Peugeot's Pagenaud takes Spa pole
Date published : 09 May 2009 - 14:29:41
Simon Pagenaud claimed pole position for Sunday's Spa 1000km on his debut with Peugeot.Pagenaud, who is Peugeot Sport's reserve driver from next month's Le Mans 24 Hours, edged out team-mate Alex Wurz during qualifying for the second round of the Le Mans Series in Belgium.The Acura American Le Mans Series driver's best time of 2m01.056s was just 0.03 seconds quicker than his more experienced team-mate at the end of a session interrupted by two red flags.Pagenaud, who only drove the turbo-diesel Peugeot for the first time the week before last, said: "I managed to get a clean lap and then came a red flag. Fortunately, we had enough of a gap to stay in the pits."Asked if Peugeot was sandbagging, Pagenaud said: "It was qualifying. I'm employed to do my best; I was going as fast as I could."Darren Turner was the best of the petrol-engined contingent aboard the #009 Lola-Aston Martin. His time was nearly a second and a half off Pagenaud's pole.The second Aston Martin suffered a mechanical problem before it could set a time. Round one pole-sitter Strakka will also start at the back - Danny Watts having spun and flat-spotted his tyres at La Source on his first lap, possibly due to fluids split from the ailing #007 Aston.Casper Elgaard topped the LMP2 times in the Essex Porsche RS Spyder with a time half a second quicker than Xavier Pompidou's Lola-Judd.Qualifying honours in GT1 went to the Jetalliance Aston Martin team. Alex Muller was nearly a second ahead of Peter Kox in the Reiter-run Lamborghini Murcielago.Factory Porsche drivers Marc Lieb and Patrick Pilet locked out the top positions in GT2 in their respective Felbermayr Proton and IMSA Performance 911 GT3-RSRs. Jaime Melo was the best Ferrari driver in the Team Modena entry in third position.Pos Cl Drivers Car Time 1. P1 Minassian/Pagenaud/Klien Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 2m01.056s 2. P1 Gene/Wurz/Brabham Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 2m01.082s 3. P1 Primat/Ramos/Turner Lola Aston Martin 2m02.488s 4. P1 Ortelli/Senna Oreca AIM 2m02.570s 5. P1 Boullion/Tinseau Pescarolo Judd 2m02.948s 6. P1 Jouanny/Barbosa Pescarolo Judd 2m04.390s 7. P1 Ragues/Mailleux Oreca Judd 2m04.614s 8. P1 Kerr/Smith/Tomlinson Ginetta Zytek 2m04.880s 9. P1 Albers/Bakkerud/Mondini Audi R10 TDI 2m07.908s10. P2 Elgaard/Collard/Poulsen Porsche RS Spider 2m07.918s11. P2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta Zytek 2m08.962s12. P2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Zytek 2m09.326s13. P2 Barazi/Rees Zytek 07S 2m09.662s14. P2 Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou Lola Judd 2m09.796s15. P1 Karthikeyan/Meyrick/Zwolsman Audi R10 TDI 2m09.966s16. P2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo Mazda 2m11.244s17. P2 Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini Lola Judd 2m11.466s18. P2 Salini/Salini/Gommendy WR Zytek 2m13.102s19. P2 Noda/Sini/Marsh Lola Mazda 2m13.348s20. P2 Comblot/Cortes/Montserrat Lucchini Judd 2m15.878s21. P2 Schell/Thirion Courage AER 2m17.026s22. GT1 Lichtnerhoyer/Gruber/Muller Aston Martin DBR9 2m17.344s23. P2 Nicolet/Hein Pescarolo Mazda 2m18.114s24. GT1 Salaquarda/Kox/Janis Lamborghini 2m18.242s25. P1 Lavaggi/Kaufmann Lavaggi AER 2m19.214s26. GT1 Alphand/Goueslard/Clairay Corvette C6.R 2m19.680s27. P1 Panis/Lapierre Oreca AIM 2m21.146s28. GT2 Lieb/Lietz/Felbermayr Sr Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2m21.870s29. GT2 Pilet/Narac Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2m22.012s30. GT2 Garcia/Mansell/Melo Ferrari F430 GT 2m22.698s31. P2 Ceccato/Francioni/Piccini Lola Judd 2m22.858s32. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 2m23.148s33. GT2 Simonsen/Kaffer Ferrari F430 GT 2m23.232s34. GT2 Rosa/Montermini/Petrobelli Ferrari F430 GT 2m23.656s35. GT2 Cocker/Drayson Aston Martin Vantage 2m23.694s36. GT2 Ehret/Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GT 2m23.758s37. P2 Randaccio/Solieri Lucchini McLaren 2m24.292s38. GT2 Coronel/Dumbreck Spyker C8 Laviolet 2m25.088s39. GT2 Palttala/Daniels Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2m26.260s40. GT2 Griffin/Bamford Ferrari F430 GT 2m26.448s41. GT2 McInerney/McInerney/Vergers Ferrari F430 GT 2m26.892s42. GT2 Tenchini/Basso/Plati Ferrari F430 GT 2m27.024s43. GT2 Ried/Felbermayr Jr/Martins Porsche 997 GT3 RS 2m27.672s44. GT2 Hartshorne/Rodrigues/Kralev Ferrari F430 GT 2m27.926s45. P2 Ibanez/Da Rocha/Cavailhes Courage AER 2m29.080s46. P1 Belicchi/Fassler/Prost Lola Aston Martin 2m36.504s47. P2 Bruneau/Greaves/Coleman Radical AER 3m37.296s48. P1 Watts/Leventis/Hardman Ginetta Zytek 3m55.058s
