Bahrain – Qualifications: The Five-Peat for Vandoorne
Shy throughout the winter, Stoffel Vandoorne and ART Grand Prix bared their teeth at the right moment during qualifying for the first race of the season by achieving a magnificent pole position, the fifth in a row.
The celebration is complete for the tricolor team as they will occupy the front row this afternoon, with Honda’s protégé, Nobuharu Matsushita, recording the second fastest time behind Vandoorne.
Reacting to his performance, the first poleman of the season did not hide his satisfaction: « I am really very happy. Everyone knows what to expect with the tires. The race will be interesting. I think the degradation will be quite significant for everyone.»
The reigning GP3 Champion, Alex Lynn, delivers a strong performance in his first GP2 qualifying session with the third fastest time. He leads ahead of Frenchman Arthur Pic and Italian Rafaele Marciello.
Fastest in free practice, Jordan King will start from sixth place on the grid, just ahead of French driver Norman Nato. Alexander Rossi is eighth, ahead of Pierre Gasly, Red Bull Team’s protégé, and Sergey Sirotkin from the Rapax team.
The start of the first race will be at 7:10 PM, French time.
