Egor Orudzhev secured his and SMP Racing by AVF’s first pole position of the season on Saturday at the Circuito de Jerez as he denied Roy Nissany top spot by 0.176 seconds.
The Russian had sat third fastest after the initial runs around the Spanish circuit, but he saved his best for his final run to set a time of 1:26.811s, which was enough to deny RP Motorsport’s Nissany his first pole of the season.
Pietro Fittipaldi, who had taken five of the first six pole positions in 2017 but had only converted two of them into victories, will start third on the grid for race one for Lotus, ahead of RP Motorsport’s Yu Kanamaru and Fortec Motorsports’ Alfonso Celis Jr, with the three drivers separated by just 0.002 seconds!
Championship leader Rene Binder was only sixth on the grid in the second Lotus, just ahead of Matevos Isaakyan, with the Russian falling from second after the opening runs to seventh when the chequered flag fell in the second SMP Racing by AVF entry.
Diego Menchaca led the rookie contingent in eighth for Fortec Motorsports, just ahead of Teo Martin Motorsport’s Nelson Mason, with Damiano Fioravanti, Konstantin Tereschenko and Giuseppe Cipriani completing the field.
Circuito de Jerez Race 1 Qualifying Result
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