Surtees takes maiden F2 pole at Brno

Qualifying was broken up by a red flag when Alex Brundle went off with seven minutes remaining, giving everyone one more shot at pole on new tyres.

Andy Soucek, Mirko Bortolotti and Mikhail Aleshin each had a spell at the top before Surtees posted a 1m48.006s with two minutes remaining.

His rivals were queueing up to respond as the session reached its climax, but Milos Pavlovic spun off at Turn 7 and brought out another red flag. With just 80 seconds left on the clock, qualifying was ended and the grid was set.

"It's a little bit daunting, I'm a bit further up than usual," Surtees admitted. "But I've just got to get off the line well and get round the first corner first."

Aleshin was left alongside Surtees on the front row - the Russian having finished every session of the season so far inside the top six.

Race one winner Mirko Bortolotti set the third fastest time, but has a five-place grid penalty as a punishment for lining up out of place at the start of Saturday's race.

"P3 was ok so I can be happy, but unfortunately I will start five positions back," said Bortolotti. "I hope to have a good race and make the most of the situation."

That promotes race one pole-sitter Nicola de Marco and Julien Jousse to the second row, and Andy Soucek and Pavlovic to the third.

Edoardo Piscopo - who charged from the back of the field to seventh place yesterday - will start today's race from seventh, alongside Robert Wickens.

Wickens, who was only ninth yesterday after getting involved in a tangle at the start, was set to post a lap to challenge the front runners with two quick sectors, but he lost four seconds in the final sector and was denied another opportunity by the red flag.

Pos Driver                     Time          Gap
 1. Henry Surtees              1m48.006s
 2. Mikhail Aleshin            1m48.151s  +0.145
 3. Mirko Bortolotti           1m48.168s  +0.162 (five-place penalty)
 4. Nicola de Marco            1m48.170s  +0.164
 5. Julien Jousse              1m48.286s  +0.280
 6. Andy Soucek                1m48.332s  +0.326
 7. Milos Pavlovic             1m48.392s  +0.386
 8. Edoardo Piscopo            1m48.501s  +0.495
 9. Robert Wickens             1m48.506s  +0.500
10. Henri Karjalainen          1m48.622s  +0.616
11. Carlos Iaconelli           1m48.644s  +0.638
12. Tobias Hegewald            1m48.717s  +0.711
13. Philipp Eng                1m48.778s  +0.772
14. Tom Gladdis                1m48.838s  +0.832
15. Alex Brundle               1m48.896s  +0.890
16. German Sanchez             1m48.909s  +0.903
17. Armaan Ebrahim             1m48.959s  +0.953
18. Kazim Vasiliauskas         1m49.229s  +1.223
19. Sebastian Hohenthal        1m49.907s  +1.901
20. Jack Clarke                1m50.099s  +2.093
21. Natacha Gachnang           1m50.237s  +2.231
22. Jolyon Palmer              1m50.265s  +2.259
23. Jens Hoing                 1m50.870s  +2.864
24. Pietro Gandolfi            1m50.912s  +2.906
25. Jason Moore                1m51.189s  +3.183