McLaren protege Stoffel Vandoorne became the first driver ever to reach seven GP2 pole positions after topping qualifying at the Red Bull Ring.
The ART Grand Prix driver looked to have his work cut out to beat Sergey Sirotkin to pole after the Rapax driver set the pace in both free practice and on the first runs in qualifying.
But Vandoorne saved his best for his second run as, after initially seeming set to be pushed very hard by Sirotkin, he put in a lap 0.260 seconds faster than the Russian to go fastest.
GP2’S TOP QUALIFIERS:
Stoffel Vandoorne: 7 poles from 15 events (2014-15)
Nelson Piquet Jr: 6 poles from 23 events (2005-06)
Giorgio Pantano: 6 poles from 40 events (2005-08)
Romain Grosjean: 5 poles from 29 events (2008-11)
Sirotkin appeared to have the potential pace to do better, but was unable to string together a strong enough lap to sustain his challenge for pole.
This meant that he slipped to fourth, with Nobuharu Matsushita completing a one-two for the ART team, just as he had done in qualifying for the Bahrain season-opener, and DAMS driver Pierre Gasly grabbing third.
It was a dramatic session in which the top 17 drivers were covered by just 0.856s.
Rio Haryanto, driving for Campos Racing, put a difficult Monaco weekend behind him with fifth on the grid, followed by Trident’s Raffaele Marciello.
Nick Yelloly took seventh ahead of Jordan King, with Arthur Pic surviving a scrape with Nathanael Berthon to take ninth on the grid.
DAMS driver Alex Lynn looked set to be up front, but was shuffled down to 10th in the closing stages along with Mitch Evans, who ended up just behind him.
It was a tough session for podium regular Alexander Rossi, who took 12th for Racing Engineering ahead of Carlin’s Julian Leal.
An illness sidelining Zoel Amberg for the weekend and the absence of the second MP Motorsport entry usually driven by Sergio Canamasas meant that only 24 drivers set a time.
QUALIFYING TIMES:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Time | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stoffel Vandoorne | ART Grand Prix | 1m14.174s | – |
| 2 | Nobuharu Matsushita | ART Grand Prix | 1m14.263s | 0.089s |
| 3 | Pierre Gasly | DAMS | 1m14.300s | 0.126s |
| 4 | Sergey Sirotkin | Rapax | 1m14.434s | 0.260s |
| 5 | Rio Haryanto | Campos Racing | 1m14.481s | 0.307s |
| 6 | Raffaele Marciello | Trident | 1m14.483s | 0.309s |
| 7 | Nick Yelloly | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m14.538s | 0.364s |
| 8 | Jordan King | Racing Engineering | 1m14.574s | 0.400s |
| 9 | Arthur Pic | Campos Racing | 1m14.650s | 0.476s |
| 10 | Alex Lynn | DAMS | 1m14.818s | 0.644s |
| 11 | Mitchell Evans | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m14.861s | 0.687s |
| 12 | Alexander Rossi | Racing Engineering | 1m14.881s | 0.707s |
| 13 | Julian Leal | Carlin | 1m14.893s | 0.719s |
| 14 | Richie Stanaway | Status Grand Prix | 1m14.922s | 0.748s |
| 15 | Artem Markelov | RUSSIAN TIME | 1m14.978s | 0.804s |
| 16 | Norman Nato | Arden International | 1m14.996s | 0.822s |
| 17 | Rene Binder | Trident | 1m15.030s | 0.856s |
| 18 | Daniel de Jong | MP Motorsport | 1m15.207s | 1.033s |
| 19 | Robert Visoiu | Rapax | 1m15.396s | 1.222s |
| 20 | Marlon Stockinger | Status Grand Prix | 1m15.434s | 1.260s |
| 21 | Andre Negrao | Arden International | 1m15.537s | 1.363s |
| 22 | Nathanael Berthon | Lazarus | 1m15.750s | 1.576s |
| 23 | Marco Sorensen | Carlin | 1m15.853s | 1.679s |
| 24 | Simon Trummer | Hilmer Motorsport | 1m16.159s | 1.985s |
