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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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