Adrian Quaife-Hobbs clinched the fourth pole position of his Auto GP season in Portimão.

The British driver of SuperNova was quickest in a tight packed session that saw nine drivers end in the same second. Adrian climbed on top before the ten minutes mark with a 1’32”5, and then improved to 1’32”342 in the late part of Qualifying, after that the session was stopped for a spin by Michele La Rosa.

The last 30’ of today’s action saw many yellow flags, and that meant that many drivers were forced to abort their best laps: poleman Quaife-Hobbs had to cope with that, as well as Sergio Campana and Facu Regalia.

The Argentinian driver of Campos Racing posted the best qualifying performance of his season so far with a 1’32”625 that was worth second place, and was really happy with his car: “Session after session we improved a lot" - Regalia said - "and I have to say thanks to the team and to my engineer Sean Thompson for that. We are quick and consistent, we could have been even quicker without yellow flags and we are looking good for the race. First row was my aim, so I’m really happy today”.

Victor Guerin completed a very good team performance from SuperNova taking third, just 0.02 off Regalia’s time: “Coming from GP2 it took some time to get acquainted with the car again." he said. “At the start of the weekend I was a long way off Quaife-Hobbs, but we made a lot of changes to the car before qualifying and it's now much better”.

Sergio Campana was fourth with 1’32”677 and despite the good result the Italian was really disappointed for the yellow flags that ruined his best lap: “I’m a bit angry because I could have challenged for pole without wasting my best lap with that yellow flag. It’s frustrating, but at the same time I’m happy because the car is quick, we are on the pace”.

Fifth place went to Pål Varhaug: the Norwegian’s speed was good but he missed the last minutes of Qualifying due to a fuel pressure issue, and so he couldn’t improve in the deciding moments. He closed the session ahead of Sergey Sirotkin, who also had his share of bad luck: the young Russian of Euronova did hit a stranded piece of astroturf that got stuck into his suspension, preventing him from turning and putting an end to his session. The team managed by Vincenzo Sospiri couldn’t even count on the other car because Antonio Spavone stopped on track due to a technical issue with ten minutes to go.

Chris Van der Drift was seventh ahead of team mate Daniel de Jong, both hampered by an oversteering car. Zele Racing rounded the top ten with Sten Pentus closing three tenths ahead of team-mate Juan Carlos Sistos.

Adrian Quaife Hobbs:

“Clinching the fourth pole on five rounds is an amazing feeling, and I want to thank SuperNova for the amazing job they’re doing with the car. I could have been quicker today, I had to abort two laps that were potentially better than the pole time, and then I couldn’t improve because the tires faded lap after lap. Anyway I managed to stay on top, and we’re really quick so I’m confident that we can win tomorrow”.

Friday 1 June 2012, Qualifying

1 Adrian QUAIFE-HOBBS Supernova International 1:32.342
2 Facu REGALIA Campos Racing 1:32.625
3 Victor GUERIN Supernova International 1:32.649
4 Sergio CAMPANA MLR 71 1:32.677
5 Pal VARHAUG Virtuosi UK 1:32.953
6 Sergey SIROTKIN Euronova Racing 1:32.976
7 Chris VAN DER DRIFT Manor MP Motorsport 1:33.091
8 Daniel DE JONG Manor MP Motorsport 1:33.130
9 Sten PENTUS Zele Racing 1:33.291
10 Juan Carlos SISTOS Zele Racing 1:33.508
11 Max SNEGIREV Campos Racing 1:33.929
12 Francesco DRACONE Virtuosi UK 1:34.120
13 Antonio SPAVONE Euronova Racing 1:34.187
14 Giancarlo SERENELLI Ombra Racing 1:34.241
15 Giuseppe CIPRIANI Campos Racing 1:34.837
16 Michele LA ROSA MLR 71 1:35.325

All Photos Auto GP.

Adrian Quaife-Hobbs.



Facu Regalia.



Victor Guerin.



Sergio Campana.



Pål Varhaug.



Sergey Sirotkin.



Chris Van Der Drift.



Daniel De Jong.



Sten Pentus.



Juan Carlos Sistos.