“Ghiotto takes pole on GP3 Series debut”

Luca Ghiotto took a surprise pole position in his debut outing in the GP3 Series this year.

The Italian teenager secured the top spot in his first outing in wet-to-dry conditions at the Francorchamps circuit.

Ghiotto took pole by three-tenths from Carlin’s Emil Bernstorff, while Jimmy Eriksson (Carlin) rounded out the top-three.

Berstorff maintained the top spot for a sizeable portion of the session; however Ghiotto’s late effort demoted the Briton to the outside of the front row.

Richie Stanaway will take 4th, having fallen two-tenths shy of row two stablemate Eriksson. Points leader Alex Lynn was at the front of the pack during the initial runner, but he fell back to 5th as the times came down slightly.

Patrick Kujala completed the third row, while Marvin Kirchhöfer led the ART Grand Prix charge. The German lost time when, like his teammates, the ART squad sent their drivers out on slicks on a track which was not quite ready.

Carmen Jorda did not set a lap – the Colombian spun off earlier in the session and became beached in the gravel before she had an opportunity to register a time.

2014 GP3 Series Round of Belgium (Qualifying)
Pos  Driver               Team      Time       Gap
 1.  Luca Ghiotto         Trident   2m22.251s
 2.  Emil Bernstorff      Carlin    2m22.584s  +0.333s
 3.  Jimmy Eriksson       Koiranen  2m22.678s  +0.427s
 4.  Richie Stanaway      Status    2m22.862s  +0.611s
 5.  Alex Lynn            Carlin    2m23.081s  +0.830s
 6.  Patrick Kujala       Manor     2m23.303s  +1.052s
 7.  Marvin Kirchhofer    ART       2m23.413s  +1.162s
 8.  Patric Niederhauser  Arden     2m23.438s  +1.187s
 9.  Matheo Tuscher       Jenzer    2m23.481s  +1.230s
10.  Dino Zamparelli      ART       2m23.565s  +1.314s
11.  Dean Stoneman        Manor     2m23.586s  +1.335s
12.  Jann Mardenborough   Arden     2m23.794s  +1.543s
13.  Nick Yelloly         Status    2m23.920s  +1.669s
14.  Robert Visoiu        Arden     2m23.996s  +1.745s
15.  Kevin Ceccon         Jenzer    2m24.057s  +1.806s
16.  Alex Fontana         ART       2m24.248s  +1.997s
17.  Sebastian Balthasar  Hilmer    2m24.464s  +2.213s
18.  Santiago Urrutia     Koiranen  2m24.687s  +2.436s
19.  Nelson Mason         Hilmer    2m24.846s  +2.595s
20.  Luis Sa Silva        Carlin    2m24.862s  +2.611s
21.  Pal Varhaug          Jenzer    2m25.301s  +3.050s
22.  Alfonso Celis        Status    2m25.553s  +3.302s
23.  Riccardo Agostini    Hilmer    2m25.965s  +3.714s
24.  John Bryant-Meisner  Trident   2m25.969s  +3.718s
25.  Ryan Cullen          Manor     2m26.537s  +4.286s

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