Bird tops qualifying amid controversy
Sam Bird set the fastest time in today's GP2 Series qualifying session at the Hungaroring, but his claim to pole position for tomorrow's feature race remains in doubt after speculation that the ART driver set his best time under yellows
Bird's 1m27.864s effort came late in the last couple of minutes of the session, but he may have done so while yellows were still out to allow for Jerome d'Ambrosio's car to be removed from the run-off area in the final corner.
AUTOSPORT understands that the team believes that the track was clear based on the readings from the GPS and instructed the Briton to push, and the session returned to green conditions moments after he finished his lap, but the final decision remains in the hands of the stewards.
Bird's lap put him 0.043 seconds clear of iSport's Davide Valsecchi, who had also improved under yellows but later managed to go quicker still under greens, with the Italian's team-mate Oliver Turvey third and Rapax's Pastor Maldonado fourth. The Venezuelan had a frustrating afternoon with each of his flying laps being interrupted by traffic, with one encounter ending with him bumping Arden's Charles Pic off the track at the second to last corner in an effort to get through.
Christian Vietoris managed fifth-quickest for Racing Engineering, while 2009 Silverstone feature race winner Alberto Valerio (Coloni) qualified a surprise sixth.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sam Bird ART 1m27.864s 2. Davide Valsecchi iSport 1m27.907s + 0.043s 3. Oliver Turvey iSport 1m27.976s + 0.112s 4. Pastor Maldonado Rapax 1m28.134s + 0.270s 5. Christian Vietoris Racing Engineering 1m28.225s + 0.361s 6. Alberto Valerio Coloni 1m28.245s + 0.381s 7. Sergio Perez Barwa Addax 1m28.273s + 0.409s 8. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1m28.277s + 0.413s 9. Michael Herck DPR 1m28.337s + 0.473s 10. Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax 1m28.357s + 0.493s 11. Jules Bianchi ART 1m28.375s + 0.511s 12. Jerome d'Ambrosio DAMS 1m28.378s + 0.514s 13. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m28.483s + 0.619s 14. Charles Pic Arden 1m28.536s + 0.672s 15. Marcus Ericsson Super Nova 1m28.613s + 0.749s 16. Ho-Pin Tung DAMS 1m28.622s + 0.758s 17. Luiz Razia Rapax 1m28.710s + 0.846s 18. Fabio Leimer Ocean 1m28.718s + 0.854s 19. Adrian Zaugg Trident 1m28.727s + 0.863s 20. Luca Filippi Super Nova 1m28.924s + 1.060s 21. Johnny Cecotto Trident 1m28.968s + 1.104s 22. Vlado Arabadjiev Coloni 1m29.141s + 1.277s 23. Max Chilton Ocean 1m29.219s + 1.355s 24. Rodolfo Gonzalez Arden 1m30.129s + 2.265s
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