A good start!

Practice and qualifying for the 2008-09 Asian GP2 Series Championship took place yesterday on the Shanghai circuit hosting the 2008 Chinese Grand Prix. Kamui who set the quickest time in free practice in the morning was favourite for pole. He topped the time sheets for most of qualifying only to be pipped by a few tenths of a second in the dying seconds of a session marked by a couple of red flags. He will start from the front row tomorrow but in second place.

D’Ambrosio ended the session in 7th place. The Belgian was not very happy with his car’s balance on a track that did not provide a lot of grip. However, the gaps between the cars at the top of the time sheet are tiny.

Eric Boullier: “It was a rather difficult qualifying session as it was interrupted twice after a few offs, and that upset the programmes of the drivers who were on the track at the time. Despite this our qualifying performances were good and our aim is to have both drivers on the rostrum tomorrow.”

Kamui Kobayashi2nd time in qualifying

“For sure missing pole by two tenths of a second is frustrating, all the more so as I made a small mistake on what should have been my quickest lap. But starting from the front row for tomorrow’s race is a good performance and we can aim for victory. Overall, it’s an encouraging result for the start of the championship. By not making any mistakes tomorrow and with the right strategy victory is within our grasp.”

Jérôme d’Ambrosio7th time in qualifying

“I’d like to have been higher up the classification at the end of qualifying. For several reasons I was not very satisfied with the overall balance of my car today, and I think I gave it my best shot. Starting from the fourth row means I can score points. The Shanghai circuit is a tricky and difficult one, and that’ll certainly help me to make up places in the race. My aim will be to fight my way through the field tomorrow and finish as high up as possible.”