Formula V8 3.5

Catalunya: Saturday report

Kovalainen Moves Back to the Front Heikki Kovalainen restored his name at the top of the World Series by Nissan order by taking pole position for tomorrow's second race at the Circuit de Catalunya. The Finn lapped a full 0.476 seconds quicker ...

Published: Oct 2, 2004, 11:57 PM

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Kovalainen Moves Back to the Front

Heikki Kovalainen restored his name at the top of the World Series by Nissan order by taking pole position for tomorrow's second race at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Finn lapped a full 0.476 seconds quicker than the second-fastest driver, his Pons Racing team-mate Adrian Valles, to make him favourite to extend his championship lead tomorrow.

Kovalainen had suffered under the new Super Pole format, brought in for the Barcelona track, in the first session. He was the first runner and therefore didn't know how hard he could afford to push. This time was different, as he ran 14th in the 17-car field. "I just couldn't attack in the morning like I did in the afternoon," he said. "Also in the first session I didn't find the grip as I normally would do. The second session was more normal."

Spaniard Valles recovered from a spin on his warm-up lap, which made his tyres dirty, to pip Narain Karthikeyan to second spot, the Indian completing a satisfactory day in his RC Motorsport car. Rounding out the top six are Tristan Gommendy (Saulnier Racing), Enrique Bernoldi (GD Racing) and Sergio Hernandez (Saulnier Racing).

First-race polewinner Felix Porteiro had a frustrating lap and could manage only 13th best this time. His Epsilon Euskadi team-mate, Jean-Christophe Ravier, also plummeted, from third to seventh. Tiago Monteiro, second in the points, continued his miserable day by taking 11th.

In the World Series Lights it was another pole for Vergani Formula star Milos Pavlovic, the Yugoslav edging out Celso Miguez by 0.246 seconds. Matteo Pellegrino was third fastest.

Michael Herck topped the times in qualifying for tomorrow's Formula Junior race, 0.364 seconds clear of Marco Barba, with Arturo Llobell third. But in today's first race, Barba managed to hold Herck at arm's length throughout to take the win, with Llobell in third.

-rpm-

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