Qualifying 2: Franck at the double

A heavy rain shower, even though the sky above appeared to be relatively cloud-free, soaked the track - first falling at the Turn 11 hairpin. With cars spinning ahead of him, Montagny (Racing Engineering) plunged head-long into the tyrewall, without injury to himself but damaging the car.

Nicolas Filiberti was also stranded in the gravel, prompting the session to be red flagged. Luciano Gomide (KTR) had already gone off into the gravel at Turn 1 before the rain fell, while Polo Villaamil (Adrian Campos Motorsport) was another to spin at the final corner after setting the seventh quickest time.

The rain meant disaster for former F1 racer Ricardo Zonta, who had only completed his out lap when the rain fell. Rafael Sarandeses suffered likewise, and the man who will start the first race from the front row will start the second event from the last rank along with Zonta.

"As soon as I left the garage it started to rain," said Zonta. "It was hot and sunny when I got in the car. I think we've learned something today about Spanish weather - it is like England!"

Narain Karthikeyan (RC Motorsport), ironically a renowned rain specialist from his days in England, was second fastest, ahead of Bas Leinders (KTR). The consistent Ander Vilarino (Epsilon by Graff) was fourth fastest from Angel Burgueno (Repsol Meycom) and Antonio Garcia (Adrian Campos Motorsport).

Justin Wilson was a disconsolate ninth, after making wholesale set-up changes after the morning session to find some speed from his car. He went out on old tyres to begin with, and had just left the pits on his new boots when the rain fell.

"I got stuck in a bit of traffic too, but I wasn't thinking about speed, just whether the changes had made the car better," he said.


Franck Montagny, Racing Engineering, 1m25.149s
Narain Karthikeyan, Tata RC Motorsport, 1m25.204s
Bas Leinders, KTR, 1m25.474s
Ander Vilarino, Epsilon by Graff, 1m25.522s
Angel Burgueno, Repsol Meycom, 1m25.745s
Antonio Garcia, Adrian Campos Motorsport, 1m25.827s
Polo Villaamil, Adrian Campos Motorsport, 1m25.994s
Jean-Christophe Ravier, Epsilon by Graff, 1m26.174s
Justin Wilson, Racing Engineering, 1m26.391s
Tuka Rocha, Gabord Competicion, 1m26.509s
Felix Porteiro, Vergani Racing, 1m26.560s
Andre Couto, Vergani Racing, 1m26.577s
Luciano Gomide, KTR, 1m27.667s
Victor Ordonez, Repsol Meycom, 1m27.816s
Nicolas Filiberti, Zele Motorsport, 1m28.925s
Roberto Gonzalez, 7UP GD Racing, 1m30.745s
Peter Sundberg, Tata RC Motorsport, 1m33.319s
Damien Faulkner, Zele Motorsport, 1m37.815s
Ricardo Zonta, Gabord Competicion, 1m42.086s
Rafael Sarandeses, 7UP GD Racing, 1m49.453s