“Daly grabs maiden GP3 pole in Valencia”

© Malcolm Griffiths/GP3 Media Service.
© Malcolm Griffiths/GP3 Media Service.

Conor Daly took his first GP3 pole position at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia this afternoon.

The American jumped to the top of the standings with a 1:22.329, thanks to a late effort, just moments before a spin by Adderly Fong brought out a brief red flag.
“There enough time for guys to do a lap and Carlos [Sainz Jr] was looking quite quick and with the way the tyres were working, you could possibly go out and do an out lap and a quick lap, but thankfully they weren’t able to do it,” said the ebullient ART GP man.

Daly had spent much of the session lingering around the top six, threatening to pinch the pole, but not obtaining until the final moments. “It was OK. The first run was a bit odd, because of the red flag and then we went out on our second set of tyres and got blocked pretty horrendously, but the car was quick. We knew we had a third set of tyres, so bolted them on and went for it. I luckily went out, got a clean lap and went for it.”

Despite earning four points for pole, the ART Grand Prix racer remains 4th in the standings, although he has drawn level with Koiranen GP’s Aaro Vainio.

MW Arden’s Daniil Kvyat finished 2nd, with his quickest effort (1:22.536) coming just before the Fong spin and red.

Nick Yelloly made is three teams represented in the top three positions, although was running on top briefly prior to Kvyat and Daly’s efforts.
Facu Regalia assumed 4tha head of Aaro Vainio (one of relatively few to improve late on). Kevin Korjus finished 6th after topping the times at several points during the session.

Series leader Tio Ellinas will start 7th, ahead of Dino Zamparelli (8th), Carlo Sainz jr (9th), while Robert Visoiu completed the top ten.
Ryan Cullen spun after five minutes bringing out an early red flag.

2013 GP3 Series Round of Valencia (Rd 2, Qualifying)
Pos  Driver               Team      Time       Gap
 1.  Conor Daly           ART       1m22.329s
 2.  Daniil Kvyat         MW Arden  1m22.536s  + 0.207s
 3.  Nick Yelloly         Carlin    1m22.597s  + 0.268s
 4.  Facu Regalia         ART       1m22.603s  + 0.274s
 5.  Aaro Vainio          Koiranen  1m22.616s  + 0.287s
 6.  Kevin Korjus         Koiranen  1m22.621s  + 0.292s
 7.  Tio Ellinas          Manor     1m22.761s  + 0.432s
 8.  Dino Zamparelli      Manor     1m22.861s  + 0.532s
 9.  Carlos Sainz Jr      MW Arden  1m22.891s  + 0.562s
10.  Robert Visoiu        MW Arden  1m22.893s  + 0.564s
11.  Jack Harvey          ART       1m22.925s  + 0.596s
12.  David Fumanelli      Trident   1m22.936s  + 0.607s
13.  Lewis Williamson     Bamboo    1m22.948s  + 0.619s
14.  Melville McKee       Bamboo    1m22.954s  + 0.625s
15.  Giovanni Venturini   Trident   1m22.993s  + 0.664s
16.  Patric Niederhauser  Jenzer    1m23.000s  + 0.671s
17.  Alex Fontana         Jenzer    1m23.019s  + 0.690s
18.  Adderly Fong         Status    1m23.054s  + 0.725s
19.  Patrick Kujala       Koiranen  1m23.294s  + 0.965s
20.  Eric Lichtenstein    Carlin    1m23.364s  + 1.035s
21.  Emanuele Zonzini     Trident   1m23.524s  + 1.195s
22.  Josh Webster         Status    1m23.559s  + 1.230s
23.  Luis Sa Silva        Carlin    1m23.878s  + 1.549s
24.  Samin Gomez          Jenzer    1m24.322s  + 1.993s
25.  Jimmy Eriksson       Status    1m25.044s  + 2.715s
26.  Carmen Jorda         Bamboo    1m25.103s  + 2.774s
27.  Ryan Cullen          Manor     1m41.349s  + 19.020s

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