DAMS racer Jérôme d'Ambrosio claimed his maiden GP2 pole position today.

Slowly, but surely, Jérôme d'Ambrosio is imposing his pace and skills on the GP2 Asia Series' field. In a tight fight for pole position that saw twenty-two drivers finishing within a second of each other, the Belgian came out victorious and claimed his first GP2 pole position, adding two points to his total and thereby entering the Top Five of the drivers' standings.

Ten minutes before the start of this afternoon's qualifying session, raindrops began falling on the Sepang International Circuit. As the lights went green, only half the field chose to test the grip of the track with wet tyres. While Championship leader Kamui Kobayashi stayed put in the pitlane, his teammate d'Ambrosio went out for a reconnaissance lap on slick tyres. Those who chose the wet tyres however, soon returned to the pits in order to change.

The first man to post a significant lap time was Diego Nunes (Piquet GP) with a 1:46.940, ten minutes into the session. A battle for the pole position then ensued between the two DAMS men, the two Piquet racers, Durango's Davide Valsecchi and a flying James Jakes at the wheel of his Super Nova car.

But it was Jérôme d'Ambrosio who set up camp at the top of the timing sheet only to be demoted a few minutes later by Nunes. In the very last stages of the session however, Jérôme went out on a flyer and crossed the finish line in a 1:45.410. The winner of last year's Malaysian sprint race, Kamui Kobayashi set his best lap time at his very last attempt, but will start fourth tomorrow.

Behind the Belgian, the battle for second place was full on between Nunes and Jakes, but the Brazilian eventually landed the other front row position while the British driver finished with a satisfying third. In fifth place, Javier Villa in the second Super Nova car maintains the good form displayed in the recent Barcelona test.

Impressive in Losail, today was another story for the Barwa squad: sixth in the session, Vitaly Petrov salvaged a disappointing qualifying result from teammate Sergio Perez, eighteenth. Behind the Russian, Davide Valsecchi (Durango) keeps his title hopes alive with a seventh position, ahead of ART's Pastor Maldonado, Roldan Rodriguez in the second Piquet car and Alvaro Parente (Qi-Meritus).