The Dams driver snatched the top spot in qualification today in a 1:41.091

The  Japanese  ace  got  his  revenge:  seeking  pole  position  in  Shanghai  and  failing,  he  brilliantly managed  to  be  the  quickest  man  of  the  day,  securing  the  top  spot  of  the  grid  for  tomorrow’s feature race of the second round of the GP2 Asia Series.

He delivered his best performance with only two minutes left on the clock. In  a  trouble-free  session  and  a  cleaner  track  than  during  Free  Practice,  Kobayashi  signed  the fastest laptime ahead of countryman Sakon Yamamoto at the wheel of his ART car. Vitaly Petrov completed the top 3 – an all Asian driver top finishers, but the Russian from Campos was quite disappointed coming out of his car as he was really aiming for pole.

However, traffic and a clash with  van  Der  Drift  in  his  final  lap  meant  that  Petrov  never  had  the  opportunity  to show the true potential of his machine. The championship leader, Roldan Rodriguez at Piquet GP secured the second row, clocking the fourth  quickest  laptime,  ahead  of  Shanghai  sprint  race  winner  Davide  Valsecchi  at  Durango.

Yelmer Buurman brought another great result to newcomers Ocean Racing Technology, finishing 6th, ahead of rookie van der Garde at GFH Team iSport. Earlier  in  the  session,  Diego  Nunes  looked  like  a  real  poleman  contender,  but  he  eventually placed his Piquet GP car in eighth place ahead of another rookie, Sergio Perez, on the second Campos car. Dams’ d’Ambrosio completed the Top 10.

 The first twelve cars finished in the same second.

Dubai – Qualifications

Driver Team Time Laps

1. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:41.091 13

2. Sakon Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:41.275 12

3. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:41.341 13

4. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:41.376 15

5. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:41.472 15

6. Yelmer Buurman Ocean Racing Technology 1:41.550 14

7. Giedo Van der Garde GFH Team iSport 1:41.557 15

8. Diego Nunes Piquet GP 1:41.593 15

9. Sergio Perez Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:41.768 15

10. Jérôme d’Ambrosio Dams 1:41.777 14

11. Andreas Zuber Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:41.798 14

12. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:41.838 13

13. Renger van der Zande Trust Team Arden 1:42.054 15

14. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:42.062 13

15. James Jakes Super Nova Racing 1:42.066 15

16. Earl Bamber MY Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:42.068 15

17. Luiz Razia Trust Team Arden 1:42.204 14

18. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:42.351 14

19. Hamad Al Fardan GFH Teal iSport 1:42.367 15

20 Alberto Valerio Trident Racing 1:42.541 15

21. Alex Yoong MY Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:43.026 14

22. Michael Herck DPR 1:43.102 14

23. Fabrizio Crestani Ocean Racing Technology 1:43.316 14

24. Chris van Der Drift Trident Racing 1:43.393 15

25 Michael Dalle Stelle Durango 1:45.603 15

26 Kevin Nai Chia Chen Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:48.411 16