Scuderia Coloni Monza qualifying report

Monza: Another Front Row Start For Filippi E Scuderia Coloni

Luca Filippi

Photo by: GP2 Media Service

Luca Filippi and Scuderia Coloni managed to keep momentum in Monza: in their home race the all-italian pairing clinched their fourth consecutive front-row start after a strange qualifying, where the majority of the drivers posted their quickest lap with their first set of tyres. That happened because the raising temperature made the track slower minute after minute, and after a long yellow-flag period due to an off by Gutierrez that forced everybody in the garages at mid session, nobody could improve his performance.

So the right window lasted just a few laps and Filippi, who had already been quickest in the morning practice, made the most of them taking the lead immediately and then improving to 1'32”460, a laptime that was worth second place behind poleman Pic, just one tenth adrift.

Luca had the potential for pole, considering that his ideal lap would have been a stunning 1'31”8, but in his last flyer he did a mistake in Parabolica that costed him sixth tenths. Anyway first row is a great stepping stone for tomorrow's race, backing the team's great expectations”.

Michael Herck, meanwhile, will start from 7th row, after posting the 13th quickest time of the session with a 1'32”865, just two tenths fat from second row. The Romanian driver suffered a bit of understeer that the team will try to solve for tomorrow's race. Anyway Monza's braking zones will provide many overtaking chances, together with the pit-stop strategy

Luca Filippi: “On one side being on front row again means that our level of performance is just as high as in the latest outings, which is good. On the other side, losing pole again just for one tenth is frustrating. I wanted it and we had the potential to clinch it, so I'm sorry because it would have been the right way to say thanks to the Coloni guys for their amazing job. First row is good anyway, and knowing that two of my rivals for the overall podium are starting far behind (Bianchi and Van der Garde) is not bad. Now we must make the most of our huge potential again”.

Michael Herck: “Compared to this morning I improved a lot in the hard braking zones and at Ascari, but there is still some room for improvement in the second one of the Lesmos. Furthermore, I have too much understeer and that costed me some time in every corner. It's not much, but at the end of the lap it makes that two tenths gap from second row. Anyway, tomorrow I will be in full attack mode”.