EU: Series Silverstone qualifying report

Sainz is first rookie to claim 2010 pole.

Silverstone, 9 July 2010. Formula BMW Junior driver, Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational) claimed the first pole of the year for a Rookie driver in Silverstone. He set a time over a quarter of a second quicker than local driver Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports), while Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) was just under a tenth of a second behind the series leader in third. For race two Sainz will also start from pole while Frijns and Harvey will swap positions.

The session was run in 'typically' sunny Silverstone conditions. As the cars started qualifying the air was 26 degrees Celsius and the track 41. On the first set of tyres Harvey was quickest on the first flying lap, Frijns on the second and Harvey again on the third. However, Sainz was right there with them.

Harvey was the first of the top three to pit for fresh rubber, with Sainz and Frijns staying out for one further lap. On his first lap on the new tyres Harvey made a mistake so his best time was set on his second lap. For Sainz and Frijns this was not the case with them putting in their fastest laps immediately. At the end of the session a delighted Eurointernational team owner, Antonio Ferrari, said his driver had put together `a dream lap'.

Pole Rounds 7 and 8: Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational): "It has been a perfect opportunity for me. We knew we were fast here. I had to do my job. The team was perfect, the car was perfect . Two poles in my first year is a dream and I am really happy and want to thank my team and my family who are always here with me. We were confident after our testing here earlier in t he year, as we were first, but you never know what will happen as we had also been fast while testing on other circuits and then in the races we weren't."

Second Round 7 Third Round 8: Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports):"It was a pretty good qualifying. It was quite tough, but I think we can work on the car a little bit to improve on a few things. We are in a good position as I am starting at the front, so I need to make two good starts and see how the race unfolds. We have a little bit of time to find, but the guys did a great job today, everybody is catchable and I am just looking forward to the race tomorrow. I just need to make sure I bring the car home, preferably on the podium and preferably on the top step."

Third Round 7 Second Round 8: Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing): "I could have got more out of the session but qualifying is not my thing! Three tenths behind Carlos is a big gap. The car was not that good in qualifying as I had some oversteer. I didn't have a clean lap. However, my race pace is always quite okay, we can overtake here, I have got two fast guys in front of me, so hopefully we can battle for the first positioins."

The grid positions for race one are determined by each driver's quickest time in qualifying, while each driver's second quickest time is taken to set the grid for race two. The first of the 11 lap races round the 5.9 kilometre Silverstone circuit will be on Saturday at 17.25 and the second on Sunday at 15.30. All times are local BST.

-source: fbmw