Friday, 10th July 2015 - Antonio Giovinazzi has claimed his first pole position of the 2015 FIA Formula Three European Series in spectacular fashion and topped it off by claiming an impressive further one later in the afternoon. The Jagonya Ayam with Carlin man had looked strong all day and proved his speed with his qualifying result – missing out on a clean sweep by just 0.009 seconds. Team mates Ryan Tveter and Gustavo Menezes qualified 13th and 16th respectively around the beach side circuit.
It was a sunny day for the Jagonya Ayam with Carlin drivers as they made their way out on track for a busy day of action. First up it was the usual back to back free practice sessions giving the three drivers and their engineers the opportunity to assess the cars and the track before making changes as they headed in to qualifying.
Giovinazzi in particular seemed to have his Volkswagen Dallara tuned perfectly to him and in the first qualifying session claimed his first pole position of the 2015 FIA Formula Three European season in style. Team mates Tveter and Menezes were 17th and 21st respectively.
Just a few short hours later the drivers were once again out on track as they looked to battle for their starting positions in the second and third races of the weekend and as the session opened it was clear that Giovinazzi’s confidence was at a high following his earlier success. Moving to the sharp end of the grid early on, Giovinazzi was in a battle for position with Felix Rosenqvist.
The pair spent the closing stages of qualifying fighting it out amongst one another. As it was each driver walked away with a prize with Giovinazzi claiming pole position in race three and a second position start for race two – the Italian racer narrowly missed out on a clean sweep of poles by an incredibly tight margin of 0.009 seconds. His result however ensures that he will start each race this weekend from the front row of the grid. Team mates Tveter and Menezes qualified in 13th and 16th respectively and are already looking to fight through the grid during the three races of the weekend.
Meanwhile in the three sister Carlin cars George Russell qualified in a solid ninth and eighth as he fought well through the session with Callum Ilott taking a 13th and 12th position in qualifying. Tatiana Calderon improved well throughout the day from 27th in the first qualifying session to 19th in the final; all six pilots of the Carlin machinery looking strong for a good weekend.
Speaking of his day Giovinazzi said, ‘It was a very positive qualifying for us and I’m very happy with the results we have come away with today. We will start from the front row of the grid for all races where we know that we can race well and win. We keep the focus now and look ahead to some strong races this weekend.’
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+44 (0)7855 780 589 or Stephanie.tindall@carlin.co.uk 
