Nicola de Marco claimed his first Formula 2 pole position in today's wet first qualifying session at Brno. The Italian continued his good form after taking a surprise fifth position in race two at Valencia by claiming the top spot for race one of the second round of the championship at the Czech circuit.
"I really enjoyed the wet conditions," said de Marco. "I've worked very hard to get this place, especially after Valencia, so I'm really happy to have come away with such a strong result.
"The weather has been very strange. I hope to have a good race tomorrow, and then another good qualifying and race on Sunday, but I'm not sure whether I should be hoping for rain or not!"
Mirko Bortolotti secured the other slot on the front row, ahead of Finn Henri Karjalainen.
Free practice pacesetter Mikhail Aleshin completes the second row and will start directly behind his fellow Red Bull-backed driver. Philipp Eng and Edoardo Piscopo rounded out the top six, ahead of Valencia front runners Carlos Iaconelli and Tobias Hegewald.
Expected front runner Andy Soucek and championship leader Robert Wickens were over a second off the pace in ninth and 10th places.
TIMES:Pos Driver Time Gap
1. Nicola de Marco 2m03.484s
2. Mirko Bortolotti 2m03.651s +0.167
3. Henri Karjalainen 2m03.667s +0.183
4. Mikhail Aleshin 2m03.855s +0.371
5. Philipp Eng 2m03.892s +0.408
6. Edoardo Piscopo 2m04.251s +0.767
7. Carlos Iaconelli 2m04.367s +0.883
8. Tobias Hegewald 2m04.389s +0.905
9. Andy Soucek 2m04.720s +1.236
10. Robert Wickens 2m05.109s +1.625
11. Julien Jousse 2m05.264s +1.780
12. Milos Pavlovic 2m05.431s +1.947
13. Tom Gladdis 2m05.468s +1.984
14. Kazim Vasiliauskas 2m05.722s +2.238
15. Henry Surtees 2m05.835s +2.351
16. Jolyon Palmer 2m06.048s +2.564
17. Jack Clarke 2m06.110s +2.626
18. Sebastian Hohenthal 2m06.597s +3.113
19. Armaan Ebrahim 2m08.272s +4.788
20. German Sanchez 2m08.495s +5.011
21. Pietro Gandolfi 2m09.253s +5.769
22. Jason Moore 2m09.709s +6.225
23. Alex Brundle 2m09.763s +6.279
24. Jens Hoing 2m13.190s +9.706
25. Natacha Gachnang 2m13.784s +10.300