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EU3000: Valencia: Series qualifying report

BRATT CLINCHES THE POLE POSITION FOR RACE 1, BONANOMI HITS BACK IN THE SECOND QUALIFYING The Euroseries 3000 by PartyPoker Racing weekend in Valencia started with two tight- packed qualifying sessions wich raise the hopes for two hard-fought ...

Edited: Dec 13, 2009, 12:45 AM

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BRATT CLINCHES THE POLE POSITION FOR RACE 1, BONANOMI HITS BACK IN THE SECOND QUALIFYING

The Euroseries 3000 by PartyPoker Racing weekend in Valencia started with two tight- packed qualifying sessions wich raise the hopes for two hard-fought races. In the first session it was Will Bratt who clinched the pole position, stopping the clock on the 1'23"000 mark. The brit, whose last result in the series was a race win in Zolder, confirmed he his in great shape with a consistent qualifying wich gives him the top spot on the grid for today's race, starting at 17.35. Marco Bonanomi will also start on the first row, but in second position, with a lap two tenths slower than Bratt's one and only six hundredths faster than Fabrizio Crestani, who was 3rd despite seeing his best laptime cancelled by the stewards after he ran over the pit lane exit white stripe in an attempt to improve. Crestani is followed by Fabio Onidi and Edoardo Piscopo, with the latter able to improve his morning laptime by 7 tenths and already at ease with the Lola B05/52. It must be noticed that the five top drivers are packed in only five tenths. Behind them Rodolfo Gonzalez was 6th, Juan Carlos Sistos 7th and Francesco Dracone 8th.

After the second place in the first session, Marco Bonanomi managed to hit back in the second qualifying, clinching the pole position for Sunday's first race. The italian driver squeezed out every bit of quickness from his car, finishind ahead of Bratt by only .009 seconds. The brit was anyway happy for his second place that secures him two front row starts. Crestani was again 3rd, with Fabio Onidi only 1 hundredth slower. He is followed by Piscopo, Gonzalez and, closing the grid, Juan Carlos Sistos and Francesco Dracone, both improving their first session laptimes by eight and two tenths respectively.

Again, the qualifying proved the quickness of the new Lola B05/52 car wich, comparing the 2008 and 2009 laptimes, was 2" faster than the old B02/50.

DRIVER'S QUOTES

Marco Bonanomi: "I'm very happy of my second qualifying, we modified our set-up and we had the expected result, I knew that could be on pole position. I'm only sorry about my first attempt, wich was ruined by Onidi blocking me. I wanted to keep a spare new set for the races, but I couldn't.

Will Bratt: "A pole and a second place, I couldn't be happier. We did some changes in the set-up, but in the end the car behaviour didn't changed that much, we were only a bit slower due to the heat on the track".

Fabrizio Crestani: "In the first session the car was fast enough, but only for two laps, then the speed was going down quickly. In the second session we did a good job, and now the car is consistently quick lap after lap. I have a good feeling for the races".

Fabio Onidi: "We were hoping for something more, but while the car is balanced, it simply isn't fast enough. We miss three tenths, wich makes a big difference in qualifying. But in the race, anything can happen".

Edoardo Piscopo: "Every session I get better and better, and that's what we wanted. The car is completely new to me, i tried it this morning for the first time, so I'm happy to be just within three tenths of pole position and only one tenth behind Onidi, who is racing for the title".

Rodolfo Gonzalez: "We had some problems with the gear cut and we didn't have enough time to fix them. Besides that, we struggle to get heat in our tires. That's bad for qualifying but maybe not so bad for the race".

-credit: eu3000

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