Paul Ricard Auto GP: Kevin Giovesi claims pole again

The Italian topped both the 20-minute Q1 and 10-minute Q2 sessions.

Driving for series newcomer Eurotech Engineering, the Parabiago racer moved to the head of the timesheets with just two minutes of Q2 remaining, having already topped Q1.

Giovesi's effort of 1m16.426s edged out last weekend's Marrakech race one winner Kimiya Sato by 0.027 seconds.

Giovesi will be aiming for contrasting fortunes at Le Castellet this weekend, having retired in both races in Morocco.

Campos GP2 driver Sato had only enjoyed a fleeting moment holding provisional pole. The Kobe racer had demoted early pacesetter Markus Pommer only moments before losing out to Giovesi.

Pommer had been second to Giovesi in Q1, and was the first driver in the weekend to dip below the 1m17s mark when he produced a superb lap of 1m16.640s mid-way through Q2.

But the German could only improve by a few hundredths, and will head the second row for race one on Saturday afternoon.

Friday second free practice pacesetter Tamas Pal Kiss will start alongside the Super Nova driver.

Giovesi's rookie Eurotech team-mate Loris Spinelli took fifth, the Formula Abarth graduate showing a promising step forward over his Marrakech form.

Sam Dejonghe finished 0.004s behind Spinelli, but claimed the in-house Virtuosi UK honours ahead of Andrea Roda.

Pos  Driver             Team             Time       Gap
 1.  Kevin Giovesi      Eurotech         1m16.426s
 2.  Kimiya Sato        Euronova         1m16.453s  +0.027s
 3.  Markus Pommer      Super Nova       1m16.592s  +0.166s
 4.  Tamas Pal Kiss     Zele             1m16.693s  +0.267s
 5.  Loris Spinelli     Eurotech         1m16.809s  +0.383s
 6.  Sam Dejonghe       Virtuosi         1m16.813s  +0.387s
 7.  Andrea Roda        Virtuosi         1m17.068s  +0.642s
 8.  Michela Cerruti    Super Nova       1m17.259s  +0.833s
 9.  Giuseppe Cipriani  Ibiza            1m18.101s  +1.675s
10.  Michele La Rosa    MLR 71/Euronova
11.  Yoshitaka Kuroda   Zele             1m19.422s  Q1
12.  Niccolo Schiro     Ibiza            1m21.869s  Q1