EU: Series Spa qualifying report

Ledogar claims his first brace of poles.

Spa-Francorchamps, 27 August 2010. It was no surprise for anyone to see heavy rain in Spa-Francorchamps, but this did not stop Côme Ledogar (FR/Eifelland Racing) claim his first brace of pole positions in Formula BMW Europe. Starting next to him on the grid for race one will be Formula BMW Junior driver, Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational), while Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS) is third.

The fickle weather in the Ardennes region of Belgium meant the young drivers were tested to their limits, and they were a credit to the series in the way they handled the sudden downpours which left the track with standing water. There were several spins and off track excursions, but unfortunately for George Katsinis (GR/Fortec Motorsports) his ended up with his car hitting the barrier and him visiting the medical centre to check on a painful hand.

The conditions that saw the free practice session red flagged with eight of the 25 minutes to go, and the drivers in qualifying warned of standing water on the run down to the notorious Eau Rouge section, also saw some new names at the top of the grid. Michael Lewis (US/Eurointernational) had by far his best qualifying of the year and will start race one from fourth and race two from third. Also Maciej Bernacik (PL/Mucke Motorsport) is the second Rookie after Sainz and will start race one from seventh.

It was not a good session for the two championship leaders, Robin Frijns (NL/Josef Kaufmann Racing) and Jack Harvey (GB/Fortec Motorsports), who have nine poles this year between them, as they were fifth and sixth respectively. However, things just got worse for Frijns, who complained of being stuck in traffic while the track was at its driest, as he was demoted three places on the grid for setting his quickest lap under yellow flags.

This weekend there is a new face in the paddock as Luciano Bacheta is a guest driver. The 20-year-old British driver, who comes from Brentwood, Essex, is driving the DAMS car number 16.

Pole Round 13s and 14: Côme Ledogar (FR/Eifelland Racing): "I am very happy because I had a bad beginning to the season, but now I am back and on pole. I am always fast in the rain, in fact better than in dry conditions. It was very difficult because we had a lot of aquaplaning and it is not easy to follow another car as you can see nothing. I was alone on the track when I did pole. The car is very good and very easy to drive in these conditions."

Second Round 13 Fourth Round 14 Top Rookie: Carlos Sainz (ES/Eurointernational): "They were not very good conditions for me to do my first qualifying in the rain. I am happy being second on this incredible track in these bad conditions, as I didn't expect this at all, but the team also gave me a great car. I had to be very careful with the puddles not to do wheel spins down the straights. I had to look for the places where there was less water and that was the most difficult. I was fast in the second and last sector but missing too much in the first, which is a shame as I was just two tenths off pole ."

Third Round 13 Second Round 14: Javier Tarancon (ES/DAMS): "At the beginning of the session I was really fast but then another car went off and didn't see me so he blocked me in the second sector. After that there was a yellow flag and then it was raining. Third is okay and, in fact, better than second as you start on the inside. The track was really difficult but the car was really good and the team has worked very hard this weekend on it and here is the result."

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 9 lap races round the 7.004 kilometre Spa- Francorchamps circuit will be on Saturday at 09.45 and the second on Sunday at 08.30. All times are local CET.

-source: fbmw