Martin puts Beijing on pole at Jarama
In a week of footballing upsets, Superleague Formula continued the theme with John Martin grabbing pole position at Jarama for Beijing Guoan
Martin recovered from a deficit in the first sector to power past AC Milan's Yelmur Buurman in the head-to-head qualifying final. It was Martin's first pole in the series.
Martin advanced to the final with a convincing win over the Basel entry of Max Wissel in the first semi-final. In the second encounter, Buurman swept aside Chris van der Drift (Olympiacos), although his lap was a tenth down on Martin's effort.
In contrast to the national football team, both English drivers made it comfortably through to the quarter finals - but that was as far as they got. A left-front lock-up cost Craig Dolby (Tottenham) as he went head-to head with Docking 'team-mate' Martin, while just 0.01s was the difference between Buurman and the defeated James Walker (Liverpool). Van der Drift took an easy win over Sebastien Bourdais' Lyon entry, and Wissel knocked out Franck Perera (Flamengo).
Martin set the fastest time in the group stages, topping Group A with a lap of 1m28.891s, almost 0.3s faster than Buurman needed to win Group B.
On paper, B seemed the tougher of the two, with Borja Garica (Sporting Lisbon), Franck Montagny (Bordeaux), Narain Karthikeyan (PSV), Alvaro Parente (Porto) and Tristan Gommendy (Galatasaray) all failing to make the cut.
In A, Julian Jousse (Roma), Robert Doornbos (Corinthians), Marcos Martinez (Sevilla), series one champ Davide Rigon (Anderlecht) and Maria de Villota (Atletico Madrid) missed out.
Pos Driver Team Time 1. John Martin Beijing Guoan 1m21.329s 2. Yelmer Buurman AC Milan 1m21.583s 3. Chris van der Drift Olympiacos 1m21.979s 4. Max Wissel FC Basel 1m21.500s 5. Franck Perera Flamengo 1m21.791s 6. Sebastien Bourdais Olympique Lyonnais 1m22.333s 7. James Walker Liverpool FC 1m22.287s 8. Craig Dolby Tottenham Hotspur 1m22.049s 9. Julien Jousse AS Roma 1m21.695s 10. Alvaro Parente FC Porto 1m21.562s 11. Robert Doornbos Corinthians 1m21.852s 12. Franck Montagny Girondins de Bordeaux 1m21.650s 13. Marcos Martinez Sevilla FC 1m22.139s 14. Narain Karthikeyan PSV Eindhoven 1m22.011s 15. Davide Rigon RSC Anderlecht 1m22.233s 16. Borja Garcia Sporting Clube de Portugal 1m22.353s 17. Maria de Villota Atletico de Madrid 1m23.079s 18. Tristan Gommendy Galatasaray 1m22.399s
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