Vallelunga Qualifying

POLE POSITION for the Durango Benetton Junior Team

Dark clouds, 18C, wet track and a wonderful pole position, welcomes the Durango Benetton Junior Team to the Roman track Vallelunga for the first race of the Italian F.3000 Championship.

Andrej Pavicevic, the Australian set a time of 1:10.963, it was a smart decision by the team to use slick tyres 5 minutes before the end of qualifying to secure pole position.

Andrej Pavicevic: "We decided to change to slick tyres towards the end, the first few laps were very dangerous because the track was still wet. We took a big risk but in the end it paid off. I'm very happy for myself, the team and my sponsor Zepter. This is my first pole position in open wheelers so it is very special for me and I look forward to a strong showing tomorrow.

Giovanni Montanari will start on the 10th row after deciding to stay on wets. Montanari did well in the beginning of qualifying but as the track dried up he finished in 20th position. In the free practice this morning Montanari was third quickest.

Carlo Canali (team manager) "It was a great performance by the team to make the changes to Andrej's car in record time, and also an excellent effort by the Zepter driver to claim pole position for the team".