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Round 4 (of
12). A1-Ring, Austria.
Circuit length: 2.688 miles
QUALIFYING REPORT. Friday 11th May.
With the
second non-appearance of the KJR / Monaco Motorsport team, the entry list for
round four totalled 24 cars.
Taking the
seat of Ananda Mikola at Astromega, who has now left the team due to budget
problems, was Northern Ireland driver Dino Morelli. Morelli has the budget to
compete at the A1-Ring and Monaco only at present, although the team are hoping
that this situation may change. Team boss Sam Boyle said: “At present Dino is
here for two races, but we are hoping that he will be able to continue further
into the season with us. There is still a possibility that Ananda will be able
to sort out his funds crisis, but that remains to be seen.”
The first
session proved to be the faster of the two with DAMS driver Sebastien Bourdais
emerging the quickest after a roller coaster 45 minutes.
Previous
round pole-sitter Justin Wilson headed the times early into the session, yet
with the Avon tires taking around eight laps before they had reached their
optimum temperature, this quickly changed. One minute the Coca-Cola Nordic
Racing driver was fastest, the next he was 11th. This constant
changing meant that it was around 20 minutes or so into the session before any
real structure could be seen.
For
Bourdais, this is his first pole position in F3000 since Magny-Cours last year
and he was delighted to be back at the front of the grid. “It has been a
difficult start to the season but now I have qualified on pole, then I think
things have changed for me,” said Bourdais. “I am confident that I shall be
able to keep my lead position in the race tomorrow and I am looking forward to
getting back on the podium.”
Patrick
Friesacher claimed second on the grid for the Red Bull Junior Team, a dream come
true for the young Austrian at his home grand prix. Despite never having raced
at the A1-Ring before, Friesacher managed to set his quickest time on his 13th
lap. “I am so happy to be on the front row of the grid for my home grand
prix,” he said. “This is a great feeling for me as I have all my friends and
family here today. Now all I have to do is make a better start than I managed at
Imola, where I dropped down the order very quickly, and I am sure that I will be
challenging for the race win. The car feels very good, even in the rain during
the second session, so I am confident of a good race.”
Bas Leinders
took his second consecutive third place on the grid, claiming that he had now
“developed a taste for press conferences.” Having finished second on the
podium in Barcelona two weeks earlier, Leinders was sure that his first race win
of the season was less than 24 hours away. “The car feels really good and I
can see no reason why I cannot win the race tomorrow. All I need is a good start
and I am sure that I can take the race lead. I have won every championship that
I have raced in, so I think to myself, why should this one be any different.”
Justin
Wilson was happy with his fourth place, especially as his Nordic Racing team
mate Tomas Enge, winner of the previous round, was behind in fifth. “After
Spain I was a little disappointed with myself for making a mess of the start.
Now I have a chance to prove that I can still race and win, only this time it is
from fourth place.”
Behind
Wilson and Enge was Super Nova driver Mark Webber, happy to put his bad
qualifying in Barcelona behind him.
Antonia
Pizzonia took seventh for the Petrobras Junior Team although had the officials
decided to be strict, he would not have been racing here at all this weekend.
Pizzonia arrived at the circuit late on Thursday, missing the 16.00hrs deadline
for driver signing-on. Although only 15 minutes late, he could have been
excluded from the race. Perhaps if the reason for his lateness had been known at
the time then this would have been the case. It seems that Pizzonia was busy
fishing on Thursday, losing all track of the time!
Gollin gave
the Coloni outfit eighth with Friesachers Red Bull Junior teammate Garcia ninth.
Pantano rounded out the top ten for Astromega.
Darren
Manning had a spin during the first session, which left him stranded in the
gravel in 11th place.
The second
session was spoilt by rain, affording the drivers no chance improving on their
earlier times, the grid remaining unchanged throughout the 45 minutes.
Series
returnee Dino Morelli qualified in 21st for the Astromega outfit, his
fastest time set on his final lap of the circuit. “I have to adjust back into
F3000 and this has taken a little time. The car is new to me and I was busy
trying to avoid traffic throughout the session. Had the second session been dry,
then I am sure that we would have been a little higher up the grid.”
