GP2: Home Pole For Perez

Formula 1

GP2: Home Pole For Perez

Sergio Perez will start first in the GP2 Series feature race in Valencia...

SPEED Staff | Posted June 25, 2010 Valencia (ESP)

Sergio Perez is moving up from the GP2 Series to Formula One next season. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

Sergio Perez delighted his Addax team members with a last-minute pole run at their local track on Friday in Valencia, claiming the top starting spot to break the hearts of Pastor Maldonado and Jules Bianchi.

The Mexican turned a lap time of 1:45:337 as the checkered flag dropped to claim the pole by just one tenth of a second over Maldonado, who thought he’d done enough earlier to put himself at the front of Saturday's grid.

Maldonado was the first man on track in qualifying, and led from the opening minutes. The Addax pairing of Giedo van der Garde and Perez briefly moved ahead ahead about seven minutes in, but the Venezuelan soon reclaimed the top spot and looked unruffled as he put himself a second clear of the rest of the field.

A fresh set of tires for everyone seemed not to make a difference until the closing minutes of the session, when it appeared that the drivers had found a power button and they all started to eat into Maldonado’s time. Perez left his pole run until it the very last minute, and Maldonado was simply out of time to react.

Along with Bianchi’s last-minute dash to P3, most of the grid improved in the closing moments of the session, with Davide Valsecchi, van der Garde, Michael Herck, Charles Pic, Christian Vietoris, Giacomo Ricci and Sam Bird lining up behind the lead trio, all within a second of the pole.

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