Posted on 20th June 2014
The skies over the track in Spielberg told a tale of two halves; one one side sunny conditions and on another dark, threatening rain clouds. The track itself was dry at the start of the session.
In an unusual twist to this GP2 Qualifying session, the drivers opted to complete an extra tyre warm up lap due to the cooler track temperatures. Johnny Cecotto mastered the conditions first and set a fastest time of 1:15.918 until Jolyon Palmer moved a few tenths ahead of the Venezuelan driver.
Simon Trummer looked to have issues when he bailed on his first run to get back to the pits in search of a remedy. The Rapax driver did manage to get back out onto the track but couldn't get higher than P24 in the standings.
Just like in Formula One, the GP2 drivers were having issues with the exit of the final corner; a number of them kicking up dust heading onto the pit straight. Felipe Nasr looked to be on a pole lap until he ran wide at turn nine, as did Facu Regalia. Cecotto kept his Trident machine on the black stuff and regained top spot with a 1:15.312.
After the familiar mid-session lull in proceedings, everyone filed back out onto the track with their eyes on the prize. Daniël de Jong appeared more eager than others, spinning on the pit lane exit but he came away unscathed.
At the pointy end of the time sheets, Palmer got closer to Cecotto's time but stayed P2 while Nasr couldn't improve on his lap time that got him in P3. Stefano Coletti edged out his team mate Raffaele Marciello for P4 and Arthur Pic threw away his challenge for pole position after a scrappy final sector.
Johnny Cecotto's lap time from earlier in the session of 1:15.312 went unbeaten and the Venezuelan driver secured his first GP2 poole position since Monaco last year.
Another great laser cut circuit by www.grahamandleigh.co.uk
Position Driver Team Gap
1 J. Cecotto Trident 1:15.312
2 J. Palmer DAMS 0.040
3 F. Nasr Carlin 0.046
4 S. Coletti Racing Engineering 0.131
5 R. Marciello Racing Engineering 0.137
6 S. Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 0.169
7 A. Pic Campos Racing 0.296
8 M. Evans RT RUSSIAN TIME 0.302
9 A. Rossi EQ8 Caterham Racing 0.332
10 S. Richelmi DAMS 0.352
11 A. Negrão Arden International 0.461
12 J. Leal Carlin 0.472
13 R. Haryanto EQ8 Caterham Racing 0.499
14 A. Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 0.615
15 T. Ellinas MP Motorsport 0.652
16 S. Canamasas Trident 0.722
17 T. Izawa ART Grand Prix 0.780
18 A. Markelov RT RUSSIAN TIME 0.824
19 D. Abt Hilmer Motorsport 0.934
20 K. Sato Campos Racing 0.962
21 R. Binder Arden International 1.019
22 D. De Jong MP Motorsport 1.022
23 F. Regalia Hilmer Motorsport 1.185
24 S. Trummer Rapax 1.219
25 C. Daly Venezuela GP Lazarus 1.227
26 N. Berthon Venezuela GP Lazarus 1.342
Callum Rowe
