Van der Garde tops crazy session
Giedo van der Garde will start from pole position for the second consecutive GP2 feature race after he came out on top in a controversial qualifying session
The entire 30-minute session was marred by incidents in traffic as drivers continually backed up to try and find clear space for their hot laps.
Van der Garde (Addax) had been involved in a clash when he ran into the back of Oliver Turvey at the Swimming Pool section with seven minutes remaining. But after coming in for repairs he went back out and snatched pole position from Sam Bird in the final minute.
Second-placed Bird was also caught up in a shunt, which involved his team-mate Marcus Ericsson. The Swede was on a hot lap as he came across Bird in the middle of the Swimming Pool section, and he ran over the back of the Briton.
The iSport drivers were not the only team-mates to collide, as DAMS pairing Romain Grosjean and Pal Varhaug had a much more spectacular accident.
Grosjean, who had found plenty of clear track in practice this morning, spent the whole session at the bottom of the timesheets as every lap he did was ruined by cars queuing up in the final sector.
When he came up behind Varhaug with six minutes remaining he tried to pass the Norwegian on the exit of La Rascasse. But Grosjean misjudged the pass, and as he hit Varhaug's right rear wheel it launched the Frenchman onto the top of his team-mate's car.
Both DAMS cars were heavily damaged, and Grosjean finished the session last, with a time outside 107 per cent of pole. However, due to his pacesetting practice performance this morning he will almost certain to be allowed to start the race.
Other incidents involved Dani Clos losing his front wing when trying to pass Bird into the final corner, while Stefano Coletti and Luiz Razia brought out the red flags halfway through the session when they collided at La Rascasse.
Luca Filippi was an early casualty, as he clouted the barriers at St Devote just eight minutes into qualifying.
Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Giedo van der Garde Addax 1m21.781s 2. Sam Bird iSport 1m21.876s + 0.095s 3. Davide Valsecchi AirAsia 1m22.198s + 0.417s 4. Alvaro Parente Racing Engineering 1m22.371s + 0.590s 5. Stefano Coletti Trident 1m22.449s + 0.668s 6. Josef Kral Arden 1m22.585s + 0.804s 7. Max Chilton Carlin 1m22.664s + 0.883s 8. Jules Bianchi ART 1m21.991s + 0.210s 9. Esteban Gutierrez ART 1m22.834s + 1.053s 10. Johnny Cecotto Ocean 1m22.909s + 1.128s 11. Luca Filippi Super Nova 1m22.929s + 1.148s 12. Charles Pic Addax 1m23.077s + 1.296s 13. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m23.114s + 1.333s 14. Fabio Leimer Rapax 1m23.217s + 1.436s 15. Marcus Ericsson iSport 1m23.315s + 1.534s 16. Oliver Turvey Carlin 1m23.373s + 1.592s 17. Luiz Razia AirAsia 1m23.377s + 1.596s 18. Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1m23.470s + 1.689s 19. Jolyon Palmer Arden 1m23.496s + 1.715s 20. Julian Leal Rapax 1m23.752s + 1.971s 21. Kevin Ceccon Coloni 1m23.913s + 2.132s 22. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova 1m24.103s + 2.322s 23. Kevin Mirocha Ocean 1m24.235s + 2.454s 24. Michael Herck Coloni 1m24.466s + 2.685s 25. Pal Varhaug DAMS 1m25.077s + 3.296s 26. Romain Grosjean DAMS 1m32.079s + 10.298s
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