Giovesi claims another Auto GP pole

Kevin Giovesi followed up his searing Marrakech pace last weekend with a second successive Auto GP pole position in qualifying for round two at Paul Ricard. The Italian topped both the 20-minute Q1 and 10-minute Q2 sessions.

Driving for series newcomer Eurotech Engineering, the Parabiago racer moved to the head of the time sheets with just two minutes of Q2 remaining, having already topped Q1.Giovesi's effort of 1m16.426s edged out last weekend's Marrakech race one winner Kimiya Sato by 0.027 second.

Giovesi will be aiming for contrasting fortunes at Le Castellet this weekend, having retired in both races in Morocco.

Campos GP2 driver Sato had only enjoyed a fleeting moment holding provisional pole. The Kobe racer had demoted early pacesetter Markus Pommer only moments before losing out to Giovesi.

Pommer had been second to Giovesi in Q1, and was the first driver in the weekend to dip below the 1m17s mark when he produced a superb lap of 1m16.640s mid-way through Q2. But the German could only improve by a few hundredths, and will head the second row for race one on Saturday afternoon.

Friday second free practice pacesetter Tamas Pal Kiss will start alongside the Super Nova driver.

Giovesi's rookie Eurotech team-mate Loris Spinelli took fifth, the Formula Abarth graduate showing a promising step forward over his Marrakech form.

Sam Dejonghe finished 0.004sec behind Spinelli, but claimed the in-house Virtuosi UK honours ahead of Andrea Roda.

Originally on Autosport.com