The ART Grand Prix driver snatched his second pole of the season in Sepang today. iSport International Karun Chandhok will start next to him tomorrow on the grid of Race 1. The leader of the 2008 GP2 Asia Series is back on top form this Friday: after he set the pace in this morning’s Free Practice, the RDD driver was once again quickest during qualifying in a 1:44.182. He will fight for a third win.

Also back at the top: Karun Chandhok who signed the second fastest lap time of the day at the wheel of his iSport International car in a 1:44.965. As for Adrian Valles and his FMS International car, they were once again very competitive as they complete the Top 3. Title runner-up Bruno Senna still has a very good chance to fight for the win as he will be starting from  the  fourth  place. 

Sébastien  Buemi  and  Fairuz  Fauzy  will  place  their  Trust  Team  Arden  and Super Nova Racing cars on the 4th line in front of TDP Kamui Kobayashi, Davide Valsecchi, Yelmer Buurman and Christian Bakkerud.

Romain Grosjean (ART Grand Prix): “This is a fantastic result! This pole position was one of my goals of the weekend. The second one is to win tomorrow on this beautiful track. I don’t feel any extra  pressure  from  racing  in  front  of  the  Formula  One  paddock:  I  just  keep  focused  on  my objectives. This is still a learning period for me.”

Karun Chandhok (iSport International): “I’m happy that I did my best lap in the very last minutes of the  session.  Of  course,  I  was  aiming  at  pole  position,  but  I’m  really  happy  with  the  car  and  the balance. Bruno Senna’s time is also very good: we should be both really competitive tomorrow. As for  the  start  of  Race  1,  I  hope  it  will  be  better  than  the  one  in  Dubai…  After  that,  anything’s possible: I will definitely fight for the win!”

Adrian Valles (FMS International): “It’s a really nice track… This morning, I did a few laps and I had the opportunity to learn the track. I finished third that time too. In the qualifying session, I was struggling a bit because I had some problems with the gear box. I also had problems with the first set of tyres. However, I’m really happy with the balance of the car. We are quite strong here. I hope everything will go well tomorrow and I think we can be fighting for the win.”

Race 1 will take place tomorrow at 15:45, local time.

Sepang – Qualifying session Driver Team Time Laps

1. Romain Grosjean ART Grand Prix 1:44.182 13 2. Karun Chandhok iSport International 1:44.965 14 3. Adrian Valles Fisichella Motor Sport International 1:45.035 15 4. Bruno Senna iSport International 1:45.094 13 5. Luca Filippi** Qi-Meritus Mahara 1:45.166 14 6. Sébastien Buemi Trust Team Arden 1:45.182 15 7. Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:45.367 14 8. Kamui Kobayashi Dams 1:45.401 15 9. Davide Valsecchi Durango 1:45.471 14 10. Yelmer Buurman Trust Team Arden 1:45.560 14 11. Christian Bakkerud Super Nova Racing 1:45.576 15 12. Vitaly Petrov** Barwa International Campos Team 1:45.668 14 13. Ho-Pin Tung Trident Racing 1:45.704 15 14. Hiroki Yoshimoto** Qi-Meritus Mahara 1:45.719 15 15. Ben Hanley Barwa International Campos Team 1:45.879 14 16. Stephen Jelley ART Grand Prix 1:45.901 14 17. Alberto Valerio Durango 1:45.932 14 18. Jérôme d’Ambrosio Dams 1:46.019 12 19. Harald Schleghelmilch Trident Racing 1:46.069 14 20 Milos Pavlovic BCN Competicion 1:46.093 13 21. Diego Nunes DPR 1:46.186 13 22. Michael Herck Fisichella Motor Sport International 1:46.258 15 23. Marco Bonanomim Piquet Sports 1:46.281 8 24. Jason Tahinci** BCN Competicion 1:46.710 15 25 Marcello Puglisi Piquet Sports 1:46.923 14 26. Aarman Ebrahim DPR 1:47.720 15 **

Cars 27, 5, 26 and 25 ignored a waved yellow flag during Free Practice and will be dropped 5 places on the grid for Race 1.