Bortolotti grabs Race 2 pole at Brands

Date published : 24 Jul 2011 - 11:07:00

GPUpdateBortolotti grabs Race 2 pole at Brands24 July 2011 Mirko Bortolotti will start this afternoon's second race at Brands Hatch from pole position, with the Italian posting a stunning effort of 1:15.730 to claim the top spot. The championship leader will start ahead of Ramón Piñeiro who ended the session just over one tenth of a second slower, while Saturday winner Jack Clarke lines up in third. After claiming his fourth pole of the season, Bortolotti explained: "I'm pleased with that session as I didn't crash! The car felt okay and it went well for us. We knew we had good pace so it was a matter of putting it all together. I'd like to thank my guys for repairing the car after yesterday and for a fine job, and I'm looking forward to the race." Behind the fastest three, Miki Monrás found enough pace to edge ahead of Race 1 pole-sitter Tobias Hegewald for a spot on the second row, while Alex Brundle grabbed sixth to put himself in a strong position to challenge for a large points haul. Romanian driver Mihai Marinescu bounced back from his disappointment in the first race to set the seventh fastest time, just ahead of the experienced Armaan Ebrahim. Christopher Zanella, who is currently second in the overall standings, could finish the session no higher than ninth, narrowly outpacing Frenchman Benjamin Lariche who was also caught up in the first lap incident at Graham Hill Bend yesterday afternoon. Race 2 begins at 2.35pm local time (BST)