Monza: Qualifying report

Good session for Kobayashi

One pole position, one front row start: quite simply, Kamui Kobayashi (Prema Power Team) had an excellent qualifying session. The Japanese driver will have a unique opportunity to make up points on Ammerm0x00fcller in the first race, since the German driver will start from the back row of the grid. Yann Clairay (SG Formula) will be the man on pole in race 2.

Session 1

Although Carlo Van Dam and Romain Grosjean (SG Formula) dominated the early part of the session, the pair of Japanese drivers took up the reins five minutes from the end. Kamui Koyabashi (Prema Power Team) moved to the top of the time sheets, ahead of Hiroyuki Matsumura (Graff Racing). Kobayashi then improved his time in the closing minutes to press home his advantage with a time of 1'50''743. As the chequered flag brought the session to close, Filipe Albuquerque (Motopark Oschersleben) and Carlo Van Dam took 3rd and 4th places, ahead of David Oberl0x00e9 (Team Jenzer), who had been up with the leaders throughout the session.

The second group's session got off to a dramatic start, in what could be a turning point in the Championship: Michael Ammerm0x00fcller (Jenzer Motorsport) made a costly mistake and went off the track without even having completed a lap! After a short interruption, Yann Clairay (SG Formula) wasted no time in setting the fastest time. The French driver was still a second adrift of Kobayashi's provisional pole time. Then Adrian Zaugg (Jenzer Motorsport), finally in the thick of things this weekend, took the best time. Xavier Maasen (JD Motorsport), Luca Persiani (BVM Racing), Daniel Serra (Cram Comp0x00e9tition) and Kasper Andersen (Team Formula Sport) took it in turns to move ahead of Clairay, who then replied with a time of 1'51''014. The session was then interrupted with only a minute to go when Serra crashed off, leaving Kobayashi in pole.J After the session was finished, scrutineering checks revealed that the weight of Clairay's car was not compliant with the regulations. As a result, Zaugg will start the race on the front row alongside Kobayashi, whilst Clairay will be at the back of the grid with Ammerm0x00fcller!

Session 2

Junior Strous (Mr. Glow by AR Motorsport) made a costly mistake right at the start of the session, going off into the gravel. Highly motivated by having been penalized after yesterday's qualifying for race 1, Yann Clairay took the quickest time halfway through the session. Xavier Maasen and Luca Persiani were quick to reply, but Clairay immediately grabbed back the advantage. Patrick Rocha (Prema Power Team), Adrian Zaugg and Kasper Andersen also looked capable of fighting for pole position. But the irrepressible Michael Ammerm0x00fcller came back, taking the best time with two minutes to go. With his last flying lap, Clairay moved back to the top of the timesheets, 7/10ths ahead of the German. Zaugg, Maasen and Andersen made up the rest of the top 5.

In group A, the best time constantly swapped hands without getting close to Clairay's provisional pole time. With five minutes to go, Kamui Kobayashi was the first to dip under the 1'51'' mark. The Japanese driver improved his time just as the session ended, but he was unable to beat the Frenchman's time. Carlo Van Dam will start on the second row, in front of Filipe Albuquerque, Miguel Molina (Pons Racing) and Gary Cester (BVM Racing). Sixth-placed Matsumura finished his session once again in the gravel trap.

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