Felix Beyer has taken his maiden pole position in the Formula Virtual series after topping a rain-hit qualifying ahead of the Mexican V-Prix. As predicted the rain arrived before the session soaking the track, but stopped with around 15 minutes on the clock, ensuring the latter laps were the fastest as the track began to dry from flooded to sodden.
Twenty-three of the twenty-six drivers topped the standings at one point during the session, but it was renowned wet weather specialist Felix Beyer who was there when the chequered flag flew with a 1:43.721. The Dutchman was towards the top throughout the session and despite missing the flag by mere seconds to do one more lap, his time was enough to hold off from Nikolai Milkovich, who will start second. Puccio Giodano put in an incredible effort to put his Ocelot third on the grid ahead of Stuart Harrison, however both the American and his Meteor team mate Johan Halvosen - who qualified seventh - will have to start from the back of the grid after the team failed to submit their tyre choices on time ahead of the race. They will also both incur 10-second penalties that will be added to their race times. This plays well into the hands of DS Mathershaw who will now likely clinch the Constructors Championship in this race, as Meteor must outscore them by 26 points to keep the battle open. With Olen Inman starting fifth - he was pipped to the second row by just 0.036 by Nathaniel Powers - and Adrien Simon eleventh, things look good for the French outfit. Ingram are well placed to take points out of Franklin and FUN in the battle for third in the Constructors, while two AMR's in the top eight give the Australian team a great chance to close on Lopez for sixth. Ocelot will also be hoping their staring positions can yield a points finish or two to overhaul Downton for ninth. Douglas Bacon is fifteenth for FIRST and the highest placed of the new teams as their battle for eleventh in the championship goes to the wire, but with a dry race forecast for tomorrow the teams out of place know it will be tricky to maintain position in what should be a fantastic race. See below for full qualifying times and starting grid with tyre choices:
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