after Intense Qualifying Session
Kiwi racer, Chris van der Drift will start off the front row for race one of the second round of the Superleague Formula Championship this weekend at Zolder. The 24 year old made it through each of his knock out rounds to beat Australian driver John Martin, and team mates Robert Doornbos (Japan) and Luxembourg representative Frederic Vervisch but, in tricky conditions and on his penultimate lap, van der Drift locked his rears on an increasingly greasy circuit, handing the pole position to England driver Craig Dolby.
Atech Reid GP had 4 of 5 drivers draw qualifying group A for this afternoon's qualifying session with Robert Doornbos and Chris van der Drift making it through comfortably, new comer to the series Mikhail Aleshin (Russia) experienced a steep learning curve in what was his first Superleague Formula qualifying session; The unique format adding a little more pressure than usual. The young Russian spun on his last lap, but with little damage to the car Aleshin will be looking to charge forward in race one tomorrow.After facing team mate Frederic Vervisch in the first quarter final Doornbos (Japan) will line up on grid 5 next to team mate Vervisch (Luxembourg) on grid 4.With little between the two Atech Reid drivers, race one promises to deliver an action packed event Doornbos confident that he will be able to move forward.
Doornbos commented "Racing is always different to qualifying and the first 5 drivers are close in pace so I am sure for the fans it will be a great race to watch!"Czech Republic driver, Filip Slaquarda narrowly missed out on making it through to the second round of qualifying, improving on his last outing in the 750 bhp Superleague Formula car. He will start on grid 10 for race one tomorrow."I am happy with how I qualified this afternoon." Salaquarda stated." Of course I would have loved to have made it through to the quarter finals but, I am improving every time I get into the car. Racing is always different and with the chance of rain tomorrow, I am sure there will be mixed results."Frederic Vervisch had his best ever start to his Superleague Formula race weekend. Drawing Group B for qualifying this afternoon, Vervisch made it through to the quarter finals safley posting the third fastest time in his session. Happy with his peformance the Luxembourg representative is optimistic about the racing tomorrow."This is my best starting position in the Superleague Formula." Vervisch stated. "I was really happy that I eliminated my team mate Robert Doornbos who is also the local driver. Qualifying for me is not always that good, but it is something that I am working on. Tomorrow I will do my best from the second row as I am confident that the car has the pace to move forward."Live video streaming of the racing can be found by visiting the link. Racing starts at 12:10 local time (11:10 UK) 1) England (Craig Dolby)2) New Zealand (Christopher van der Drift)3) Belgium- RSC Anderlecht ( Neel Jani)4) Luxembourg (Frederic Vervisch)5) Japan (Robert Doornbos)6) Netherlands- PSV Eindhoven (Yelmer Buurman)7) Spain- Atletico Madrid (Andy Soucek)8) Australia (John Martin)9) South Korea (Max Wissel)10) Czech Republic- Sparta Prague (Filip Salaquarda)11) Brazil (Antonio Pizzonia)12) Turkey- Galatasaray SK (Duncan Tappy)13) France (Tristan Gommendy)14) Russia (Mikhail Aleshin)
