Monaco GP2: Alexander Rossi takes pole position in wet qualifying
Alexander Rossi claimed Monaco GP2 pole with a commanding performance in wet conditions
Ferrari Formula 1 protege Raffaele Marciello will join him on the front row, having outpaced championship leader Stoffel Vandoorne in the wetter Group A session to ensure an end to the Belgian's run of GP2 poles.
Vandoorne had topped every GP2 qualifying session since Spa last August, but he will line up fourth after ending the first session 0.767 seconds shy of Trident driver Marciello.
Marciello caught some flamboyant slides as he took charge of the session, and looked assured of pole even before yellows came out in the final minutes due to Daniel de Jong nosing into the Mirabeau barriers and Zoel Amberg wiping his right rear wheel off on the exit of Tabac.
With the rain stopping and the sun beginning to emerge, the Group A times were never likely to hold up for pole, and Rossi's Group B benchmark for Racing Engineering was three seconds faster than Marciello's best.
Rossi dominated his session, at times lapping 2-3s faster than anyone else, before practice pacesetter Arthur Pic reduced the gap to 0.598s at the end.
Sergey Sirotkin and Julian Leal will share row three, with Nick Yelloly recovering from an early visit to the Mirabeau escape road to secure seventh on the grid.
Several drivers found themselves out of position in the challenging conditions.
Barcelona sprint race winner Alex Lynn will start from 17th, Rio Haryanto - currently second to Vandoorne in the points - will be back in 20th and 2014 Monaco Formula Renault 3.5 victor Norman Nato is set for 24th on the grid.
Richie Stanaway had looked like a front row threat early in Group A, before smashing his front wing on the Mirabeau armco. He rejoined with a fresh nose but will start only 14th.
STARTING GRID
Pos | Driver | Team | Time |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Alexander Rossi | Racing Engineering | 1m37.019s |
2 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1m40.357s |
3 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1m37.617s |
4 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1m41.124s |
5 | Sergey Sirotkin | Rapax | 1m38.391s |
6 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1m41.655s |
7 | Nick Yelloly | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m38.618s |
8 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1m41.895s |
9 | Sergio Canamasas | MP Motorsport | 1m38.691s |
10 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1m42.150s |
11 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m39.020s |
12 | Pierre Gasly | DAMS | 1m42.248s |
13 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m39.073s |
14 | Richie Stanaway | Status Grand Prix | 1m42.425s |
15 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1m39.142s |
16 | Zoel Amberg | Lazarus | 1m42.539s |
17 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1m39.186s |
18 | Mitch Evans | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m42.804s |
19 | Marco Sorensen | Carlin | 1m39.532s |
20 | Rene Binder | Trident | 1m39.539s |
21 | Johnny Cecotto Jr. | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m43.386s |
22 | Nathanael Berthon | Lazarus | 1m40.101s |
23 | Rio Haryanto | Campos Racing | 1m42.913s |
24 | Norman Nato | Arden International | 1m44.286s |
25 | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1m41.503s |
26 | Robert Visoiu | Rapax | 1m44.475s |
(split qualifying - odd-numbered positions from Group B, evens from Group A)
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