Brazilian Stock Car: Marcos Gomes on pole position at Velopark circuit
A fierce battle for P1 on the grid has put 30 drivers within the same second at the 2.278 km-long racetrack in Southern Brazil.
In a short circuit in a race which will start in a single line under the safety car, starting from pole position is almost halfway through to victory. And that was the case for Voxx Racing’s Marcos Gomes, who scored his seventh career pole position - his first in almost two years. Daniel Serra, driving for Red Bull Racing, will start in second place at the Velopark circuit since Shell driver Valdeno Brito has a 15-grid position penalty to serve at this round.
The push-to-pass button will give everyone an edge,
Marcos Gomes
Julio Campos, Rubens Barrichello, Allam Khodair, series leader Cacá Bueno, Cesar Ramos, Ricardo Zonta, Ricardo Maurício and Thiago Camilo close the top-10 grid spots. The Brazilian touring car top series saw once again a great balance, since the gap from pole position (54s067) to P30 (55s023) of the 31-cars grid was 0s956 - less than a second.
Gomes was accurate in his flying lap. Even not making any of the sectors purple, the #80 driver could make the fastest lap of qualifying. "It is how it works in Velopark. You can’t afford to be fast in only one sector; you’ve got to go well in all of them, which is a very difficult thing to do in a single lap. The car is great, the team is in a good shape, but the points are for tomorrow. To get pole was really important to give myself and the team more confidence and to show we will fight for the title", said Gomes.
Marcos believes that, even in a short circuit, which is very similar to a street track, there must be plenty of overtaking maneuvers. "The push-to-pass button will give everyone an edge, so that’s an important thing to consider. But starting from pole is the best place anyone could wish for".
Race 1 will be 47 laps long and will start at 1:05pm (Brazilian Time), while Race 2, which is 10-place grid-reversed, starts at 2:20 pm for 26 laps.
Starting Grid:
1-) Marcos Gomes (Voxx Racing) - 54s067
2-) Daniel Serra (Red Bull Racing) - 54s102
3-) Julio Campos (Prati-Donaduzi) - 54s128
4-) Rubens Barrichello (Full Time) - 54s160
5-) Allam Khodair (Full Time) - 54s178
6-) Cacá Bueno (Red Bull Racing) - 54s182
7-) Cesar Ramos (Cavaleiro Sports) - 54s339
8-) Ricardo Zonta (Shell Racing) - 54s365
9-) Ricardo Maurício (Eurofarma-RC) - 54s366
10-) Thiago Camilo (Ipiranga-RC) - 54s410
11-) Felipe Fraga (Voxx Racing) - 54s442
12-) Sérgio Jimenez (C2 Team) - 54s445
13-) Galid Osman (Ipiranga-RC) - 54s459
14-) Fábio Fogaça (Hot Car) - 54s495
15-) Diego Nunes (Vogel Motorsport) - 54s543
16-) Lucas Foresti (AMG Motorsport) - 54s552
17-) Valdeno Brito (Shell Racing) - 54s100*
18-) Denis Navarro (Vogel Motorsport) - 54s596
19-) Antonio Pizzonia (Prati-Donaduzi) - 54s611
20-) Rafael Suzuki (RZ Motorsport) - 54s612
21-) Felipe Lapenna (Schin Racing Team) - 54s615
22-) Gabriel Casagrande (C2 Team) - 54s624
23-) Átila Abreu (AMG Motorsport) - 54s628
24-) Max Wilson (Eurofarma-RC) - 54s691
25-) Vitor Genz (Boettger) - 54s734
26-) Raphael Abbate (Hot Car) - 54s737
27-) Luciano Burti (RZ Motorsport) - 54s791
28-) Rafa Matos (Schin Racing Team) - 54s798
29-) Bia Figueiredo (União Química/Bassani) - 54s981
30-) Popó Bueno (Cavaleiro Sports) - 55s023
31-) Tuka Rocha (União Química/Bassani) - 55s499
*15-grid position penalty
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