Home Formula 2 Lynn edges Vandoorne to claim maiden pole in Hungary

Lynn edges Vandoorne to claim maiden pole in Hungary

by Valentin Khorounzhiy
 Photo:  Sam Bloxham / GP2 Media Service

Photo: Sam Bloxham / GP2 Media Service

Reigning GP3 champion Alex Lynn claimed his first pole position in GP2, beating Stoffel Vandoorne by 0.019s in qualifying at the Hungaroring.

Having led the practice session by four tenths, championship leader Vandoorne was the odds-on favourite heading into qualifying and duly topped the timing screens with his first benchmark.

With the opening set of flying laps out of the way, the Belgian was three and a half tenths ahead of Ferrari protege Raffaele Marciello.

The Italian moved to within just 0.014s with his second attempt, but Vandoorne responded and held an advantage of two tenths at the midway point.

The two DAMS drivers were the first to emerge out of the pits in the second half of the session and, in clean air, Lynn moved up to first.

That would prove crucial as neither Vandoorne, nor Marciello could match his lap in the busier final stretch of the session.

The latter was close with a session-best sector two on his final effort, but couldn’t improve and ended up slipping to fourth, behind Arthur Pic.

Lynn’s teammate Pierre Gasly was fifth ahead of Jordan King, whose title contender teammate Alexander Rossi could only place 11th.

Another of Vandoorne’s rivals Rio Haryanto was seventh, ahead of Mitch Evans, Sergey Sirotkin and Nick Yelloly.

Of the new additions to the grid, Nicholas Latifi qualified an impressive 12th, while fellow FR3.5 regular Sean Gelael was penultimate.

Qualifying results
Pos. Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Alex Lynn DAMS 1:28.022 11
2 Stoffel Vandoorne ART Grand Prix 1:28.041 0.019 12
3 Arthur Pic Campos Racing 1:28.154 0.132 13
4 Raffaele Marciello Trident 1:28.272 0.250 13
5 Pierre Gasly DAMS 1:28.361 0.339 12
6 Jordan King Racing Engineering 1:28.471 0.449 12
7 Rio Haryanto Campos Racing 1:28.538 0.516 11
8 Mitch Evans Russian Time 1:28.608 0.586 11
9 Sergey Sirotkin Rapax 1:28.685 0.663 11
10 Nick Yelloly Hilmer Motorsport 1:28.782 0.760 11
11 Alexander Rossi Racing Engineering 1:28.807 0.785 11
12 Nicholas Latifi MP Motorsport 1:28.940 0.918 13
13 Andre Negrao Arden International 1:28.957 0.935 11
14 Richie Stanaway Status Grand Prix 1:29.038 1.016 11
15 Robert Visoiu Rapax 1:29.079 1.057 11
16 Daniel de Jong MP Motorsport 1:29.128 1.106 10
17 Artem Markelov Russian Time 1:29.198 1.176 11
18 Nathanael Berthon Daiko Team Lazarus 1:29.234 1.212 12
19 Sergio Canamasas Hilmer Motorsport 1:29.315 1.293 11
20 Julian Leal Carlin 1:29.351 1.329 11
21 Nobuharu Matsushita ART Grand Prix 1:29.635 1.613 12
22 Norman Nato Arden International 1:29.641 1.619 11
23 Marlon Stockinger Status Grand Prix 1:29.665 1.643 11
24 Sean Gelael Carlin 1:29.803 1.781 13
25 Rene Binder Trident 1:29.811 1.789 13