Once again the warm weather had followed the GP2 Series with clear blue skies at Monza today with air and track temperatures of 28° and 36° respectively for the start of the 45-minute Free Practice session. Norman Nato and Jordan King, the two Racing Engineering drivers, were quickly out on to the track and, like all the other cars, they were using the Pirelli P Zero White medium compound tyres as they began working on the set-up of their cars for today’s Qualifying and the races on Saturday and Sunday.
Both of the Racing Engineering cars returned to the pits after a single installation lap but they were soon back out on the circuit but the session was delayed after eight minutes with a Virtual Safety Car period to remove a car stranded on the track. The session resumed after four minutes and Jordan’s first flying lap saw him go top of the timing sheets with a lap of 1:33.585 while Norman was just a little slower on 1:34.154. Jordan quickly improved to 1:32.746 on his seventh lap to lie 4th and Norman set a time of 1:33.068 for 13th. Jordan continued to fly moving up to 3rd as he reduced his time to 1:32.514 before joining Norman in the pits after twenty-three minutes as the Racing Engineering team worked on the set-up of the two cars.
Norman and Jordan returned to the track with eighteen minutes still to go but after five minutes a third Virtual Safety Car period came into effect due to an accident and Jordan returned to the pits while Norman continued to circulate until the session started again with just eight minutes left but neither man improved on their earlier times.
The temperatures had increased noticeably for the 30-minute Qualifying session and the air and track temperatures were now 31° and 42° respectively. Norman, Jordan and the rest of the cars were now using the Pirelli P Zero Yellow soft compound tyres as they battled for grid positions for tomorrow’s Feature Race. Norman’s first flying lap as the session began put him 6th on 1:32.305 with Jordan setting a 1:32.924. Norman’s next quick lap was an improvement as he lowered his time to 1:32.006 while Jordan improved by over one second to go 5th on 1:31.710.
After twelve minutes of the session both Norman and Jordan returned to the pits for some set-up changes and a new set of soft tyres and the two Racing Engineering drivers returned to the track with eight minutes to go. Norman lowered his lap time to 1:32.006 which was good enough for 12th while Jordan’s lap was a fraction slower than his previous best which left both men with time for one more flying lap before the session ended. Norman went a little quicker at 1:31.845 but once again Jordan did not improve so at the end of the session Jordan finished 6th, the first time this season that he has out-qualified Norman who was 10th, just six tenths of a second slower than the pole position time.
With both drivers in the top ten and the Monza track offering several overtaking opportunities both Jordan and Norman, given their race pace in recent races, will be looking to finish on the podium and add to their points score in tomorrow’s Feature Race. |
|
Team Comments:
Sebastien Viger, Technical Director: “There are some positives to take from this qualifying although the raw result is a bit underwhelming. Today it was all about getting the lap done on the first run, but both drivers set their best time on the second lap following a couple of mistakes. Jordan still managed to be less than two tenths off the pole in the first stint, but he didn’t manage to improve in the second stint as he was a bit distracted by drivers going off at Turn 1 in front of him. Also he did all his laps without a tow, and we know the importance of that around here. In Norman’s case, he was on the same sector times as Gasly on the first stint, but he made a mistake at Ascari, and then made a mistake at Turn 1 on the second stint. All in all, it’s a bit a shame as we could have been higher up with both drivers looking at the sectors, but that’s racing and it was a close fight here in Monza. We need now to focus on the race tomorrow, the strategy and pace will be important to get on the podium.”
Norman Nato: “The first push was not bad, close to Gasly’s sectors, but I made a mistake in the last sector, so I had to focus on my second lap to do my lap time, which was an improvement but still it was not enough. For the second set, the preparation lap was a bit messy and I arrived at Turn 1 with cold brakes so once again I had to focus on my second lap and I improved my lap time, but it was not enough for the Top 5, I lost too much time in sector 3 today. In the past we have had some stirring races and crazy opening laps, so with a good pace we can have a good race tomorrow and overtake some cars.”
Jordan King:: “A very positive session and I feel confident for tomorrow’s race. I could have possibly gone a couple of tenths quicker with a better track position, but all in all, a solid qualifying session around a difficult circuit like Monza. I’m excited for the race tomorrow as you can do a lot around here, especially with the softer compound allocation we have this year.” |
|
