Markus Pommer put in a superb late lap on a damp but drying
Monza track to claim his fourth Formula Two pole position during
today's (Sunday) closely fought qualifying session, ahead of the
final round of the season.
The 21-year-old German posted a best time of 1:40.256s to edge out
nearest rival Christopher Zanella, who finished second during
yesterday's thrilling opening race, with Kevin Mirocha a mere
0.002s behind him in third. Title rivals Matheo Tuscher and Luciano
Bacheta will line-up in sixth and seventh respectively with Tuscher
needing to win to have any chance of wrestling the title away from
the Brit.
Drivers were met with identical conditions to those witnessed
yesterday with Dino Zamparelli the early pace-setter before
Bacheta, on slick tyres, went top by half a second at the halfway
mark.
With fresh rubber and a dry line now emerging, the second half of
the session saw the best of the times with Daniel McKenzie, toping
300kph through the speed trap, moving into second with Mirocha and
Tuscher all looking like contenders for this afternoon's crucial P1
slot.
A flurry of quick times soon followed with Tuscher leading with two
minutes remaining before Pommer took the honours at the chequered
flag. "The track got better and better compared to the beginning
when it was quite wet and slippery," said Pommer
afterwards. "I pushed a lot at the end to get a good lap and
everything felt together. My other times were not perfect but ok.
The car felt a lot better to yesterday and we only made little
changes and I think for the race we're going to be really
quick."
Alex Fontana, competing on his adopted home circuit, finished
fourth ahead of Latvian newcomer Harald Schlegelmilch. Zamparelli
will line-up eighth in front of fellow countryman McKenzie with
Mihai Marinescu completing the top 10 ahead of the final round of
the season which gets underway at 15:00 (local time) with live
streaming on www.formulatwo.com
F2 Results: Monza - Qualifying 2:
1. Markus Pommer, 1:40.256s
2. Christopher Zanella, +0.155s
3. Kevin Mirocha, +0.157s
4. Alex Fontana, +0.616s
5. Harald Schlegelmilch,
+0.643s
6. Mathéo Tuscher, +0.779s
7. Luciano Bacheta, +0.904s
8. Dino Zamparelli, +1.011s
9. Daniel McKenzie,
+1.445s
10. Mihai Marinescu, +1.788s
11. Axcil Jefferies, +2.254s
12. Hector Hurst, +2.410s
13. David Zhu, +2.920s
14. Max Snegirev, +3.045s
15. Plamen Kralev, 5.682s