11/05/2007
NEWS STORY
Timo Glock has claimed pole position for tomorrow's race one at the Circuit de Catalunya, but teammate Andi Zuber pushed him all the way to the line as the pair claimed iSport's first ever 1-2 in qualifying this afternoon.
The pair were locked in a personal battle throughout the session, with no one else able to match their blistering pace – the closest man to the iSport duo was Giorgio Pantano, although he will line up five places back on the grid after picking up a penalty in this morning's free practice session.
Zuber set the early pace, with his teammate seemingly happy to wait and see what developed. Lucas di Grassi, Pantano and Kazuki Nakajima were the other drivers running at the top of the timesheets early in the session.
The Japanese driver's hopes were soon quashed though when, on a slow down lap ahead of a return to the pits, he slowed even further to allow drivers on their flying laps a free run: he slowed up too much at turn one and stalled his engine, putting him out of the running for pole.
Nakajima was gutted as he walked disconsolately back to the pits, waiting for his name to slide down the order ahead the imposition tomorrow of a ten place penalty for driving infractions in Bahrain.
With almost the entire field back in the pits halfway through the session Pantano took his chance: he was faster than he had yet been in the first two sectors, but after losing time behind the only remaining two cars on track and then running slightly wide he cut his losses and was straight back in the pits.
Paul Jackson wasn't watching his cars as they went returned to the track, but rather was looking up the pitlane in the direction of championship leader Luca Filippi to see what he was going to do: the Italian was surprisingly off the pace, and the iSport leader was wondering if he had something left in the bag for the second half.
But it wasn't to be. Zuber set a 1.28:102 on his first flying lap, while Glock pipped him with a 1.27:713 next time by. The German was soon back in the pits to revel in the acclaim of his team, and while Zuber pushed him hard he just couldn't find the time he needed, and was soon joining his teammate on the pitwall.
Nicolas Lapierre had a huge crash at turn nine just as the pair were slapping each other on the back, but thankfully the Frenchman was soon out of his car and jumping over the wall.
Lucas di Grassi was the man to pick up third position due to Pantano's indiscretions this morning, while Nakajima, who should have been on the grid next to him, will line up ten places back for the penalty he acquired in Bahrain.
Joining Pantano in losing grid positions for yellow flag infractions this morning will be Andy Soucek and Sakon Yamamoto, who all losing five spots each.
But none of this mattered to Glock, whose imperious drive this afternoon pushed him up to equal first place in the championship with Filippi.
Timo Glock: The last time I was on pole was 5 years ago in F3 so I’m really happy. This shows the result of all the hard work we put in over the winter and it’s great for me and the team.
Andi Zuber: I made a little mistake in the last chicane, but I was expecting top 4 so I’m happy with 2nd place.
Giorgio Pantano: For me, pole was not possible but after practice and qualifying we look better than in Bahrain.
To check out our Qualifying gallery, click here