GP2: D’Ambrosio inheirts pole from Herck

Michael Heck thought for awhile he had GP2 pole but then was demoted

Aug.27 (GP2 Series) Michael Herck nearly claimed his first pole position in the GP2 series in a rain lashed qualifying session this afternoon at Spa Francorchamps, taking the top spot late in a session which saw red flags stop proceedings four times as he held off local driver Jerome d’Ambrosio and series leader Pastor Maldonado.

But after the session race stewards have announced a number of grid penalties for infringements during this afternoon’s dramatic qualifying session, with the most notable meaning the loss of his first ever GP2 Series pole position for Michael Herck.

Herck, along with Christian Vietoris, Dani Clos, Alvaro Parente, Max Chilton, Johnny Cecotto and Luca Filippi, will lose 3 grid positions for tomorrow’s feature race after failing to sufficiently slow for yellow flags during qualifying. Marcus Ericsson will also pick up the same penalty, although his infringement occurred during this morning’s free practice session.

The Romanian driver will now take the grid in fourth position. Jerome d’Ambrosio has been subsequently promoted to pole position: the Belgian driver picks up the two points for the top spot at his home circuit, and will line up ahead of Pastor Maldonado and Oliver Turvey.

The rain started falling as soon as the drivers made their way into the pitlane, with Maldonado risking a lap on slicks as the rest of the field chose more sensible tyres: the gamble was to no avail as the session was immediately red flagged for almost 30 minutes on account of the excessive rainfall.

The eventual first flying lap saw Luiz Razia on the top spot, but a spin into the wall next time round as first Romain Grosjean and then Sergio Perez pipped his time put paid to the Brazilian’s plans and prompted the second red flag period, with teammate Maldonado slicing his way to the top of the timesheets just before the session was stopped.

Grosjean wasn’t waiting for anyone when the field was released again: three fastest sectors gave the Frenchman the top spot, just ahead of teammate d’Ambrosio, but when Giedo van der Garde and Vladimir Arabadzhiev found the wall it was time for the red flag to resurface.

Herck was the first man back on track and the clear track made the difference: he went P1 as Adrian Zaugg prompted the final red flag period: d’Ambrosio was the only man to find a notable improvement on the last lap dash, but fell two tenths short of the target, with Oliver Turvey finishing fourth (and stopping on track after the chequered flag), just ahead of Christian Vietoris, Grosjean, Charles Pic and Sergio Perez. With tomorrow’s weather as uncertain as the forecasts for today, the feature race promises to be one of the most exciting of the season.