The first day of the Budapest Auto GP weekend was a perfect one for Adrian Quaife-Hobbs: after securing the quickest time in both the Free Practice sessions, the young Briton clinched pole position posting a stunning 1'32"725 early in the session.

Adrian's laptime was six tenths quicker than last year's pole (Filippi clinched it in 2011 with 1'33"374) a pace that is even more remarkable considering that Quaife-Hobbs achieved it just five laps into his session. At that moment his gap on the competition was as big as 1"8 and so the driver from Kent decided to stop in order to save one set of tyres for the races.

The choice paid off but proved to be a risky one, as his rivals closed the gap lap after lap: in the end his team-mate Victor Guerin proved to be the biggest threat, closing the session just one tenth shy of pole and giving SuperNova an impressive one-two that bodes well for their race tomorrow.

Pål Varhaug and Virtuosi UK shared the improving momentum and took third place, four tenth's off the pole and ahead of a very quick Daniel de Jong, who got on track late into the session but immediately posted some goog laptimes.

Sergey Sirotkin was fifth with Euronova after completing six sessions in just one day (Auto GP and F3): the Russian driver will share third row with Sergio Campana, who opted for just one qualifying outing in order to save a set of tyres.

Seventh place went to Sten Pentus, who was hampered by some traffic in his second try managing just one clean lap. With his 1'34"150 he closed the session just 0.05 ahead of Facu Regalia, again the best placed driver from Campos Racing.

Adderly Fong was in the top ten again, sharing 5th row with Giancarlo Serenelli.

It was an unlucky session for Chris Van der Drift: the Marrakech Race 2 winner managed just three laps before being stopped by an issue with the rear right rim that the team is still investigating.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs:

"I'm really happy of this session: we stopped early because we thought that our advantage was enough to be safe and in the end we were right, even if the others got a bit closer than what we expected. Anyway, I could have been quicker too, because if we didn't choose to stop I would have burnt more fuel, so shaving another half second could have been possible. Now tomorrow's race is really looking good, I'm the quickest car on track and I saved a set of tyres, so everything is in place for a great result. The team deserves a big thanks, they did an amazing job".

Victor Guerin:

"It was really close, I think that pole could have been possible but front row is a great result anyway. We changed the car compared to the practice sessions, now I have the same set-up Adrian had from the start of the weekend and I have to say that the car really feels perfect. I was improving all the time throughout the session and now I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's race".

Pål Varhaug:

"We improved the car again after the second practice, and in Qualifying my driving was also better. Lap after lap I got into the right rhythm and in the last minutes we were really quick. My fastest lap wasn't really a clean one, so I believe that with a perfect one the pole could have been in our reach, but anyway it's clear that the SuperNova guys have an advantage, at least in how easily their performance is coming. Anyway we still have time to work on the details before the race".

Budapest, Qualifying

1 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS Supernova International 1:32.725
2 Victor GUERIN Supernova International 1:32.837
3 Pal VARHAUG Virtuosi UK 1:33.129
4 Daniel DE JONG Manor MP Motorsport 1:33.570
5 Sergey SIROTKIN Euronova Racing 1:34.121
6 Sergio CAMPANA MLR 71 1:34.138
7 Sten PENTUS Zele Racing 1:34.150
8 Facu REGALIA Campos Racing 1:34.207
9 Adderley FONG Ombra Racing 1:34.833
10 Giancarlo SERENELLI Ombra Racing 1:35.119
11 Giuseppe CIPRIANI Campos Racing 1:35.444
12 Max SNEGIREV Campos Racing 1:35.448
13 Antonio SPAVONE Euronova Racing 1:35.507
14 Francesco DRACONE Virtuosi UK 1:35.625
15 Michele LA ROSA MLR 71 1:37.623
16 Chris VAN DER DRIFT Manor MP Motorsport 1:47.331 .

All Photos Auto GP.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.



Victor Guerin.



Pål Varhaug.



Daniel De Jong.



Sergey Sirotkin.



Sergio Campana.



Sten Pentus.



Facu Regalia.



Adderley Fong.



Giancarlo Serenelli.