German just edges out Tuscher with last lap surge

Markus Pommer powered to his second Formula Two pole of the season after edging out Mathéo Tuscher by 0.139s during today’s (Sunday) closely fought second qualifying session at Paul Ricard.

The 21-year-old German put in a last lap surge to pip yesterday’s race-winner with Christopher Zanella securing third at the sun-soaked French circuit. Polish racer Kevin Mirocha ended fourth, after running P2 for much of the session, ahead of Brit Dino Zamparelli.

Track conditions were up on yesterday’s qualifying session with Mihai Marinescu laying down the early benchmark lapping in the 1:54s with Zanella and Mirocha also looking like contenders for the P1 spot.

After their initial runs, all drivers headed to the pits as the halfway point approached with air temperatures now hovering close to 30˚C. Round 11 pole-sitter Tuscher was the first out of the blocks and went straight to the top on his first quick lap, closely followed by Zanella and Luciano Bacheta. The Swiss looked to have it in the bag as the clock ticked down until Pommer put in a superb late lap to clinch his second P1 start of the season after Spa last month.

Meanwhile, 22-year-old Bacheta will be hoping for another storming start in today’s race after only qualifying sixth with Marinescu in seventh and Plamen Kralev recording his best qualifying position to date in eighth. Alex Fontana ended ninth ahead of Daniel McKenzie who finished a disappointing P10 after his podium yesterday.

Speaking afterwards Pommer said: "Yesterday I didn’t get a good start and nearly stalled so I’m hoping for better today! My race pace was off yesterday and my front tyre was blistered which made it un-driveable but for today we made a better and smoother set up which made the car feel good and now I’m optimistic for the race."

Today’s second race gets underway at 14:30 (local time) with full coverage, including live streaming, on the F2 website. www.formulatwo.com

F2 Results: Paul Ricard – Qualifying 2:

1. Markus Pommer, 1:52.339s
2. Mathéo Tuscher, +0.139s
3. Christopher Zanella, +0.308s
4. Kevin Mirocha, +0.320s
5. Dino Zamparelli, +0.533s
6. Luciano Bacheta, +0.535s
7. Mihai Marinescu, +0.596s
8. Plamen Kralev, +0.761s
9. Alex Fontana, +0.859s
10. Daniel McKenzie, +0.977s
11. Axcil Jefferies, +1.005s
12. Hector Hurst, +1.378s
13. Mauro Calamia, +1.394s
14. David Zhu, +1.667s