Kovalainen Takes Monza Pole
Heikki Kovalainen has taken pole for tomorrow's race one at Monza, beating championship rival Nico Rosberg to the top spot by just two tenths of a second
No other driver was within a second of the pole time of 1:33.725 - the closest driver was Scott Speed, who was 1.1 seconds behind and will share the second row with Rosberg's teammate Alex Premat.
The qualifying session was held under blue skies and with temperatures soaring. Kovalainen took the fastest first sector on his first lap out of the pits, but Rosberg struck back in the second and third sectors to take provisional pole.
It would only last for one lap - next time by the pits, Kovalainen reclaimed the top spot from this morning with a lap of 1:33.739, which he bettered slightly at the midway mark of the session for pole on his second set of tyres.
No one else had a reply, although not for want of trying. Jose Maria Lopez looked impressive throughout, and will start tomorrow's race on the third row, with a surprisingly quick Ferdinando Monfardini, initially fifth fastest, lining up behind him in seventh place, separated by Nelson Piquet Jr.
The session was remarkably free of incident, with a few drivers running straight through the first chicane but no one finding the barriers.
New driver Toni Vilander made up for his lack of laps in free practice by claiming 16th position just as the session ended, an impressive lap considering his lack of time in the car.
With the first fourteen drivers separated by just two seconds there are bound to be fireworks as the pack finds their way to the first corner at the start of tomorrow afternoon's race.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Kovalainen Arden International 1:33.739 10 2. Rosberg ART Grand Prix 1:33.930 + 0.191 8 3. Speed iSport International 1:34.851 + 1.112 13 4. Premat ART Grand Prix 1:35.137 + 1.398 13 5. Lopez DAMS 1:35.160 + 1.421 13 6. Piquet Hitech Piquet Sports 1:35.224 + 1.566 11 7. Lapierre Arden International 1:35.232 + 1.498 10 8. Monfardini Durango 1:35.258 + 1.698 9 9. Jani Racing Engineering 1:35.410 + 1.671 11 10. Pantano Super Nova International 1:35.463 + 1.808 12 11. Garcia Racing Engineering 1:35.593 + 1.854 11 12. Viso BCN Competicion 1:35.721 + 1.982 12 13. Hernandez Campos Racing 1:35.744 + 2.005 13 14. Yoshimoto BCN Competicion 1:35.821 + 2.082 11 15. Mondini DPR 1:35.857 + 2.118 13 16. Vilander Coloni Motorsport 1:35.944 + 2.205 15 17. Pla DPR 1:36.044 + 2.305 12 18. Alvarez Campos Racing 1:36.119 + 2.380 4 19. Piccione Durango 1:36.365 + 2.626 13 20. Artam iSport International 1:36.427 + 2.405 13 21. Negrao Hitech Piquet Sports 1:36.551 + 2.812 12 22. Lauda Coloni Motorsport 1:36.897 + 3.158 13 23. Fauzy DAMS 1:36.933 + 3.194 12 24. Carroll Super Nova International 1:37.396 + 3.651 3
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