GP2 Sochi: Lynn denies Vandoorne pole, Stanaway 8th, Evans 18th

Autosport

Williams Formula 1 development driver Alex Lynn clinched his second GP2 pole position in a wet qualifying session at Sochi, ahead of Stoffel Vandoorne who misjudged his final run.

At the beginning of the session the track was perilously wet in places yet relatively dry in others.

With conditions constantly improving it seemed as though whoever crossed the line last would take pole.

McLaren protege and ART Grand Prix driver Vandoorne took this too literally.

The Belgian, who was blocked by Status Grand Prix’s Marlon Stockinger on what was going to be his penultimate lap, slowed down to gear up for one final run.

But he left it marginally too late and crossed the line less than a second after the chequered flag fell, meaning he would have to settle for second.

DAMS driver Lynn, who watched on from the pitlane, grabbed pole on his last run to edge out Vandoorne by just 0.038 seconds.

Alexander Rossi qualified in third but was 0.301s off the pace. The American, fresh off the back of two F1 races with Manor, struggled throughout the session but ran consistently in the lead group.

Red Bull junior Pierre Gasly ended the session fourth, despite leading the field on several occasions, ahead of fellow countryman Arthur Pic who also headed the order for a spell.

Johnny Cecotto, who had previously announced his retirement, was sixth ahead of Trident team-mate and Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello. The Italian lost out on one quick lap when he was stuck behind GP2 debutant Dean Stoneman.

Richie Stanaway was briefly fastest as others came in for a mid-session pitstop.

The Kiwi couldn’t maintain his place though and had to settle for eighth, edging out Norman Nato and Sergey Sirotkin, who once again struggled to keep his Rapax car on track at his home event.

Stanaway’s fellow New Zealander Mitch Evans struggled in the session and will start 18th, behind his Russian Time team-mate Artem Markelov.

QUALIFYING TIMES:

PosDriverTeamTimeGap
1Alex LynnDAMS2m01.840s
2Stoffel VandoorneART Grand Prix2m01.878s0.038s
3Alexander RossiRacing Engineering2m02.141s0.301s
4Pierre GaslyDAMS2m02.385s0.545s
5Arthur PicCampos Racing2m02.450s0.610s
6Johnny Cecotto Jr.Trident2m02.690s0.850s
7Raffaele MarcielloTrident2m02.709s0.869s
8Richie StanawayStatus Grand Prix2m02.998s1.158s
9Norman NatoArden International2m03.133s1.293s
10Sergey SirotkinRapax2m03.223s1.383s
11Andre NegraoArden International2m03.382s1.542s
12Nobuharu MatsushitaART Grand Prix2m03.519s1.679s
13Rio HaryantoCampos Racing2m03.523s1.683s
14Jordan KingRacing Engineering2m03.622s1.782s
15Nicholas LatifiMP Motorsport2m03.731s1.891s
16Marlon StockingerStatus Grand Prix2m03.751s1.911s
17Artem MarkelovRUSSIAN TIME2m04.004s2.164s
18Mitch EvansRUSSIAN TIME2m04.072s2.232s
19Dean StonemanCarlin2m04.093s2.253s
20Nathanael BerthonDaiko Team Lazarus2m04.658s2.818s
21Rene BinderMP Motorsport2m04.994s3.154s
22Sergio CanamasasDaiko Team Lazarus2m04.998s3.158s
23Robert VisoiuRapax2m05.784s3.944s
24Sean GelaelCarlin2m08.361s6.521s

GP2 Sochi: Lynn denies Vandoorne pole, Stanaway 8th, Evans 18th

  • Autosport
    About The Author
    -

    twenty − nineteen =

    You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

    Related stories