Stoffel Vandoorne took his first GP2 Series pole position at Spa-Francorchamps today.
On relatively cool afternoon, the Belgian pipped championship leader Jolyon Palmer by just 0.016s in the last moments.
It could be a significant pole in the championship, for Vandoorne’s flyer denied Palmer the four points that the top man receives.
The session marks further progress by the ART Grand Prix, who have at times endured a topsy-turvy season.
Mitch Evans took 3rd with a late run in his RUSSIAN TIME entry, while rookie driver Raffaele Marciello qualified alongside in his Racing Engineering machine.
Johnny Cecotto Jr leads the third row with Carlin’s Julian Leal assuming 6th spot; however Nathanaël Berthon surprised by placing his Venezuela GP Lazarus car in 7th.
Palmer’s championship challenger, Felipe Nasr, qualified a disappointing 11th, leaving him much to do come Saturday afternoon.
Artem Markelov finished 25th, but was penalised for blocking during the session – he will start from the pitlane. Takuya Izawa could not complete a competitive lap, but has been allowed to start from 25th spot.
2014 2014 GP2 Series of Belgium (Rd 8, Qualifying) Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps 1. Stoffel Vandoorne ART 1m56.839s 10 2. Jolyon Palmer DAMS 1m56.857s +0.018s 8 3. Mitch Evans Russian Time 1m57.057s +0.218s 11 4. Raffaele Marciello Racing Engineering 1m57.237s +0.398s 13 5. Johnny Cecotto Jr Trident 1m57.244s +0.405s 12 6. Julian Leal Carlin 1m57.271s +0.432s 13 7. Nathanael Berthon Lazarus 1m57.272s +0.433s 12 8. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m57.284s +0.445s 10 9. Marco Sorensen MP 1m57.389s +0.550s 11 10. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m57.448s +0.609s 10 11. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m57.475s +0.636s 11 12. Arthur Pic Campos 1m57.516s +0.677s 10 13. Daniel de Jong MP 1m57.706s +0.867s 11 14. Tom Dillmann Caterham 1m57.770s +0.931s 11 15. Conor Daly Lazarus 1m57.788s +0.949s 12 16. Stefano Coletti Racing Engineering 1m57.844s +1.005s 11 17. Rene Binder Arden 1m57.851s +1.012s 12 18. Daniel Abt Hilmer 1m57.875s +1.036s 13 19. Rio Haryanto Caterham 1m57.974s +1.135s 12 20. Andre Negrao Arden 1m58.002s +1.163s 12 21. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs Rapax 1m58.005s +1.166s 12 22. Kimiya Sato Campos 1m58.185s +1.346s 10 23. Jon Lancaster Hilmer 1m58.218s +1.379s 13 24. Sergio Canamasas Trident 1m58.295s +1.456s 12 25. Artem Markelov Russian Time 1m58.470s +1.631s 10 26. Takuya Izawa ART 2m40.364s +43.525s 2
