Sunday, May 18, 2008

Chinosi grabs pole on guest outing

Chinosi grabs pole on guest outing

Matteo Chinosi qualified on pole position for the first British Formula 3 race at Monza this weekend.

The Italian, who currently leads the German F3 championship, is racing at Monza as a one-off in the invitational class with his Ombra Racing team, and was left at the top of the timesheet after a controversial wet qualifying session.

The half hour session was run in heavy rain and several drivers set their best times on laps where they cut one of Monza's chicanes in the tricky conditions.

National Class leader Andy Meyrick was on provisional pole at the end of the session, but was one of many drivers to lose his fastest time for corner cutting, and ended up 12th.

There was some debate over whether Chinosi, who currently leads the German F3 championship, had cut the chicane on his best lap but his time, nearly 1.5 seconds quicker than anyone elses, stands.

Max Chilton qualified second, despite having his best time taken away, with Sam Abay third and Atte Mustonen fourth.

Henry Arundel and Sergio Perez each had their best times taken away and dropped from the front two rows of the grid to 11th and 14th respectively.

The grid for race two will be decided by the second fastest times from today's qualifying session after yesterday's qualifying was rained off.

Pos Driver Team Car Time Gap 1. Matteo Chinosi Ombra (I) D/H 2:05.472 2. Max Chilton Hitech D/M 2:06.904 +1.432 3. Sam Abay Carlin D/M 2:07.305 +1.833 4. Atte Mustonen Double R D/M 2:07.697 +2.225 5. Esteban Guerrieri Ultimate M/M 2:07.952 +2.480 6. Jaime Alguersuari Carlin D/M 2:08.166 +2.694 7. Michael Devaney Ultimate M/M 2:08.272 +2.800 8. Sebastian Hohenthal Fortec D/M 2:08.280 +2.808 9. Oliver Turvey Carlin D/M 2:08.305 +2.833 10. Marcus Ericsson Fortec D/M 2:08.415 +2.943 11. Henry Arundel Double R D/M 2:08.430 +2.958 12. Andy Meyrick Carlin (N) D/H 2:08.485 +3.013 13. Brendon Hartley Carlin D/M 2:08.532 +3.060 14. Sergio Perez T-Sport D/H 2:08.987 +3.515 15. John Martin Double R D/M 2:09.048 +3.576 16. Walter Grubmuller Hitech D/M 2:09.209 +3.737 17. Ricardo Teixeira Ultimate M/M 2:09.351 +3.879 18. Nick Tandy JTR M/M 2:09.361 +3.889 19. Viktor Jensen Nexa D/H 2:10.054 +4.582 20. Salman Al-Khalifa T-Sport (N) D/H 2:10.222 +4.750 21. Phillip Major Fortec D/M 2:10.359 +4.887 22. Kristhan Einar Carlin (N) D/H 2:10.529 +5.057 23. Jay Bridger Fluid (N) D/H 2:11.109 +5.637 24. Stefan Wilson Fluid (N) D/H 2:11.119 +5.647 25. Steven Guerrero T-Sport (N) D/H 2:11.225 +5.753 26. Craig Reiff Nexa (N) D/H 2:11.236 +5.764 27. Hywel Lloyd CF (N) D/H 2:11.977 +6.505 28. Federico Leo Ombra (I) D/H 2:13.299 +7.827 (D/M = Dallara Mercedes, M/M = Mygale Mercedes, D/H = Dallara Mugen-Honda)

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