Sunday, September 30 2012

Markus Pommer put in a superb late lap on a damp but drying Monza track to claim his fourth Formula Two pole position during today's (Sunday) closely fought qualifying session, ahead of the final round of the season.

The 21-year-old German posted a best time of 1:40.256s to edge out nearest rival Christopher Zanella, who finished second during yesterday's thrilling opening race, with Kevin Mirocha a mere 0.002s behind him in third. Title rivals Matheo Tuscher and Luciano Bacheta will line-up in sixth and seventh respectively with Tuscher needing to win to have any chance of wrestling the title away from the Brit.

Drivers were met with identical conditions to those witnessed yesterday with Dino Zamparelli the early pace-setter before Bacheta, on slick tyres, went top by half a second at the halfway mark.

With fresh rubber and a dry line now emerging, the second half of the session saw the best of the times with Daniel McKenzie, toping 300kph through the speed trap, moving into second with Mirocha and Tuscher all looking like contenders for this afternoon's crucial P1 slot.

A flurry of quick times soon followed with Tuscher leading with two minutes remaining before Pommer took the honours at the chequered flag. "The track got better and better compared to the beginning when it was quite wet and slippery," said Pommer afterwards. "I pushed a lot at the end to get a good lap and everything felt together. My other times were not perfect but ok. The car felt a lot better to yesterday and we only made little changes and I think for the race we're going to be really quick."

Alex Fontana, competing on his adopted home circuit, finished fourth ahead of Latvian newcomer Harald Schlegelmilch. Zamparelli will line-up eighth in front of fellow countryman McKenzie with Mihai Marinescu completing the top 10 ahead of the final round of the season which gets underway at 15:00 (local time) with live streaming on www.formulatwo.com

F2 Results: Monza - Qualifying 2:

1. Markus Pommer, 1:40.256s
2. Christopher Zanella, +0.155s
3. Kevin Mirocha, +0.157s
4. Alex Fontana, +0.616s
5. Harald Schlegelmilch, +0.643s
6. Mathéo Tuscher, +0.779s
7. Luciano Bacheta, +0.904s
8. Dino Zamparelli, +1.011s
9. Daniel McKenzie, +1.445s
10. Mihai Marinescu, +1.788s
11. Axcil Jefferies, +2.254s
12. Hector Hurst, +2.410s
13. David Zhu, +2.920s
14. Max Snegirev, +3.045s
15. Plamen Kralev, 5.682s