Spa GP2: Rio Haryanto claims maiden pole in wet

Spa-Belgium (Djakarta News-autosport)-Rio Haryanto took his maiden GP2 Series pole position for Saturday's feature race at Spa-Francorchamps.

The Indonesian set the fastest time near the end of a treacherously-wet qualifying session on Friday.

The session was delayed by 15 minutes due to torrential rain, Although it did not dry out properly it became significantly less wet and the times tumbled throughout. Pole position changed hands eight times in 30 minutes.

Carlin driver Haryanto was in the mix for pole for the duration, locked in a fascinating battle with Lotus duo James Calado and Esteban Gutierrez, and iSport's Marcus Ericsson around one of the world's most spectacular - and most testing - circuits.

Haryanto's penultimate effort of 2m17.535s was enough for the top spot by just over a tenth of a second from a valiant Calado, who never gave up his chase.

Gutierrez was another tenth back in third, with fourth-placed Ericsson over half a second slower than the pole time - even though he was on top with just five minutes to go.

Jolyon Palmer's last-lap flyer meant there were two iSport cars in the top five, ahead of title contender Davide Valsecchi (DAMS) in sixth.

Championship leader Luiz Razia, who leads Valsecchi by seven points, suffered a disastrous session, and will start 18th in his Arden entry. He was actually 19th fastest, but Fabio Onidi has a 10-place grid penalty ahead of him.

Sergio Canamasas was a highly impressive seventh for the unfancied Lazarus team, ahead of practice pacesetter Fabio Leimer, Felipe Nasr and Giedo van der Garde.

Haryanto's four points for pole elevate him to 13th in the drivers' championship.

Pos  Driver               Team                Time       Gap
 1.  Rio Haryanto         Carlin              2m17.535s
 2.  James Calado         Lotus               2m17.643s  + 0.108s3.  Esteban Gutierrez    Lotus               2m17.736s  + 0.201s
 5.  Jolyon Palmer        iSport              2m18.368s  + 0.833s4.  Marcus Ericsson      iSport              2m18.058s  + 0.523s
 6.  Davide Valsecchi     DAMS                2m18.397s  + 0.862s
 9.  Felipe Nasr          DAMS                2m18.801s  + 1.266s7.  Sergio Canamasas     Lazarus             2m18.582s  + 1.047s
 8.  Fabio Leimer         Racing Engineering  2m18.603s  + 1.068s
10.  Giedo van der Garde  Caterham            2m18.930s  + 1.395s
14.  Fabio Onidi          Coloni              2m20.100s  + 2.565s11.  Stefano Coletti      Coloni              2m19.328s  + 1.793s
12.  Nathanael Berthon    Racing Engineering  2m19.721s  + 2.186s
13.  Max Chilton          Carlin              2m19.803s  + 2.268s
15.  Josef Kral           Addax               2m20.224s  + 2.689s
20.  Rodolfo Gonzalez     Caterham            2m20.752s  + 3.217s16.  Victor Guerin        Ocean               2m20.289s  + 2.754s
17.  Julian Leal          Trident             2m20.455s  + 2.920s
18.  Ricardo Teixeira     Rapax               2m20.484s  + 2.949s
19.  Luiz Razia           Arden               2m20.712s  + 3.177s
21.  Nigel Melker         Ocean               2m20.888s  + 3.353s
22.  Daniel de Jong       Rapax               2m20.921s  + 3.386s
23.  Stephane Richelmi    Trident             2m21.070s  + 3.535s
24.  Simon Trummer        Arden               2m21.790s  + 4.255s
25.  Johnny Cecotto       Addax               2m21.942s  + 4.407s
26.  Rene Binder          Lazarus             2m22.795s  + 5.260s