Calado claims maiden pole with superfast lap in Barcelona

Lotus GP’s James Calado did not waste any time putting down a flying lap in the GP2 Series qualifying session on Circuit de Catalunya; the Briton flew out of the gate to secure his first career pole by more than two tenths of a second. On a very hot day in Barcelona, Spain, Calado’s time of 1:30.655 withstood all challenges. Racing Engineering’s Fabio Leimer was second fastest followed by the surprise hot lap set by Stephane Richelmi in his Trident Racing car.

“It's a fantastic feeling to be in first place for the first time! It was a tough qualifying session for everyone: none of us had used the soft tyre previously, so we didn't know what to expect or what the car would be like, how to change our driving style, and we assumed it would be just the one lap, which proved to be the case,” Calado said.

Starting on the front row, Leimer tried to close the gap late in the session but had to settle for a best lap time of 1:30.865. Richelmi’s best was a 1:30.902 followed closely by Carlin’s Max Chilton at 1:30.962.

Points leader Davide Valsecchi toured the Spanish circuit for 12 laps, but was only able clock a 1:31.212 in his DAMS car, placing him seventh on the Feature race grid.