GP2: Cecotto grabs pole in Austria

Johnny Cecotto Jr. will start round seven of the GP2 Series from pole position after setting the fastest time in qualifying at the Red Bull Ring on Friday.

As the threatening rain stayed away throughout the session, Trident's Cecotto set his pole time on his first run, although a later effort on his second set of tires would have been good enough for pole, too.

Points leader Jolyon Palmer will start second for DAMS, getting to within 0.04sec of Cecotto before spinning at Turn 8 on his second run. Carlin's Felipe Nasr qualified third, getting to within 0.006sec of Palmer's time. The Williams F1 reserve will look back on a last corner moment on his first run that might have cost him a place or two.

Stefano Coletti jumped up to fourth with his final lap, but his Racing Engineering teammate Raffaele Marciello had the best what-if story, as he was up on Cecotto's pole time at sector two, only to find a Caterham cruising into the pits on the apex of Turn 8, which ruined his line and cost him his pole shot. The Ferrari protege will start fifth.

McLaren junior Stoffel Vandoorne, who had swapped second with Palmer after the first runs, slipped down the order to sixth as the session wore on. Arthur Pic, Mitch Evans, Alexander Rossi and Stephane Richelmi round out the top 10.

Practice pacesetter Julian Leal was only 12th fastest.