Johnny Cecotto takes maiden GP2 pole in Monaco
Johnny Cecotto took a shock maiden GP2 pole position in qualifying for the Monaco feature race
The Addax driver had never previously qualified higher than fifth and is yet to finish on the podium in over two seasons of GP2.
But he proved his fastest time in morning practice was no fluke as he blasted to a 1m21.195s lap at the end of the second part of the split qualifying session.
Carlin's Max Chilton was fastest in the first group and will share the front row with Cecotto.
Caterham driver Giedo van der Garde had looked set to top group one as he dominated much of the session with a series of ever-faster laps. But his eventual 1m21.475s proved insufficient when Chilton came through with a 1m21.320s right at the end.
Chilton appeared secure in pole for a spell as the early group two times were some way off his benchmark. Then iSport's Marcus Ericsson produced a 1m21.249s lap to not only blitz his group two rivals, but depose Chilton from outright pole.
Red flags flew soon afterwards when Rodolfo Gonzalez (Caterham) crashed at the Swimming Pool entrance. There were just over two minutes left on the clocks at the restart, and that proved to be sufficient time for Cecotto to beat Ericsson by 0.149 seconds, pushing the Swede back to third.
Ericsson will share row two with van der Garde, while title contenders Luiz Razia (Arden) and Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) line up fifth and seventh, split by Ericsson's team-mate Jolyon Palmer.
Pos Driver Team Time Session 1. Johnny Cecotto Addax 1m21.195s Group 2 2. Max Chilton Carlin 1m21.320s Group 1 3. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m21.249s Group 2 4. Giedo van der Garde Caterham 1m21.475s Group 1 5. Luiz Razia Arden 1m21.858s Group 2 6. Jolyon Palmer iSport 1m21.530s Group 1 7. Davide Valsecchi DAMS 1m21.912s Group 2 8. Josef Kral Addax 1m21.776s Group 1 9. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m22.053s Group 2 10. Esteban Gutierrez Lotus 1m21.796s Group 1 11. Tom Dillmann Rapax 1m22.288s Group 2 12. Stefano Coletti Coloni 1m22.174s Group 1 13. James Calado Lotus 1m22.598s Group 2 14. Stephane Richelmi Trident 1m22.326s Group 1 15. Julian Leal Trident 1m22.762s Group 2 16. Nathanael Berthon Racing Engineering 1m22.475s Group 1 17. Rodolfo Gonzalez Caterham 1m22.873s Group 2 18. Felipe Nasr DAMS 1m22.650s Group 1 19. Nigel Melker Ocean 1m22.996s Group 2 20. Simon Trummer Arden 1m22.997s Group 1 21. Fabio Onidi Coloni 1m23.020s Group 2 22. Fabrizio Crestani Lazarus 1m23.193s Group 1 23. Rio Haryanto Carlin 1m23.539s Group 2 24. Victor Guerin Ocean 1m23.792s Group 1 25. Giancarlo Serenelli Lazarus 1m25.907s Group 2 26. Ricardo Teixeira Rapax 1m25.661s Group 1
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