in Qatar night qualifications
The young German strengthens his GP2 rising star status after he signed the fastest laptime at the chequered flag in last night's eventful qualifying session in a 1:35.741. He was followed by Campos’ Sergio Perez and Vitaly Petrov. The youngest man of the field and youngest driver to ever win a GP2 race bettered his Russian teammate’s quickest laptime also in the very last seconds of the session.
On a slippery track, Vitaly Petrov – who had been fastest earlier in Free Practice – looked in really good shape, topping the time sheet for almost the entire qualifications. Four minutes before the chequered flag, Nico Hülkenberg signed the quickest first sector, but iSport’s Al Fardan span at Turn 12 and finished in the gravel bed. The session was then red flagged.
With only 3 minutes and 34 seconds left on the clock, the field went back on the track. The German ace put his head down and snatched the pole position on his very last lap. A few seconds later, Vitaly Petrov crossed the finish line, but could not better Hülkenberg’s time. Sergio Perez stormed soon after that and pushed back his teammate in P3.
Behind the Top 3; Championship leader Kamui Kobayashi recovered in fourth place in his very last lap after a rather difficult session while Piquet’s Roldan Rodriguez finished fifth. Sakon Yamamoto, Javier Villa, Davide Valsecchi, Edoardo Mortara and Jérôme d’Ambrosio complete the Top 10.
Qatar – Qualifications
Driver Team Time Laps 1. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:35.741 13 2. Sergio Perez Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:36.464 14 3. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Int. Campos Team 1:36.487 14 4. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:36.525 13 5. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:36.583 14 6. Sakon Yamamoto ART Grand Prix 1:36.667 14 7. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:36.685 15 8. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:36.923 16 9. Edoardo Mortara ArdenInt. Motorsport 1:36.987 12 10. Jérôme d’Ambrosio Dams 1:37.027 13 11. James Jakes Super Nova Racing 1:37.274 14 12. Marco Bonanomi My Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:37.328 16 13. Alvaro Parente My Qi-Meritus.Mahara 1:37.409 15 14. Diego Nunes Piquet GP 1:37.605 14 15. Fabrizio Crestani Ocean Racing Technology 1:37.752 13 16. Giedo van der Garde GFH Team iSport 1:37.789 15 17. Michael Herck DPR 1:37.928 15 18. Giacomo Ricci DPR 1:38.069 15 19. Luiz Razia ArdenInt. Motorsport 1:38.264 14 20 Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:38.320 15 21. Hamad Al Fardan GFH Team iSport 1:38.383 11 22. Rodolfo Gonzalez Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:38.384 14 23. Yelmer Buurman Ocean Racing Technology 1;38.453 15 24. Frankie Provenzano Trident Racing 1:39.314 15 25. Michael Dalle Stelle Durango 1:41.623 15 26 Kevin Nai Chia Chen Fisichella Motor Sport Int. 1:43.139 18
