Max Chilton Storms To GP2 Pole At Monza

Max Chilton was able to capitalize on his earlier pace set during practice, as the Briton stormed to his second pole of the season during the 30 minute qualifying session earlier this afternoon. The Carlin driver will start tomorrow’s race alongside former race winner Giedo van der Garde, who almost clinched pole prior to Chilton’s rise to the top.

Like with the rest of the days running, the GP2 qualifying session was run in glorious weather conditions, a stark contrast to the treacherous conditions experienced at Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. As soon as the session went green, the whole of the GP2 field immediately took to the track. Johnny Cecotto jr., Fabio Leimer and Fabio Onidi all momentarily shared the top spot, before the Caterham of Giedo van der Garde shot to the top to take control of the session.

As the session entered its closing stages, it looked as though the Dutchman was set to secure his second pole position of the season. However, this likelihood was dismissed by rising British star Max Chilton, who sailed to the top of the timing sheets with only several minutes of the session remaining. Giedo van der Garde was able to improve upon his time, however the 27-year-old Dutchman remained in 2nd.

Max Chilton then ended the session in dramatic style, as he pushed to strengthen his lead at the top, the Briton spun upon negotiating turn 11. Chilton embedded his Carlin within the gravel, bringing out the yellow flags and preventing anyone else from improving on their own times. This cemented Chilton on pole position for the main feature race, which will take place tomorrow afternoon.

With 19 drivers qualifying within a second of each other after today’s frenetic 30 minute session, it’s unquestionable that tomorrow’s penultimate feature race will be a hotly contested event. Luiz Razia, who is currently tied atop the Drivers’ Championship with Davide Valsecchi, will start only 12th for tomorrow’s race, and will naturally be striving for a competitive result.

Pos  Driver               Team                Time       Gap
 1.  Max Chilton          Carlin              1m31.886s
 2.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham            1m31.953s  + 0.067s
 3.  Johnny Cecotto Jr    Addax               1m32.151s  + 0.265s
 4.  Luca Filippi         Coloni              1m32.165s  + 0.279s
 5.  Davide Valsecchi     DAMS                1m32.208s  + 0.322s
 6.  Marcus Ericsson      iSport              1m32.216s  + 0.330s
 7.  Fabio Leimer         Racing Engineering  1m32.324s  + 0.438s
 8.  Fabio Onidi          Coloni              1m32.388s  + 0.502s
 9.  Esteban Gutierrez    Lotus               1m32.396s  + 0.510s
10.  Felipe Nasr          DAMS                1m32.462s  + 0.576s
11.  Rio Haryanto         Carlin              1m32.471s  + 0.585s
12.  Luiz Razia           Arden               1m32.495s  + 0.609s
13.  James Calado         Lotus               1m32.622s  + 0.736s
14.  Nigel Melker         Ocean               1m32.625s  + 0.739s
15.  Jolyon Palmer        iSport              1m32.659s  + 0.773s
16.  Stefano Coletti      Rapax               1m32.675s  + 0.789s
17.  Nathanael Berthon    Racing Engineering  1m32.769s  + 0.883s
18.  Sergio Canamasas     Lazarus             1m32.772s  + 0.886s
19.  Simon Trummer        Arden               1m32.889s  + 1.003s
20.  Victor Guerin        Ocean               1m32.911s  + 1.025s
21.  Rene Binder          Lazarus             1m32.967s  + 1.081s
22.  Stephane Richelmi    Trident             1m32.969s  + 1.083s
23.  Julian Leal          Trident             1m32.989s  + 1.103s
24.  Jake Rosenzweig      Addax               1m33.109s  + 1.223s
25.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Caterham            1m33.511s  + 1.625s
26.  Ricardo Teixeira     Rapax               1m33.719s  + 1.833s

Picture Copyright © Alastair Staley/GP2 Series Media Service