Tom Dillmann returned to form as the AVF by Adrian Vallés driver took pole position for race one at the Circuit de Catalunya as he bids to reclaim the Formula V8 3.5 championship lead on Saturday.
The Frenchman, who lost the lead last weekend at the Circuito de Jerez after a disappointing weekend, took pole in a wet qualifying session around the Barcelona circuit, with his time of 1:44.909 just 0.025 seconds faster than SMP Racing’s Matthieu Vaxiviere.
It was a case of getting the time in at the right time as conditions improved throughout the session, with Dillmann getting the best lap in as the chequered flag fell.
Jack Aitken took third on the grid for RP Motorsport, 1.441 seconds down on Dillmann, while Louis Deletraz will start fourth on the grid, the championship leader 0.054 seconds further back in his Fortec Motorsports’ machine.
Egor Orudzhev was the best placed of the Arden Motorsport drivers in fifth ahead of SMP Racing’s Matevos Isaakyan, with Aurélien Panis seventh in the second Arden ahead of Pietro Fittipaldi, Vitor Baptista and Yu Kanamaru.
Championship contenders Rene Binder and Roy Nissany were twelfth and fourteenth respectively for Lotus, while Alfonso Celis Jr caused a red flag when he crashed his AVF machine into the barriers.
Circuit de Catalunya Race 1 Qualifying Result
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