22/05/10
FILIPPI ON IMOLA AUTOGP POLE WITH NEW TRACK RECORD
After dominating the Auto GP on Friday at Imola, Luca Filippi's Lola B05/52 was also unbeatable in Qualifying. The championship leader, who was already leading the timesheet after the first set of new tyres, managed two perfect laps with the second set, stopping the clocks on 1'31"8 and then improving to the 1'31"742 of the pole lap, clinching also the track record.
Nobody lapped so quickly before on the renewed Imola layout: just for comparaison, Auto GP destroyed the F2 best laptime in Imola, a 1'37"401 posted by Robert Wickens in 2009, beating it by nearly 6 seconds. Behind Filippi was Adrien Tambay: the Charouz-Gravity Racing driver confirmed his good feeling with the track where his father Patrick won an F.1 GP with Ferrari in 1983.
Tambay posted a 1'32"000 lap, leaving Giorgio Pantano behind by two tenths. Duncan Tappy will start alongside him on second row with the first DAMS car, in front of the "rookie" Stefano Coletti. The driver from Monaco targeted a top 5 qualifying before going on track and that was exactly what he got, confirming a real good job by Charouz Gravity Racing, the only team to place two cars in the top 5.
Fabio Onidi was sixth, with some difficulties to cope with slightly changed track conditions but anyway confident for the race. The Lazarus driver is followed by a DAMS 4th row, with Edoardo Piscopo in front of Fabrizio Crestani. Fabrizio, who climbed in the car just Friday, was a good qualifying session but it could have been even better without some wrong choices for the tyre pressure with the second session.
Closing top ten there are Jonny Reid, who will try to get 8th place in Race 1 to start on pole in the second race, and Jan Charouz. The Czech driver had good times in the various track sectors but never managed to put them together in one single flyer. Sixth row for Grubmüller and Leal, seventh for Iaconelli and an improving Bizzarri, and eight row for Federico Leo, hampered by losing two practices on friday, and Celso Miguez, who went off at Acque Minerali after 15 minutes of qualifying.
Luca Filippi:
"With the first set of tyres I was slowed down a bit by traffic and I even spun in Acque Minerali while I was improving. With the second set everything was fine, and I managed two great laps in a row. I'm really happy because pole position is very important in Imola".Adrien Tambay:
"It's a bittersweet feeling for me. Starting from first row is good, but I did some mistakes with the second set of tyres. With a flawless drive, like I did with the first set, the pole position could have been mine".Giorgio Pantano: "I really can't understand what happened. Yesterday we had lots of grip, even a litt
le too much. Today, the car was sliding everywhere. To do this laptime I had to take a lot of risks".Race 1 Starting Grid
1. rowLuca Filippi - Super Nova - 1'31"742
Adrien Tambay - Charouz - 1'32"000
2. row
Giorgio Pantano - Super Nova - 1'32"234
Duncan Tappy - Dams - 1'32"285
3. row
Stefano Coletti - Charouz - 1'32"347
Fabio Onidi - Lazarus - 1'32"384.
4. row
Edoardo Piscopo - Dams - 1'32"393
Fabrizio Crestani - Dams - 1'32"740
5. row
Jonny Reid - Super Nova - 1'32"865
Jan Charouz - Charouz - 1'32"928
6. row
Walter Grubmuller - Charouz - 1'33"020
Julian Leal - Trident - 1'33"254.
7. row
Carlos Iaconelli - Durango - 1'33"332
Stefano Bizzarri - RP - 1'33"746
8. row
Federico Leo - Trident - 1'33"786
Celso Miguez - RP - 1'34"337
All pictures AUTOGP.org.
Luca Filippi was untouchable in Qualifying.
Filippi celebrates pole position.
An excellent second on the grid for Adrien Tambay.
Third for an unhappy Pantono.
Duncan Tappy completes the second row in the Dams Lola.
Coletti impressed in the Charouz car.
Once again Onidi was running well.
Edoardo Piscopo and...
...Fabrizio Crestani made it an all-Dams fourth row.