"Monaco, baby!" After half the season, everyone now rocks up to the crown jewel race of the year. Qualifying for the Monaco Million took place today, and it saw a fantastic fight for pole, between two perhaps unlikely contenders. Q1As per the triple crown rules, every driver would start the race, though it didn't mean the session was meaningless. The standouts were OSM Racing, with both drivers topping the timing sheets with 1:30.2 laptimes. The only driver who got close to them was Agostino, riding on a high off Netherlands with another Q2 appearance. Behind those 3, it was a close battle - 6 tenths separated 4th from 9th. It took a mammoth effort from Garcia to drag his Thunderhead to the top of that battle, edging out Domenicalli who secured yet another Q2 spot. Likewise, Holzberg contiued to assert himself as BMW's best qualifier as he beat Haugland to 6th and the final Q2 position. Haugland will therefore start 27th, ahead of Kasami, who saw his second Q1 knockout in a row in probably the biggest surprise of the session. Ledesma was disappointed to not match his teammate's pace, and will start 29th. Another uninspiring performance from Bruner means he rounds out the top 30, ahead of Nakley in what seems to be their final eV qualifying session. Q2Q2 started with a bang when - after setting a lap - van Snelheid smashed the barriers at turn 1, meaning he'll start 26th. Despite that, he still only ended up a tenth adrift of 2 drivers. One was Garcia, who could only salvage 25th, but shockingly the other was McLaughlin, as the title leader had a shocker, 7 places down on his teammate. His rival for victory last time out, Bergkvist, struggled as well to 22nd, while his Porsche teammate was 18th. Ostberg sloted into 23rd, while there was a big gap from 22nd to 21st - occupied by Holzberg, 2 places down on his Q1 rival Ledesma. Einarsson was in 20th, a disappointing effort. Renault struggled on the tight streets but Davies outqualified his teammate by some 4 tenths and 4 places. 15th compared to Thunder's usual standards was poor, while on the flipside, 14th was a decent performance from Zhao, providing some consolation for Arrow. With Mitsubishi and Porsche struggling, Downton, Jaguar and Maserati took advantage. Maxwell was back to his best, a 28.7 easily the best in the session, and 1.5 ahead of his teammate, though Zozulya scrapped through to Q3 in ninth. Taylor was back in good quali form as well in 2nd, Hutchinson making it two Jaguars in Q3 in 7th. Cesar was 3rd as well, setting up a mouthwatering contest between the three drivers. Klien kept up Highwind's Q3 appearance streak with 4th, but Ellington dropped out beforehand, only managing 12th. He did edge out Stokey, but there were cheers in the OSM garage nevertheless when Matthews took 5th. Zvironas also gave Fusion some joy on the first weekend of their new management with 6th, Domenicalli impressed once again with 8th and Hudson just about edged Yoshida to 10th and the last Q3 spot. Q3Hutchinson was the first one out as Jaguar felt confident they could improve further on their good Q2 pace. He did solidly, with a 1:30.7, which was faster than what Hudson did next time around, a 31.6. Klien slotted in between the 2, some 6 tenths down on Hutchinson.
Cesar was next, as the Maserati team held their breath. The Brazilian didn't look happy as he crossed the line, but the timing screens suggested otherwise - 2 tenths up on Hutchinson. Taylor was lining up at the exit when Cesar finished his lap and he threw his car around the track - but he tapped the wall at the swimming pool and lost time through the last sector, ending up behind Hutchinson. The Downton boys were next - Zozulya couldn't really improve on his earlier pace and finished a tenth off Klien. Maxwell had other plans though - his lap wasn't 'fast' looking, but he was clean, he was smooth and he was ahead of the Brazilian, by just 2 hundreths of a second to the roar of the orange showered garage. OSM quietly sent out Matthews now, and the Briton started his lap. He followed it up with a flat out balls to the wall effort - there were oohs and aahs as he flirted with disaster, but his commitment through the swimming pool was stunning, and it stunned the entire paddock when he crossed the line to destory Maxwell's time by over a second. Zvironas decided to take it easy and not risk the car, but he was nevertheless in good nick and he beat both Zozulya and Hudson. Finally, Domenicalli went to do his lap, and when he matched Matthews in the first sector, everyone sat up that extra bit more. He dropped a tenth through the second sector, but put everything into the end of the lap - perhaps that little too much when he slid at the last corner. He almost - almost - touched the barrier, and while he survived he lost more time and crossed the line 3 tenths down, but still a phenomenal second place. So after an entralling battle between Maxwell, Cesar and Taylor, it was overthrown by a Matthews/Domenicalli showdown that will see both start from the front row. It certainly looks to be shaping up to be a fantastic race, don't miss it tomorrow!
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