Canamasas takes maiden pole

Date published : 03 Jul 2011 - 09:42:40

BVM Target's Sergio Canamasas, the revelation of this year's Formula Renault 3.5 series, ended Jean-Eric Vergne's (Carlin) domination at the Hungaroring by taking his debut pole position in the category this morning.Canamasas failed to score a point in 2010, but brimming with confidence following a maiden podium in race one yesterday, the Spaniard recorded a late flier to knock Vergne off top spot with a time of 1m32.826s. No other driver was under the 1m33s mark."We started this weekend quite well running with a high downforce set-up on Friday, so we knew we could be up there," said Canamasas. "Today we ratified that. I have to congratulate the team for making the car so good, as I was able to feel the car responding really well on my lap."Yesterday we saw we could be on the podium, so now we'll try to be on top. I am starting on the clean side, but Daniil Move was quick from the outside of the front row yesterday. The track was a bit dirty then after rain, so we'll see what happens."Race one victor Vergne will join Canamasas on the front row. The Frenchman was just 0.042s ahead of IndyCar hopeful Adam Carroll, who is making his debut appearance in the category with P1 Motorsport."The problem this weekend is not so much about setting a fast lap, it is not knowing the car from top to bottom in race conditions," said Carroll, who has been drafted into the Norfolk team in place of the injured Walter Grubmuller."These are the things that take time to learn, you know, when the circuit has just rubbered in, what do you do? I have high expectations, I came fourth yesterday but I felt really frustrated because I was not 100 per cent. The times yesterday were so frigging close, 21 cars within a second and one tenth would have put me four of five places up. It will be only my second start today, yesterday I was quite safe and conservative and got a lot of wheelspin."Second in race one, Fortec's Alexander Rossi is again in with a chance of a strong points haul after qualifying fourth.Brendon Hartley, who was third on the road in race one, again showed well in fifth place for Gravity-Charouz. The presence of Arthur Pic (Tech 1 Racing) on the third row of the grid was perhaps more of a surprise, the Formula Renault 2.0 Eurocup graduate enjoying one of his most impressive qualifying efforts in the series to date.With his BVM Target team-mate on pole, 2009 Italian Formula 3 champion Daniel Zampieri was a frustrated seventh and complained of being held up by traffic, one of the culprits the Italian pointed a finger at being recent Hispania Formula 1 signing Daniel Ricciardo (ISR).The Perth racer had a tough session and languished in 13th, four places behind Carlin's championship leader Robert Wickens. The Canadian has struggled all weekend with new-tyre performance, despite being competitive in race conditions.The session was extremely closely contested, with small gains bringing wild changes of positions. Pons Racing's Oliver Webb, who was fifth for the much of the session, was bumped down to last. Second in the points standings entering the weekend, Kevin Korjus could only manage 23rd on the grid for this afternoon's race, ahead of double 2011 pole winner Cesar Ramos (Fortec) and Nurburging podium finisher Fairuz Fauzy, the latter suspecting an engine problem.Pos Driver Team Time Gap 1. Sergio Canamasas BVM Target 1m32.826s 2. Jean-Eric Vergne Carlin 1m33.037s + 0.211s 3. Adam Carroll P1 1m33.079s + 0.253s 4. Alexander Rossi Fortec 1m33.238s + 0.412s 5. Brendon Hartley Gravity-Charouz 1m33.283s + 0.457s 6. Arthur Pic Tech 1 1m33.447s + 0.621s 7. Daniel Zampieri BVM Target 1m33.456s + 0.630s 8. Albert Costa Epic 1m33.585s + 0.759s 9. Robert Wickens Carlin 1m33.592s + 0.766s10. Mikhail Aleshin KMP 1m33.660s + 0.834s11. Nelson Panciatici KMP 1m33.807s + 0.981s12. Jake Rosenzweig Mofaz 1m33.831s + 1.005s13. Daniel Ricciardo ISR 1m33.854s + 1.028s14. Marcos Martinez Pons 1m33.889s + 1.063s15. Jan Charouz Gravity-Charouz 1m33.931s + 1.105s16. Sten Pentus Epic 1m33.987s + 1.161s17. Daniil Move P1 1m34.008s + 1.182s18. Nathanael Berthon ISR 1m34.020s + 1.194s19. Andre Negrao Draco 1m34.037s + 1.211s20. Daniel McKenzie Comtec 1m34.076s + 1.250s21. Stephane Richelmi Draco 1m34.158s + 1.332s22. Daniel de Jong Comtec 1m34.206s + 1.380s23. Kevin Korjus Tech 1 1m34.216s + 1.390s24. Cesar Ramos Fortec 1m34.220s + 1.394s25. Fairuz Fauzy Mofaz 1m34.241s + 1.415s26. Oliver Webb Pons 1m34.269s + 1.443s