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Catalunya: Series qualifying report

Pic picks up pole position! The season was also going to be close-- and the first qualifying session confirmed precisely that, with just 1,000th of a second between Miguel Molina (Ultimate Motosport) and Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing), in ...

Pic picks up pole position!

The season was also going to be close-- and the first qualifying session confirmed precisely that, with just 1,000th of a second between Miguel Molina (Ultimate Motosport) and Charles Pic (Tech 1 Racing), in second. However, Molina finds himself relegated to last place in the SuperPole, following a team error. So it is Charles Pic who picks up pole position ahead of James Walker (P1 Motorsport), Daniil Move (P1 Motorsport) and Jaime Alguersuari (Carlin Motorsport).

Group A

For the first qualifying session of the season, even-number drivers are in Group A and odd-number drivers in Group B.The serious business gets underway with Miguel Molina, the first man to take the lead ahead of Daniil Move and Charles Pic. Positions changed and Pic was in the lead by the time the drivers returned to the pits to fit new tires.With fresh tires,

Jaime Alguersuari was first to kick off a series of fastest times. Molina, then Move reacted at once to regain control of events. With a 1'33''567 lap, Daniil Move moved ahead of Jaime Alguersurari, Miguel Molina, Chris Van der Drift (Epsilon Euskadi) and Charles Pic.In the closing moments of the session, Charles Pic, lapped in 1'33''298, to finish top of this group, followed by Molina, Alguersuari, Move, Van der Drift and Barba. In seventh, Pasquale DiSabatino had the honour of being the first driver not to qualify for the SuperPole.

Group B

Same pattern for Group B drivers. After a few warm-up laps with old tires, everyone made a pit stop for a tire change. By the half-way point, it was James Walker who had the upper hand with a time of 1'33''853, ahead of Adrian Valles (Epsilon Euskadi), Marcos Martinez (Pons Racing), Fairuz Fauzy (Mofaz Fortec Motorsport), Oliver Turvey (Carlin Motorsport) and Greg Mansell (Ultimate Motorsport).

Having donned fresh rubber, Oliver Turvey propelled himself into first position, ahead of Bertrand Baguette, now in second place. Next came Adrian Valles' turn to take the lead, with a 1'33''390 lap. In the end, James Walker had the final word, with a fastest lap in 1'33''286. The British driver topped the group, ahead of Valles, Turvey, Martinez, Fauzy and Baguette. Brendon Hartley (Tech 1 Racing), in 7th, was not to compete in the SuperPole.

SuperPole

No preliminaries in SuperPole of course, with all drivers steaming as soon as the green light gave the signal. Miguel Molina kept improving on his lap times and was first to snatch provisional pole position, with a time of 1'33''975. Fairuz Fauzy and Marcos Martinez were just behind.Marco Barba (International Draco Racing) managed to temporarily unseat Molina from top spot, until Daniil Move put in the fastest lap time in 1'32''949, with Charles Pic moving into second place..

The Frenchman continued his assault and put in a best time of 1'32''584. Meanwhile James Walker moved into second. But at his last attempt, Miguel Molina inched to pole position, for just 1,000th of a second. However, the Spaniard was to be relegated to last place in the SuperPole, and so ends up in 12th place on the grid for the first race, for having used his team mate's tires.

-credit: wsr

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