Qualifying report
Formula V8 3.5
Amazing pole position for Muller and Draco back on top in Monaco
The only race of the Monegasque weekend will take place tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock, on a 44 minutes + 1 lap distance.
Edited: May 25, 2013, 9:38 PM
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In Monte Carlo, on the most amazing street circuit in the world, Draco Racing and Nico Muller boasted a stunning performance taking pole position in the F.Renault 3.5 Qualifying session.
The team owned by Guto Negrao hadn’t clinched a pole start since 2009, when future FR3.5 champion Bertrand Baguette had topped the sheets in Spa. In Monaco, Draco had already been on pole in 2006 with Pastor Maldonado, now a Williams F1 driver.
Nico Müller
Photo by: Renault Sport
Today’s session saw the 26 drivers split in two groups in order to avoid traffic issues.
Muller was in the second pack to take the track, Group B, and after taking a couple of laps to warm his tyres he immediately started pushing hard, improving his sector times and ending the session with a 1’23”453 that nobody could match. Muller is at his second season in F.Renault 3.5 and with Draco, and this was his first pole position in the championship.
Unluckily, André Negrao’s quali wasn’t so fruitful: the Brazilian was hampered by traffic, and that prevented him from fighting at the top even if he had the potential to. André closed the session with the 7th quickest time in Group A, meaning that he will start from Row 7.
The only race of the Monegasque weekend will take place tomorrow morning at 11 o’clock, on a 44 minutes + 1 lap distance.
Nico Muller: P1 Group B – P1 Overall - “It’s a great feeling to be on pole here in Monaco, not just because it’s so important for the outcome of the race, but also because of what this track represents in motorsport history. There’s not much to say after such a good session, we did an amazing job with the technical staff and the car was just perfect. That allowed me to push to the limit, and maybe even a bit beyond as I clipped the barriers lightly in a couple of spots. We are very proud of what we achieved today, but tomorrow we’ll have to work hard to finish the job!”.
André Negrao: P7 Group A – P14 Overall - “I’m really disappointed, because Nico’s performance shows that I could have aimed for a much better starting position. My pace was good, but in Monaco’s qualifying it’s the last few laps that make a difference and I didn’t manage to make the most of them. I slowed down to leave room between me and Foresti who was ahead, but the gap wasn’t big enough and so, when he spun, I had to slow down wasting a good lap. It’s a pity, but you never know what the race could bring us tomorrow”.
Draco Racing
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