German beats title rivals to pole
Nico Hülkenberg defied the blistering conditions to continue where he left off yesterday morning and claim pole position for today''s race one in Valencia, ahead of title rivals Vitaly Petrov and Lucas di Grassi.
The German was at the sharp end of the timesheets throughout the session, but his best lap of 1:45.025 set late in the period put him four tenths ahead of his rivals and, when Petrov was struck down with an electrical gremlin and had to stop in the pits, the war was over. Luca Filippi and di Grassi set the early running, but normal service soon returned as Petrov and Hülkenberg made the battle their own: the pair seemed to be on a different circuit to their rivals, who were unable to get close to the laps the title contenders were pulling in.
Filippi looked to get a jump on the field by getting out early on fresh tyres while the others sat in the pits, but the plan failed when he had a heavy shunt at turn 20, shattering his car and bringing out the red flags: thankfully he was unhurt, but the rest of the field had to sit in the oppressive heat of their cars while the track was cleared.
And when it was the remaining bunch sprinted out, with most improving their times, including Hülkenberg. Petrov looked to be catching him until he unexpectedly returned to the pits, and after a call onto the weighbridge was unable to restart the car due to an electrical problem: the German continued to circulate in case of emergency, but as the clock ran out the pole was his. Behind the top three Sergio Perez returned to form with a fine fourth place, just ahead of Roldan Rodriguez, Alvaro Parente, Dani Clos and Karun Chandhok, but with the three title contenders in the first three positions it's fair to say that tomorrow all eyes will be glued to the front of the grid as the lights go out.
Valencia – Qualifying session
Driver Team Time Laps
1. Nico Hülkenberg ART Grand Prix 1:45.025 13 2. Vitaly Petrov Barwa Addax Team 1:45.450 9 3. Lucas di Grassi Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:45.654 14 4. Sergio Perez Telmex Arden International 1:45.669 14 5. Roldan Rodriguez Piquet GP 1:45.758 15 6. Alvaro Parente Ocean Racing Technology 1:45.902 12 7. Dani Clos Fat Burner Racing Eng. 1:46.040 14 8. Karun Chandhok Ocean Racing Technology 1:46.063 13 9. Pastor Maldonado ART Grand Prix 1:46.086 14 10. Diego Nunes iSport International 1:46.204 10 11. Javier Villa Super Nova Racing 1:46.264 15 12. Davide Valsecchi Barwa Addax Team 1:46.408 13 13. Edoardo Mortara Telmex Arden international 1:46.497 13 14. Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:46.545 8 15. Michael Herck DPR 1:46.648 13 16. Andreas Zuber Party Poker Racing.com SC 1:46.740 15 17. Jérôme d’Ambrosio DAMS 1:46.745 14 18. Alberto Valerio Piquet GP 1:46.748 13 19. Davide Rigon Trident Racing 1:46.826 13 20 Kamui Kobayashi DAMS 1:46.850 14 21. Frank Perera DPR 1:6.945 12 22. Luiz Razia Party Poker Racing.com SC 1:47.089 14 23. Nelson Panciatici Durango 1:47.843 15 24. Ricardo Teixeira Trident Racing 1:48.155 14 25 Stefano Coletti Durango 1:49.296 14 26. Giedo van der Garde iSport International 1:51.855 3
