Briton captures second pole of season with late effort in Italy

Jolyon Palmer captured his second pole of the season after recording a storming late lap around the legendary Monza circuit.

Palmer’s effort eclipsed Johan Jokinen by just 0.074s in what was an incredibly close session, with the top 16 covered by less than one second. Jokinen had looked on course for a maiden F2 pole but was forced to settle for second, narrowly ahead of Romania’s Mihai Marinescu.

Pole position for Palmer will add extra spice to the championship race, as lead duo Philipp Eng and Dean Stoneman could only manage eleventh and eighth respectively.

"It’s good for the championship," said Palmer. "Obviously I didn’t have such a great points scoring round in Marrakech and they (Eng and Stoneman) were really on form, so it’s nice that they’re not here and I’m on pole. It should hopefully give me a good boost for the championship after this round."

Kazim Vasiliauskas was close to scoring his first top three grid slot of the campaign, but the Lithuanian had to settle for a place on the outside of row two after being squeezed out late on. Nicola De Marco equalled his best qualifying result of the season with fifth as the Italian continued to show good form at his home circuit.

Ricardo Teixeira bounced back impressively from his massive Marrakech accident to put in one of the best qualifying performances of his career – the Angolan took sixth ahead of Armaan Ebrahim and Dean Stoneman.

British duo Jack Clarke and Will Bratt were separated by just 0.014s in ninth and tenth respectively. Bratt was the first driver to set a time on new rubber in the final 15 minutes and the 22-year-old briefly held third. With his tyres seemingly past their best however while other drivers‘ were in their prime, Bratt dropped to tenth in the latter stages. Just six tenths of a second covered the top ten in what turned out to be the closest qualifying session of the season.

A disappointed championship leader Philipp Eng will only line up on the sixth row of the grid for the weekend’s opening race. Although there seemed to be no immediate reason for Eng’s lack of pace, it is worth remembering that he was still only 0.660s off Palmer’s pole time. With a 19 point lead over Stoneman in the standings and a further eight point advantage over Palmer, Eng will surely be one to watch tomorrow as he tries to carve his way through the order.

FIA Formula Two Championship – Rounds 5 & 6 – Monza, Italy – Qualifying One Provisional Classification:

1. Jolyon Palmer, 1:41.722s
2. Johan Jokinen, +0.074s
3. Mihai Marinescu, +0.188s
4. Kazim Vasiliauskas, +0.232s
5. Nicola De Marco, +0.357s
6. Ricardo Teixeira, +0.429s
7. Armaan Ebrahim, +0.470s
8. Dean Stoneman, +0.553s
9. Jack Clarke, +0.626s
10. Will Bratt, +0.640s

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Italian tops timesheets for first time in 2010 at home venue

Nicola De Marco set the pace in the second free practice session in Monza, the Italian setting a fantastic late lap to go fastest in the final two sectors and seal his first top spot of 2010.

De Marco’s late effort relegated Jolyon Palmer to second, Palmer having made a late surge of his own to claim the top spot with less than five minutes of the session remaining. Benjamin Bailly was third as the Belgian racer was in a particularly aggressive mood. Bailly was one of several drivers to make use of the long straights to slipstream by other competitors – he stormed by Ajith Kumar on the run down to turn one late on as he started his own flying lap.

The session ended a few seconds ahead of schedule when Russian racer Sergey Afanasiev made heavy contact with the barrier on the exit of Ascari. Afanasiev ran wide through the tricky left hander, catching the gravel on the outside and ending up in the barrier at high speed. His car eventually came to a halt back on the circuit, but the race director brought out the chequered flag with less than a minute remaining as it was impossible for any driver to improve their times.

Armaan Ebrahim enjoyed his best session of the season, as he set the fourth quickest time – just 0.015s behind Bailly. Philipp Eng led the way for much of the running, but the Austrian had to settle for fourth after the late flurry of improvements at the head of the field. Johan Jokinen took sixth ahead of Afanasiev, who set his fastest time on the lap prior to his accident.

This morning’s pace-setter Kazim Vasiliauskas could only manage eighth, ahead of Marrakech race winner Dean Stoneman and Dutchman Kelvin Snoeks.

Several runners had moments at either the turn one or turn four chicanes, with Jack Clarke in particular having a number of difficulties. The young Briton was eventually given a black and white warning flag for repeatedly straight lining the first chicane. Johan Jokinen, Natalia Kowalska, Ajith Kumar, Kazim Vasiliauskas, Ricardo Teixeira and Plamen Kralev were among those who also missed a chicane on at least one occasion.

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Lithuanian sets pace shortly before spinning out of session

Kazim Vasiliauskas has set the pace for the first time this season in the opening free practice session at Monza.

The Lithuanian completed the quickest lap in the final five minutes, shortly before his session ended with a spin at turn one. Kazim was a consistent frontrunner during the opening stages and he managed to head the field with a late push. He then made a final attempt to better his own benchmark, but he outbraked himself at turn one and spun on entry to the tight chicane. He unfortunately stalled the car and was unable to contest the final moments, although his time remained at the top of the timesheets.

Vasiliauskas has happy memories of Italy having taken his maiden F2 victory at Imola last season, and the youngster is eager to get his 2010 championship charge in full swing this weekend.

Mihai Marinescu expressed his own ’special‘ relationship with Monza having fallen in love with motorsport whilst watching the Italian Grand Prix here back in 1999. The Romanian has since contested several races at the circuit in both Formula BMW and Formula Renault, and his experience paid off in free practice. The 21-year-old topped the times for much of the session, before having to settle for second at the finish.

Lukoil-backed Sergey Afanasiev has scored points in every race so far this season, including a podium at Silverstone, and the young Russian continued his good form here today by securing third – just 0.006s behind Marinescu.

An incredible run of closely fought times continued down the order as less than three tenths of a second separated second through to tenth. Championship leader Philipp Eng pipped Johan Jokinen to fourth, whilst Jolyon Palmer took sixth from Benjamin Bailly by seven thousandths of a second. Nicola De Marco, Will Bratt and Paul Rees rounded out the top ten.

Ajith Kumar endured a tough session as the Indian crashed out midway through the 30 minutes of running. He ran wide at the exit of Ascari before being spat back across the circuit as he tried to correct the car. He made contact with the barrier on the inside of the track – ending his session on the spot. Plamen Kralev spun out of the action in the final minute, whilst Jack Clarke was one of a number of drivers who continued after overshooting a chicane.

FIA Formula Two Championship – Rounds 5 & 6 – Monza, Italy – Free Practice One Provisional Classification:

1. Kazim Vasiliauskas, 1:41.950s
2. Mihai Marinescu, +0.374s
3. Sergey Afanasiev, +0.380s
4. Philipp Eng, +0.459s
5. Johan Jokinen, +0.481s
6. Jolyon Palmer, +0.516s
7. Benjamin Bailly, +0.523s
8. Nicola De Marco, +0.533s
9. Will Bratt, +0.584s
10. Paul Rees, +0.636s

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