DARUVALA TAKES NEW ZEALAND GRAND PRIX POLE, ARMSTRONG FOURTH

India’s Jehan Daruvala will start the 62nd New Zealand Grand Prix from pole position, cementing another M2 Competition front row lockout after their qualifying one performance.

Qualifying for the New Zealand Grand Prix began with much of the field lying idle in the pit lane. Just a handful exited as the session went green, with Brendon Leitch and Pedro Piquet two of the men choosing to head out.

Once again, the time set early in the session weren’t of the pace set in the first qualifying session. It seemed many were looking to fine tune their setup as they hovered around the 1:03 and 1:04-mark.

Thomas Randle made the first steps towards Friday’s pace, when he dropped into a 1:02.828. He was quickly usurped by Pedro Piquet, then Richard Verschoor who went second quickest behind the Brazilian.

The surprise early on came from Harry Hayek who went fastest on a 1:02.672. Unfortunately for him though, his time on top was short lived as Piquet and teammate Daruvala went quickest.

Richard Verschoor then went about eclipsing the fastest times set in the first qualifying to hit the top of the timesheets. As was the case for much of the season, the times fluctuated at the top of the order as Randle then Daruvala went quickest.

Christian Hahn was lucky to get away without a big lose when he went wide at turn three. Marcus Armstrong nearly went off in similar fashion as he got loose exiting the same corner.

Pedro Piquet slotted into the top spot with a storming lap of 1:02.229, but his teammate Daruvala went just four hundredths quicker to demote him to second.

Just like qualifying one, the front runners began to hit their tyre limit and couldn’t quite manage to improve their pace. Despite a few last lap dashes by Verschoor and Armstrong, the pair couldn’t beat the pace of Daruvala who took pole position for the New Zealand Grand Prix.

Castrol Toyota Racing Series qualifying two:

Published on Velocity News