Ocean Racing Technology - Alvaro Parente (Pole) Karun Chandhok (6th)

Ocean Racing Technology secured pole position for the first race of the Belgian round of the GP2 Main Series on the circuit of Spa-Francorchamps today courtesy of Alvaro Parente. The Portuguese driver, who had been fast in the morning practice session that took place on a wet track, knew how to take advantage of every bit of potential from his single-seater and translated it into pole position on the now dry circuit in the Ardennes.

Karun Chandhok fought for some time to secure first place on the starting grid for himself and actually held provisional pole position for a little while. However, he was hindered by Lucas di Grassi on his last flying lap, and as such finished the qualifying session in sixth place.

This afternoon's pole position secured by Alvaro Parente on the mythical Belgian circuit is the first for Ocean Racing Technology in their debut season in the GP2 Main Series. The achievement by the Portuguese racer underlines the extent of progress made by the team directed by Tiago Monteiro and Jose Guedes.

Alvaro Parente is the only driver to have lapped below 1:55 and now approaches the first race with confidence and determination. "This result is excellent and opens up some prospects for Saturday's race. I started the session with two good laps but a mistake at the chicane prevented me from fighting for pole. Then I had a clean lap and the lap time came naturally. The car is really fast and even though we are in the same rhythm as most, I think we should be able to fight for the win," Alvaro Parente explained. "My aim is to have a good start and then have very good race pace during the entire race. I am optimistic and very happy with this result."

Lucas di Grassi was penalized three places on the grid for obstructing Karun Chandhok on his fast lap and despite this missed opportunity, the Indian driver remains positive. "Qualifying was interesting. The car has great handling and balance and is very fast. It is a pity to have been hampered by another driver and to be forced to start in 6th but I think we have what it takes for a solid race. Spa is a track where overtaking is possible without taking silly risks and I am confident of bringing the car home with a good result."

Fat Burner Racing Engineering - Lucas Di Grassi (2nd) Dani Clos (11th)

Lucas Di Grassi's and Dani Clos' second and eleventh qualifying positions respectively for Saturday's GP2 feature race at the Spa-Francorchamps Circuit gave a big boost to the entire Fat Burner Racing Engineering Team this afternoon, following last weekend's disappointment in Valencia.

Like usual in Spa, the weather had a shower in store before this morning's free practice session, which forced both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers to work on their respective programs with wet tyres. For Lucas, it was a question of adapting and finding the best set up for his car, while for Dani, the morning was a time to get familiar to his GP2 car on this track. At the end of the 30 minutes free practice session, the Spaniard had set the 12th best time and Lucas was 15th.

With their minds set on improving their free practice results and their overall performance, Lucas was the first man on track to clock a reference time of 1:59.728, which quickly was improved by other drivers as the track become faster. Dani was proving to be, once again, a determined young driver, set out to battle for a good place on the grid. But seven minutes after the start, qualifying was red flagged, with the Brazilian in second place and Dani fifth.

After seven minutes of waiting in the pit lane for the track to be cleared, both Fat Burner Racing Engineering drivers went back into action, but Dani had an unexpected surprise when his best time was disallowed for having missed the apex at turn 19. That did not bother the Spanish driver, who fought until the very end trying to improve on his best lap. And so he did, although he was hampered in setting an even faster lap time. The clock stopped at 1:55.600 for Dani's fastest lap, which puts him in 11th position on the grid.

Lucas, on the other hand, was on a mission to get on pole position. And he managed to put himself at the top of the timing sheets after completing his best lap with a 1:55.050. With seconds until the end of the session, however, Parente took Lucas' pole position by setting a lap 0.080 of a second faster than the Brazilian, pushing the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver to second place on the grid for Saturday's feature race.

Once the session was finished, Lucas was called by the stewards. They decided that the Fat Burner Racing Engineering driver is to face a three position grid penalty for race 1 due to impeding another driver during the qualifying session. Lucas will therefore start the race from 5th position.

Lucas Di Grassi: I think we did a good job today. We led qualifying most of the time, but I had a problem with the exhaust towards the end of the session, which kept me from being able to improve my lap time further. I dropped to second, but we are very, very close. For tomorrow we will improve the car even more and will go for the win. It's a special track and I am looking forward to tomorrow's race.

Dani Clos: It looked quite good. After free practice in the wet, we had a dry qualifying session. During the first stint I tried to get comfortable with the car. I was able to improve my time with the second set of tyres, but on my fastest lap I had a problem in turn 10, when I stayed on the limiter for too long. I lost some tenths there. And towards the end, with my next set of tyres, I was improving my time in sector one and two, but a Durango car, which was shown the blue flag several times already, was in my way. So this lap was spoilt as well.