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
