Enrique Ruiz has take the final pole position of the season ahead of tomorrow's curtain-closing Brazilian V-Prix, in a qualifying session that saw atrocious conditions throughout and a dramatic mix of fortunes for the three Championship contenders. The rain was pouring from the early hours in Interlagos and made no let up as the lights went green for qualifying to get underway. The conditions saw numerous yellow flags as drivers aquaplaned off the circuit and continued but only one red - caused halfway through the session when Finn Schnyder caught a puddle on the start/finish straight and hit the outside wall. While the session was suspended Ruiz sat on pole ahead of Downton duo Nathaniel Powers and Klaas van Snelheid, with Adrien Simon tenth and Championship leader Allar Kangur only sixteenth. As the lights went green again the drivers reported the rain had been heavier during the suspension and very few managed to improve before the chequered flag. Johan Halvosen was a notable exception - jumping up to a stunning sixth and demoting Simon to eleventh - but the Frenchman responded, of sorts, and moved himself back into the top ten with his final effort. His team mate was not so lucky. Kangur struggled to get find any grip on his fresh wets and couldn't improve while those around him did marginally, and the Championship leader slipped back to what will turn into a start from twentieth on the grid for the final race of the season, leaving him a lot of work to do to try and claim his maiden Championship crown. Crucially, if the race finishes as it starts, Powers will win the Championship. Up at the front no-one could displace the top three with Tumo Kinnumen joining the second row in fourth ahead of Nikolai Milkovich. Jean Mattson just lost out to Halvosen in seventh ahead of the two Phoenix cars - who put in a great effort to get two cars in the top nine - and Simon. Felix Pérez also impressed with twelfth on the the grid for FIRST ahead of Puccio Giodano who struggled along with the Holmqvist's; Felix Beyer and Will Hoskins only seventeenth and nineteenth. Tyre choice also looks like it will play a major part in the race with Powers on the Mediums along with his team mate and his rivals Simon and Kangur running on the Softs, like pole sitter Ruiz and fourth-placed starter Kinnumen. Milkovich is the highest qualifier on the Hards in fifth, while only AMR opted for the Super Soft option. The rain is largely expected to stay away tomorrow, however there is a chance of it returning for the final laps of the season. See below for full qualifying classification and grid with tyre choices: Comments are closed.
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