Magny-Cours qualifying notes

Ricardo Zonta and Justin Wilson push through the pole in Magny-Cours.

Peter Sundberg escapes unhurt from an accident in the second qualifying session.

The Brazilian Zonta defends the leadership 6 points ahead of Leinders and 11 of Montagny.

Magny-Cours, 30 August 2002 - Ricardo Zonta and Justin Wilson reached pole position in the qualifying day in Magny-Cours circuit (France) that hosts the fifth meeting of the Telefónica World Series by Nissan. The Brazilian driver defends the leadership with an advantage of 6 points from Bas Leinders and 11 from local Franck Montagny. Up to now, the driver who has got the pole has won later in race in six of eight races. Both races will celebrate on Saturday.

Qualifying 1
Ricardo Zonta (Gabord Competición) came out on top at the end of the first qualifying session. The Brazilian, first in the championship 6 points ahead of Bas Leinders, was the only driver who bettered 1:27 seconds. Leinders (KTR) will join him in the second row of the grid. The Belgium^Òs car will show the Anderlecht football club colours in tomorrow race. . Justin Wilson (Racing Engineering) and Jonathan Cochet (2000 F3 champion and Prost^Òs test driver last year in F1) were the third and fourth quickest in Magny-Cours. Cochet will make his debut tomorrow in World Series. Antonio García (Adrián Campos Motorsport) and Franck Montagny (Racing Engineering) will start from the third row. Montagny and Wilson also will show on Sunday the Benfica^Òs football club colours in their cars.

The shock of the first session was the trip into the gravel trap of Angel Burgueño, who was involved in a collision with Zonta. The incident took place on the corner before the finish line. Burgueño was unhurt but he will start from the 14th place.

Qualifying 2
Justin Wilson rode to his first pole position of the season at Magny-Cours this afternoon. The session was interrupted three minutes before the end because of an accident. Peter Sundberg (Tata RC Motorsport) escaped unhurt after a collision with the wall. The red flag didn^Òt benefit some drivers who wanted to do their best lap, as Zonta and Montagny. The 2001 F3000 champion will start from the front row with Zonta, second by 0.091 seconds. Montagny and Antonio García were third and fourth after make a huge performance the whole session. Leinders and Narain Karthikeyan (Tata RC Motorsport) grabbed fifth and sixth places.

Matteo Bobbi gets both pole in Formula Nissan 2000
Matteo Bobbi (Vergani Racing) wants to grab again the leadership of the Formula Nissan 2000 championship that he lost in Monza in benefit of Santiago Porteiro (Repsol Meycom). The Italian driver was the quickest in both sessions. In fact, the top six drivers were the same in both qualifying sessions: Borja García (Venturini Racing) will start besides Bobbi in the first row, Porteiro y Andrea Belicchi (BCN Competición) will start from the second and Juan Antonio del Pino (Repsol Meycom) and the youngest Adrián Vallés (Escuela Lois Circuit) will start from the third. Vallés comes from the Spanish Formula Junior 1600 Championship, where is the leader.

Gelete Nieto and Mathias Lauda, both in Epsilon by Graff, got the 12th and 11th for the Spanish and the 9th and 10th best time for Lauda.

The schedule for tomorrow
Tomorrow, the first World Series race will take place at 12:15 (17 laps) and the second race will be at 14:15 (25 laps with a compulsory pit stop).

Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours
Lenght: 4.250 m
Grid 1st race World Series
1. Ricardo Zonta BRA Gabord Competición 1:26.982
2. Bas Leinders BEL KTR 1:27.147 / 0.165
3. Justin Wilson GBR Racing Engineering 1:27.155 / 0.173
4. Jonathan Cochet FRA GD Racing 1:27.329 / 0.347
5. Antonio García SPA Adrián Campos Motors. 1:27.335 / 0.353
6. Franck Montagny FRA Racing Engineering 1:27.340 / 0.358

Grid 2nd race World Series
1. Justin Wilson GBR Racing Engineering 1:27.075
2. Ricardo Zonta BRA Gabord Competición 1:27.166 / 0.091
3. Franck Montagny FRA Racing Engineering 1:27.348 / 0.273
4. Antonio García SPA Adrián Campos Motors. 1:27.564 / 0.489
5. Bas Leinders BEL KTR 1:27.571 / 0.496
6. Narain Karthikeyan IND Tata RC Motorsport 1:27.661 / 0.586

Championship standings (3rd of 9):
WORLD SERIES
1. R. Zonta, 124 points; 2. B. Leinders, 118; 3. F. Montagny, 105; 4. J. Wilson, 46; 5. J.C. Ravier, 41; 6. N. Filiberti, 32; 7. A. C outo, 31; 8. P. Sundberg, 27; 9. A. Burgueño, 23.

FORMULA NISSAN 2000
1. S. Porteiro, 114 points; 2. M. Bobbi, 91; 3. J.M. Pérez-Aicart, 84; 4. B. García, 64; 5. C. Míguez, 57; 6. A. Belicchi, 56; 7. F. Navarrete, 52; 8. J.A. Del Pino, 52.

Point award
Only the first 10 drivers get points: 20 points for the winner, 15 points for the second driver, 12 points for the 3rd classified, 10 for the 4th driver, 8 points for the 5th, 6 points for the 6th top driver, 4 points for the 7th, 3 points for the 8th, 2 points for the 9th, and 1 point for the 10th driver. The fastest lap gives two more points to the quickest driver.

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