Scuderia Coloni - Alvaro Parente (5th) Brendon Hartley (22)

It was a good Qualifying for Scuderia Coloni in Monza: Alvaro Parente will start tomorrow's Feature Race from fifth place thanks to a 1'30"474, just 2 tenths adrift from poleman Bianchi.

The Portuguese driver had a really good session, being always among the top six despite being quite unlucky, as a red flag came out while he was improving his laptime.

The session was stopped due to Maldonado and Razia going out simultaneously in two different spots of the track, and when it restarted there were just five minutes to go. With the whole field on track seeking for improvement, traffic was an issue but Parente managed to find a clear lap anyway, shaving two tenths off his laptime.

It was a good session also for Brendon Hartley: the Kiwi driver, who did his first kilometres on a GP2 car just this morning, boasted a two seconds improvement on his Free Practice laptimes and stopped the clock on 1'31"601, meaning P22 on the grid.

It's a good result because Hartley was just 1" adrift from his team mate after only two 30' sessions, and on one of the series most demanding tracks.

Furthermore, Brendon was half a second faster than the other rookie of the event, Piscopo, who already had some testing with the GP2 car in the winter.

Paolo Coloni: "We did a really good job improving our setup for tomorrow's race. I'm very happy for our driver performances: Alvaro was very quick as he always is, and his laptime could have been even better without that red flag. Besides this, I was very impressed by Brendon. Being just 1" second off the top guys after only two sessions is a great achievement".

Alvaro Parente: "It was a positive qualifying because the changes that we made to the car between one tyre set and the other allowed us to improve, and this means that we are on the right path. Maybe we can do a little better in Sector 2, but I'm very confident for the race. If there will be no surprises at the first chicane then we have lots of chances of getting a very good result".

Brendon Hartley: "In a normal weekend I wouldn't be satisified with P22, but considering that until this morning I never even saw the car, I think that there are many reasons to be positive. My split times are already good, now I just need some more time in the car to put them together lap after lap. Tomorrow my first aim will be finishing the race in order to drive as much as possible. I'm confident that doing that my pace will get better and better".

Racing Engineering - Dani Clos (9th) Christian Vietoris (10th)

Racing Engineering had a positive day at Monza today, although the results in qualifying were not reflecting the performance of Racing Engineering's cars and drivers adequately. Nonetheless, the first good news came from Dani Clos who, having made an incredible and courageous recovery from his accident in Spa, was fit to behind the wheel for this weekends event. At the mythical high-speed circuit of Monza, Dani Clos set the ninth fastest time in qualifying which, together with Christian Vietoris' tenth position, means that Racing Engineering's drivers are starting Saturday's feature race from the fifth row of the grid.

It was sunny and warm at Monza today, when the GP2 engines were turned on for free practice shortly before midday. Dani Clos, who spent some ten days of intense and purposeful training to recover from his back injuries, was back to drive his Racing Engineering car and left no doubt about his condition. He quickly moved up the time sheets, occupied the top spot for some time, and finished free practice in an excellent fifth place. Christian Vietoris, on the other hand, was having a satisfying free practice as well. Trying different set ups on his car and setting very promising sector times, the German GP2 rookie finished the session in eleventh.

With the track getting quicker and the time gaps very close in free practice, the afternoon qualifying promised to become a thrilling session. After just two flying laps, Christian was already in sixth position. With the standings changing and lap times improving constantly, Dani set the seventh fastest time the following lap. After just five flying laps, the Racing Engineering boys returned to the pits to pick up their new set of tyres halfway though the session. With the entire field in the pits at this moment, the final laps were set to be some of the decisive of the entire session. With less than half the session left, all drivers went back on track. Those already having finished a flying lap were the lucky ones when Maldonado spun off at the first chicane. The Racing Engineering duo was not part of them. After an initial yellow flag, the session was red flagged and all cars had to return to the pitlane. With 5 minutes and 29 seconds left, the session was restarted as soon as the Venezuelan's car was removed. Keeping in mind the necessary out lap, there was a maximum of two flying laps possible. Both Racing Engineering drivers were on a fast lap, set to improve their lap times, when Turvey stopped causing a yellow flag. Respecting the rule change applied recently, Dani and Christian immediately slowed down as they still were to pass the incident zone, unable to improve, they ran out of time to start yet another flying lap. Dani and Christian, only separated by 5 thousands of a second and four tenths behind pole sitter Bianchi, finished today's qualifying in ninth and tenth position, respectively.