Thruxton: Qualifying race two summary

Di Grassi takes pole for race two at Thruxton

Brazilian Lucas Di Grassi took pole position by the narrowest of margins for round 20 of the Avon Tyres British Formula Three Championship at Thruxton in Hampshire this afternoon. Series leader Nelson Piquet Jr improved on his first session time to line up third ahead of Rob Austin.

Austin set the early pace, lining up on pole after dipping below the 1m07s barrier. Di Grassi was the first to challenge him, taking second before James Rossiter demoted him to third.

The Brazilian responded though, and a lap just eight hundredths faster than Austin was enough to give him pole.

"I'm very happy to take pole. We need to work on the car to get a race set-up as it will be different from qualifying," he said. "But the races are a little bit shorter round here so hopefully we can take advantage of pole," he added.

Piquet was struggling in the first half of the session, but managed to move into 6th place. A major effort right at the end of the session was needed for the championship leader to move up to third on the grid. His effort was enough to demote Rossiter to fourth, just ahead of Andrew Thompson and Alvaro Parente.

Adam Carroll struggled to get his championship campaign back on track after ending the session down in ninth place. As the only other driver apart from Rossiter that can take the title battle to Piquet he will have to work hard tomorrow afternoon.

Stephen Jelley did the pole position double in the Scholarship Class, giving himself an edge over Ryan Lewis before the two races. Ronayne O'Mahony will line up third ahead of Vasilije Calasan.

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