Fabio Leimer fastest for Racing Engineering in wet GP2 qualifying at Silverstone

Leimer was in imperious form behind the wheel of his Racing Engineering machine, at one point holding pole position by 2.288 seconds. His eventual margin was trimmed back to 0.915s, with nearest challenger Johnny Cecotto Jr overcoming a brief off at Village and his car coasting to a halt, before recovering to finish the session in second.

The session was red-flagged with 10 minutes remaining when iSport's Marcus Ericsson and Addax driver Cecotto simultaneously stopped out on the track. Ericsson required pushing off the circuit at Chapel, while Cecotto did not quite make it back to the pits under his own power. Fortunately the marshals helped him, and his mechanics were able to refettle the car and send him back into battle.

Jolyon Palmer of iSport will start third, just 0.068s slower than Cecotto, and both will be hoping to avoid the collision they suffered in Valencia last time out. Stefano Coletti grabbed fourth to cheer Scuderia Coloni's weekend, after the news of its exit from the series at the end of the season.

Lotus GP duo Esteban Gutierrez and James Calado will share the third row, the pairing just 0.016s apart on the timesheet. Carlin's Rio Haryanto was seventh fastest, but he will start 17th due to a penalty for his clash with Calado in Valencia. That moves team-mate Max Chilton up to seventh, ahead of title challenger Luiz Razia (Arden) and Caterham's Giedo van der Garde.

It was a bizarre session for DAMS, with both its drivers off the pace and stopping out on track within moments of each other. Points leader Davide Valsecchi will start 11th, after pulling off at Club corner, while Felipe Nasr qualified one spot ahead of him, his car grinding to a halt on the Wellington Straight.

Pos  Driver               Team                Time       Gap
 1.  Fabio Leimer         Racing Engineering  2m01.889s
 2.  Johnny Cecotto Jr    Addax               2m02.804s  + 0.915s
 3.  Jolyon Palmer        iSport              2m02.872s  + 0.983s
 4.  Stefano Coletti      Coloni              2m03.004s  + 1.115s
 5.  Esteban Gutierrez    Lotus               2m03.258s  + 1.369s
 6.  James Calado         Lotus               2m03.274s  + 1.385s
 7.  Rio Haryanto         Carlin              2m03.398s  + 1.509s
 8.  Max Chilton          Carlin              2m03.423s  + 1.534s
 9.  Luiz Razia           Arden               2m03.553s  + 1.664s
10.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham            2m03.565s  + 1.676s
11.  Felipe Nasr          DAMS                2m03.581s  + 1.692s
12.  Davide Valsecchi     DAMS                2m03.600s  + 1.711s
13.  Nigel Melker         Ocean               2m03.699s  + 1.810s
14.  Josef Kral           Addax               2m04.029s  + 2.140s
15.  Nathanael Berthon    Racing Engineering  2m04.140s  + 2.251s
16.  Fabrizio Crestani    Lazarus             2m04.280s  + 2.391s
17.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Caterham            2m04.430s  + 2.541s
18.  Marcus Ericsson      iSport              2m04.767s  + 2.878s
19.  Daniel de Jong       Rapax               2m04.782s  + 2.893s
20.  Victor Guerin        Ocean               2m05.040s  + 3.151s
21.  Julian Leal          Trident             2m05.218s  + 3.329s
22.  Fabio Onidi          Coloni              2m05.350s  + 3.461s
23.  Simon Trummer        Arden               2m05.573s  + 3.684s
24.  Stephane Richelmi    Trident             2m05.677s  + 3.788s
25.  Ricardo Teixeira     Rapax               2m07.231s  + 5.342s
26.  Giancarlo Serenelli  Lazarus             2m09.161s  + 7.272s