Dutchman Bleekemolen on sprint pole

Date published : 21 Feb 2009 - 13:58:06

Jeroen Bleekemolen carried his free practice form into qualifying to secure pole position for the A1GP sprint race at Kyalami on Sunday.The Dutch team were the only front-runners to use their powerboost in the sprint race qualifying sessions, and despite admitting to making an error on his lap, Bleekemolen was able to take pole ahead of Portugal.Filipe Albuquerque was the best of the drivers who didn't use powerboost, earning himself a front row spot at the expense of reigning champions Switzerland, who were second briefly with Neel Jani.Monaco and India are next up, while series leaders Ireland had to make do with sixth on the grid for the first race of the weekend, two places ahead of the home car of Adrian Zaugg.One driver who will be bitterly disappointed is Daniel Morad. The Lebanese car was on course to be right up the front of the field, but he suffered a loss of power in the final few corners of the lap.The problem was suspected to be a misfire, and the Team Lebanon mechanics had to work frantically to solve the problem ahead of qualifying for the feature race.Pos Driver Team Time 1. J.Bleekemolen Netherlands 1:27.717 2. F.Albuquerque Portugal 1:28.072 + 0.355 3. Neel Jani Switzerland 1:28.153 + 0.436 4. Clivio Piccione Monaco 1:28.417 + 0.700 5. N.Karthikeyan India 1:28.431 + 0.714 6. Adam Carroll Ireland 1:28.437 + 0.720 7. Nicolas Prost France 1:28.531 + 0.814 8. Adrian Zaugg South Africa 1:28.890 + 1.173 9. Fairuz Fauzy Malaysia 1:28.904 + 1.18710. Edoardo Piscopo Italy 1:29.253 + 1.53611. M.Ammermuller Germany 1:29.337 + 1.62012. Earl Bamber New Zealand 1:29.364 + 1.64713. Danny Watts Great Britain 1:29.567 + 1.85014. Felipe Guimaraes Brazil 1:29.726 + 2.00915. Ho-Pin Tung China 1:29.758 + 2.04116. Salvador Duran Mexico 1:29.884 + 2.16717. Marco Andretti USA 1:29.916 + 2.19918. Daniel Morad Lebanon 1:30.136 + 2.41919. John Martin Australia 1:30.414 + 2.69720. Zahir Ali Indonesia No time