FV8 3.5: Deletraz takes first career pole at Red Bull Ring

Louis Deletraz claimed his first Formula V8 3.5 pole position at the Red Bull Ring on Saturday. The Fortec driver moved ahead of Matthieu Vaxiviere in the dying seconds of the half hour session, after delivering a time of 1m15.914s.

Competing on the circuit where he made his category debut last year, Deletraz believed he was back on track following a difficult preceding meeting at Silverstone in July.

"We struggled a little in Silverstone with the set-up and we also had some technical issues," he said. "I have been busy in the summer break racing the BMW [M6 GT] at Zandvoort and Nurburgring. Now we're back here and the car feels really good."

Vaxiviere was denied pole position by a margin of just 0.080s.The SMP Racing team has brought in engineer Miguel Jose Clara Flor, complementing the team's existing staff, in order to help address its high tyre degradation problems.

"On old tyres yesterday the car was good," said Vaxiviere. "Today was the first opportunity to understand the car on new tires. We are really in need of a win, and the team is extremely motivated."

Championship leader Tom Dillmann had a lap time erased by race officials earlier in the session for a track limits violation at Turn 9, but the AVF racer recovered to end the session in third.

There was a burst of movement at the top of the timing screens four minutes prior to the end of qualifying. Dillmann moved ahead of Deletraz into provisional pole, only to be displaced in quick succession by Matevos Isaakyan, in the second SMP Racing entry, Vaxiviere and Deletraz.

Vaxiviere became the first driver to break into the 1m15s as the session entered its final minute, before conceding the place to the season's leading rookie Deletraz.

Orudzhev, who was delighted by his Arden car's handling in Friday free practice, will start this afternoon's race from the outside of the second row.

Teo Martin Motorsport runner Yu Kanamaru enjoyed a strong showing to take fifth, ahead of an aggressive Alfonso Celis Jr in his AVF car. The Charouz-run Lotus team, which had appeared extremely competitive on used tires on Friday, could not repeat the form on Saturday morning.

Silverstone double winner Roy Nissany will start race one from seventh, while home driver and Friday pacesetter Rene Binder claimed ninth.

Series returnee Marco Bonanomi, who only sampled the current generation FV8 3.5 car for the first time in practice, will line-up in the penultimate position for RP Motorsport, one place behind Pietro Fittipaldi, who struggled with a down on power engine during Friday's pair of practice sessions.

The session was largely free of incident, save for an excursion by Giuseppe Cipriani into the gravel at Turn 8.

RACE ONE QUALIFYING RESULTS: