GP2
Haryanto sails to pole in Spa…
Indonesian on top in wet qualifying-
Rio Haryanto has grabbed his maiden GP2 pole position in treacherous conditions to top a very wet qualifying session this afternoon in Spa Francorchamps, setting the pace throughout to lead home Lotus teammates James Calado and Esteban Gutiérrez.
The Indonesian’s best time of 2:17.535 put him on pole by over a tenth in a session where he seemed to be able to improve at will, while his rivals slithered and slid all around the fabled circuit.
Once again the weather caused delays to the start of the session, but Haryanto was the first man on track and was soon setting the pace for his rivals, with Giedo van der Garde and Calado his main competitors on the timesheets. But whenever the others got close, the Indonesian seemed to find something else to improve his times as the session wound on.
Marcus Ericsson was Haryanto’s closest rival as the field came back to the pits halfway through the session, and when they re-emerged first Calado and then the Swede pushed hard to put themselves on the top spot, but the Indonesian eased his way to pole with four minutes remaining before watching as the Lotus duo tried and failed to match his time.
Behind the top three were iSport teammates Ericsson and Jolyon Palmer, ahead of Davide Valsecchi, Sergio Canamasas, this morning’s fastest man Fabio Leimer, Felipe Nasr and Giedo van der Garde. With changeable conditions likely, tomorrow’s feature race promises to live up to the circuit’s usual reputation for fireworks.