11 Dec 2010 AFR Qualifying: Samin grabbed pole again

The AFR qualifying started at 12:30 pm and it could be considered one of the most competitive Q session for a long time. Four drivers took turns to fight for the pole during the half hour session.

Chi Cong Li and Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar, both from ART performed well taking turns to lead the time sheet in the first half of the session but eventually, Samin Briceno from Top Speed Racing Team, continuing her impressive performance from last race, grabbed the pole-position again. In the later stages, Sandy Nicholas Stuvik, who already won the driver champion of the series, fought hard with Samin and scored his best time in lap 10 with a time of 1:36.753. But Samin took back the pole with  a time of 0.056 second difference in the same lap. Unfortunately, Sandy’s two fastest lap times were cancelled due to “driving out of bound” moving him down to 4th place to start Race 1. Suriya Bala Kerisnan Thevar will start from the 2nd place, Chi Cong Li 3rd. Kei Yamaura of Champ Motorsports, who has been performing with impressive time in the practice sessions during the week but could only master a time good enough for 5th plan on the grid. Alexandra Asmasoebrata pulled in her fastest lap on lap 10 and will start 6th.

In summary, only 0.7 second covers the top six drivers and an exciting start could be expected for the 4.30pm race 1.