Christian Vietoris has taken pole position at Spa-Francorchamps after setting the quickest laptime of a wet GP2 qualifying session, though he could yet lose it after recording the time during yellow flags at the end of the session.
The German Racing Engineering driver was amongst the pacesetters throughout the session, taking top spot early on. Championship leader Romain Grosjean soon edged him out, before Luca Filippi took second place.
Marcus Ericsson bettered Grosjean's effort by 0.07 seconds at the midway point, before Filippi went quickest. Vietoris then returned to top spot, going eight tenths quicker than Filippi.
Sam Bird brought an early end to his session after losing control at Les Combes and ending up in the barrier. The Briton ended up 22nd at the checkered flag.
Into the final ten minutes, and on a drying track Adam Carroll moved up to second place. With five minutes remaining Charles Pic went six tenths clear of the rest of the field. Filippi took top spot back with two minutes remaining, shading Pic by 0.2s.
Pic then slowed to a halt exiting Blanchimont, bringing out the yellow flags as his car was recovered. Vietoris was already on a flying lap and went 1.434s quicker to take pole position.
Filippi remained in second, with Pic ending up third and Jules Bianchi climbing to fourth. Michael Herck was fifth ahead of Ericsson and Carroll. Grosjean ended up back in eighth, with Johnny Cecotto and Esteban Gutierrez completing the top ten.
Giedo van der Garde – Grosjean's nearest title rival – was only 11th. Grosjean can win the title in the feature race if he extends his advantage at the head of the standings by three points. Series returnee Brendon Hartley will start alongside van der Garde in 12th.
|
Pos |
Driver |
Team |
Time |
Gap |
Laps |
| 1 | Christian Vietoris | Racing Engineering | 2:18.345 | 10 | |
| 2 | Luca Filippi | Scuderia Coloni | 2:19.779 | 1.434 | 11 |
| 3 | Charles Pic | Barwa Addax Team | 2:20.056 | 1.711 | 9 |
| 4 | Jules Bianchi | Lotus ART | 2:20.211 | 1.866 | 9 |
| 5 | Michael Herck | Scuderia Coloni | 2:20.748 | 2.403 | 11 |
| 6 | Marcus Ericsson | iSport International | 2:20.858 | 2.513 | 11 |
| 7 | Adam Carroll | Super Nova Racing | 2:21.491 | 3.146 | 10 |
| 8 | Romain Grosjean | DAMS | 2:21.715 | 3.370 | 11 |
| 9 | Johnny Cecotto | Ocean Racing Technology | 2:21.753 | 3.408 | 11 |
| 10 | Esteban Gutierrez | Lotus ART | 2:21.877 | 3.532 | 10 |
| 11 | Giedo van der Garde | Barwa Addax Team | 2:21.956 | 3.611 | 11 |
| 12 | Brendon Hartley | Ocean Racing Technology | 2:22.145 | 3.800 | 12 |
| 13 | Dani Clos | Racing Engineering | 2:22.254 | 3.909 | 10 |
| 14 | Fairuz Fauzy | Super Nova Racing | 2:22.299 | 3.954 | 12 |
| 15 | Mikhail Aleshin | Carlin | 2:22.326 | 3.981 | 9 |
| 16 | Josef Kral | Arden International | 2:22.346 | 4.001 | 11 |
| 17 | Max Chilton | Carlin | 2:22.573 | 4.228 | 11 |
| 18 | Fabio Leimer | Rapax | 2:22.623 | 4.278 | 12 |
| 19 | Rodolfo Gonzalez | Trident Racing | 2:22.655 | 4.310 | 12 |
| 20 | Luiz Razia | Caterham Team AirAsia | 2:22.895 | 4.550 | 12 |
| 21 | Davide Valsecchi | Caterham Team AirAsia | 2:23.364 | 5.019 | 12 |
| 22 | Sam Bird | iSport International | 2:23.365 | 5.020 | 5 |
| 23 | Jolyon Palmer | Arden International | 2:23.495 | 5.150 | 11 |
| 24 | Pal Varhaug | DAMS | 2:23.830 | 5.485 | 12 |
| 25 | Stefano Coletti | Trident Racing | 2:24.272 | 5.927 | 9 |
| 26 | Julian Leal | Rapax | 2:24.832 | 6.487 | 11 |
