Pantano on Pole
Giorgio Pantano has taken pole position for tomorrow's first GP2 race at the Nurburgring, setting his pole time on his first timed lap in today's qualifying session
Pantano's lap of 1:43.862 came in the opening minutes of the session, while Nico Rosberg and Heikki Kovalainen claimed second and third respectively with just two minutes remaining, ending an eventful qualifying session.
This morning's fastest man, Gianmaria Bruni, was expected to push for pole, and so it seemed early in the session - he was second fastest at the circuit he claims as his favourite, and was looking to go even faster on his second set of tyres when disaster struck - he spun at the last corner of his hot lap and was beached deep in the gravel.
Bruni was not the only man to spin - Olivier Pla, teammate Ryan Sharp and Hiroki Yoshimoto all fell off the circuit late in the session, with Pla's spin causing mayhem by destroying a number of hot laps for the other drivers, as he spent vital minutes trying to get restarted at the chicane, all the while surrounded by waved yellow flags.
Despite this, the field was remarkably close - the top three drivers are split by just one tenth of a second; the top thirteen drivers are covered by one second; and the top twenty are within two seconds of pole.
Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Pantano Super Nova International 1:43.862 13 2. Rosberg ART Grand Prix 1:43.939 + 0.077 13 3. Kovalainen Arden International 1:43.965 + 0.103 9 4. Bruni Coloni Motorsport 1:44.128 + 0.266 6 5. Jani Racing Engineering 1:44.176 + 0.314 9 6. Lopez DAMS 1:44.266 + 0.404 12 7. Viso BCN Competicion 1:44.477 + 0.615 10 8. Premat ART Grand Prix 1:44.598 + 0.736 13 9. Lapierre Arden International 1:44.739 + 0.877 11 10. Yoshimoto BCN Competicion 1:44.748 + 0.886 10 11. Speed iSport International 1:44.865 + 1.003 9 12. Pla DPR 1:44.879 + 1.017 9 13. Carroll Super Nova International 1:44.914 + 1.052 13 14. Piquet Jr. Hitech Piquet Sports 1:45.331 + 1.469 12 15. Sharp DPR 1:45.463 + 1.601 11 16. Piccione Durango 1:45.523 + 1.661 14 17. Alvarez Campos Racing 1:45.550 + 1.688 11 18. Garcia Racing Engineering 1:45.661 + 1.799 13 19. Monfardini Durango 1:45.789 + 1.927 12 20. Negrao Hitech Piquet Sports 1:45.946 + 2.084 13 21. Hernandez Campos Racing 1:46.429 + 2.567 12 22. Artam iSport International 1:46.503 + 2.641 11 23. Lauda Coloni Motorsport 1:46.656 + 2.794 11 24. Fauzy DAMS 1:47.266 + 3.404 15
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