GP2 SeriesOpen Wheel

Van Der Garde On Pole After Bianchi Is Penalised

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Jules Bianchi topped qualifying for the second round of the GP2 Series season at Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, only to be penalised for ignoring yellow flags and handing pole position to Giedo van der Garde.

The ART driver took the top spot early in the session from van der Garde and nobody would be able to beat the Frenchman's time. Van der Garde's time remained good enough for second place as well, but he would go on to inherit pole when Bianchi was penalised.

Fabio Leimer slowed due to mechanical problems, briefly bringing out the yellow flags, and Bianchi was found by the stewards to have improved his time under the yellow flags. He was handed a ten place grid penalty which dropped him to 11th.

Joint points leader Sam Bird qualified third, and will now join van der Garde on the front row of the grid. The iSport driver therefore got himself ahead of the man with whom he shares the top spot in the standings, Romain Grosjean. The DAMS racer could only manage fifth, just behind van der Garde's Addax teammate Charles Pic.

Davide Valsecchi will line up fifth for Team AirAsia, with Dani Clos sixth for Racing Engineering. Marcus Ericsson (iSport), Stefano Coletti (Trident) and Luca Filippi (Super Nova) rounded out the top ten in the session, with Max Chilton sneaking into tenth place for Carlin after Bianchi's penalty.

Qualifying session results:

POS DRIVERS TEAMS TIME GAP
1 Jules Bianchi Lotus ART 1:30.369*  
2 Giedo van der Garde Barwa Addax Team 1:30.473 0.104
3 Sam Bird iSport International 1:30.488 0.119
4 Charles Pic Barwa Addax Team 1:30.616 0.247
5 Romain Grosjean DAMS 1:30.807 0.438
6 Davide Valsecchi Team AirAsia 1:30.820 0.451
7 Dani Clos Racing Engineering 1:30.927 0.558
8 Marcus Ericsson iSport International 1:30.935 0.566
9 Stefano Coletti Trident Racing 1:30.974 0.605
10 Luca Filippi Super Nova Racing 1:31.084 0.715
11 Max Chilton Carlin 1:31.192 0.823
12 Josef Kral Arden International 1:31.447 1.078
13 Luiz Razia Team AirAsia 1:31.513 1.144
14 Michael Herck Scuderia Coloni 1:31.527 1.158
15 Alvaro Parente Racing Engineering 1:31.636 1.267
16 Esteban Gutierrez Lotus ART 1:31.645 1.276
17 Kevin Ceccon Scuderia Coloni 1:31.670 1.301
18 Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident Racing 1:31.694 1.325
19 Kevin Mirocha Ocean Racing Technology 1:31.757 1.388
20 Pal Varhaug DAMS 1:31.779 1.410
21 Fairuz Fauzy Super Nova Racing 1:31.821 1.452
22 Jolyon Palmer Arden International 1:31.822 1.453
23 Mikhail Aleshin Carlin 1:31.977 1.608
24 Julian Leal Rapax 1:32.934 2.565
25 Johnny Cecotto Ocean Racing Technology 1:33.246 2.877
26 Fabio Leimer Rapax    

*  10-place grid penalty for ignoring yellow flags.

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About author
Peter joined the TCF team in September 2010 and covers GP2 and GP3 along with WTCC and Formula Two. You can find him on twitter at @PeteAllen_
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