Current GP2 Series Championship leader Jolyon Palmer took pole position at Hockenheim to take the four points on offer to extend his lead over the chasing pack. It was the Britons third pole position of the season, and will start GP2’s 200th race from the front of the field.
The DAMS driver set the pole time on his opening effort of the session, and was never headed. He was even able to conserve some tyre usage by not completing his second flying lap.
Belgian driver Stoffel Vandoorne will join Palmer on the front row, but the ART Grand Prix driver was almost three tenths of a second adrift from the pole time. Free practice pace setter Stefano Coletti will start third for Racing Engineering, just ahead of super-sub Tom Dillmann, who posted the fourth best time of the session on his first start for the EQ8 Caterham Racing outfit.
Felipe Nasr will start the Feature race from fifth position, and will be hoping to be able to get on terms with Palmer up front to close the gap in the championship. The Carlin driver will be joined on the third row of the grid by Frenchman Arthur Pic, who continues to impress for Campos Racing.
Venezuelan Johnny Cecotto Jr will line-up seventh for Trident Racing, ahead of a disappointed Raffaele Marciello, who will feel should be higher up the grid after twice finding traffic on his quick laps in the final sector. Alexander Rossi will start ninth on his first appearance for Campos Racing, who see two cars in the top ten for the first time in 2014. The final place in the top ten will be taken up by Rapax driver Simon Trummer.
Two 2014 race winners struggled in qualifying, with Monaco Sprint race winner Stephane Richelmi eleventh for DAMS, and Silverstone Feature race winner Mitch Evans even lower in fifteenth for Russian Time.
Hockenheim Qualifying Result
POS | DRIVER | NAT | TEAM | TIME |
1 | Jolyon Palmer | GBR | DAMS | 1:23.383 |
2 | Stoffel Vandoorne | BEL | ART Grand Prix | 1:23.665 |
3 | Stefano Coletti | MON | Racing Engineering | 1:23.722 |
4 | Tom Dillmann | FRA | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:23.776 |
5 | Felipe Nasr | BRZ | Carlin | 1:23.781 |
6 | Arthur Pic | FRA | Campos Racing | 1:23.859 |
7 | Johnny Cecotto Jr | VEN | Trident Racing | 1:23.860 |
8 | Raffaele Marciello | ITA | Racing Engineering | 1:23.918 |
9 | Alexander Rossi | USA | Campos Racing | 1:23.965 |
10 | Simon Trummer | SWI | Rapax | 1:23.983 |
11 | Stephane Richelmi | MON | DAMS | 1:24.024 |
12 | Rene Binder | AUT | Arden International | 1:24.094 |
13 | Nathanael Berthon | FRA | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:24.253 |
14 | Daniel Abt | GER | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:24.311 |
15 | Mitch Evans | NZL | RT Russian Time | 1:24.335 |
16 | Takuya Izawa | JAP | ART Grand Prix | 1:24.335 |
17 | Julian Leal | COL | Carlin | 1:24.421 |
18 | Conor Daly | USA | Venezuela GP Lazarus | 1:24.437 |
19 | Jon Lancaster | GBR | Hilmer Motorsport | 1:24.453 |
20 | Andre Negrao | BRZ | Arden International | 1:24.476 |
21 | Artem Markelov | RUS | RT Russian Time | 1:24.496 |
22 | Rio Haryanto | INO | EQ8 Caterham Racing | 1:24.502 |
23 | Adrian Quaife-Hobbs | GBR | Rapax | 1:24.590 |
24 | Sergio Canamasas | ESP | Trident Racing | 1:24.598 |
25 | Marco Sorensen | DEN | MP Motorsport | 1:24.888 |
26 | Daniel de Jong | NED | MP Motorsport | 1:25.189 |