  +1.122
 8. Pasquale Di Sabatino  Comtec        2:03.550  +1.176
 9. Fabio Carbone         Ultimate      2:03.597  +1.223
10. Marcos Martinez       Pons          2:03.830  +1.456
11. Maximo Cortes         Pons          2:04.051  +1.677
12. Claudio Cantelli      Ultimate      2:04.153  +1.779