Formula Two news
De Marco grabs pole for first Brno race
19 June 2009 / Results / PhotosNicola De Marco has taken pole position for tomorrow's first race of the FIA Formula Two Championship weekend in Brno. Mikhail Aleshin held top spot in the early part of the session, before Edoardo Piscopo took over. De Marco also held provisional pole for a brief time before a flurry of changes in the final 15 minutes. Tobias Hegewald and Carlos Iaconelli set the first and second fastest times at one stage, but it was De Marco who returned to take pole in the closing stages.
"I'm very happy," said De Marco. "I really enjoyed the wet conditions. I've worked very hard to get this place, especially after Valencia, so I'm really happy to have come away with such a strong result. The weather has been very strange! I hope to have a good race tomorrow, and then another good qualifying and race on Sunday. I'm not sure whether I should be hoping for rain or not!"
De Marco led an Italian 1-2 as Mirko Bortolotti took second place on the grid with his final flying lap. "This is my first time here, so I struggled a bit early on," commented Bortolotti. "The first session was quite short, and the second session I had a lot of problems - from my side, not the car. I am happy with second anyway because I didn't think after the second session I could be starting on the front row.
"At this moment I'm not really thinking about my championship rivals. There is still a long way to go in the season, and there are 25 drivers, so I have 24 rivals not just one. The competition is high, so I'm just happy to start on the front row and I'm looking forward to the race."
Finnish driver Henri Karjalainen completed the top three after showing impressive progress throughout the day. After a dominant day so far, Mikhail Aleshin will have been disappointed to have dropped to fourth as the chequered flag fell, whilst Philipp Eng and Edoardo Piscopo rounded out the top six. "I'm very happy with my position, especially because in Valencia my best in qualifying was 19th", said Karjalainen. "Coming into Brno I knew I had to concentrate more on qualifying and post good laps, and I am very happy that it worked.
"Halfway through the session I saw that I was about eighth fastest, but in the last three laps I was able to go faster. I was certainly pushing hard, and we also made some improvements to the car which made it feel really good. I knew in the rain I could finish anywhere, so I just pushed hard and I'm very happy to be third."
Carlos Iaconelli and Tobias Hegewald were seventh and eighth respectively, ahead of expected front-runners Andy Soucek and Robert Wickens. Championship leader Wickens was unable to threaten the ultimate pace setters, but he will expect to fight for points during tomorrow's 22-lap race.
The session had to be red flagged halfway through following spins for Jens Höing and Jason Moore, and when Henry Surtees went off into the gravel with two minutes remaining on the clock, the red flag brought qualifying to a close. Armaan Ebrahim, Natacha Gachnang and Alex Brundle were others that fell foul of the conditions - all three endured spins during the session.
Rain continued to fall throughout qualifying, though not as heavily as during today's free practice sessions.
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