Ricciardo inherits pole after Wickens penalty

Daniel Ricciardo will start World Series by Renault Race 2 at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza from pole position, with stewards deciding earlier in the afternoon to penalize Robert Wickens following an incident in the first race. The Canadian set the overall fastest time, but he will start from fifth on the grid after being hit with the four place drop.

Wickens was able to put aside any thoughts of the 4-place penalty and post a time of 1:36.870, the only effort of the afternoon to make it under the 1:37.000 barrier. Ricciardo was a little under two tenths shy of the Canadian on his effective pole lap, with fellow ex-British F3 Champion Jean-Eric Vergne a further 0.082 seconds adrift.

Behind Ricciardo and Vergne on the front row, Race 1 winner Kevin Korjus and Albert Costa will line-up in third and fourth respectively, while Robert Wickens will start from fifth after his grid drop. Arthur Pic set the sixth fastest time of the session, finishing marginally ahead of Alexander Rossi who enjoyed a much more positive result at the wheel of his Fortec machine.

Sergio Canamasas completed an effort quick enough for eighth, giving himself another strong opportunity to score points after retiring from the first race. Brazilian César Ramos was next up in the second of the Fortec cars, while Brendon Hartley ended his time on-track as the last man inside the top ten.

Qualifying Race 2

POS	NO	DRIVER	TEAM	TIME	LAPS	GAP
1	6	Robert WICKENS*	Carlin	1:36.870	11	0.000
2	3	Daniel RICCIARDO	ISR	1:37.040	11	0.170
3	5	Jean Eric VERGNE	Carlin	1:37.122	11	0.252
4	1	Kevin KORJUS	Tech 1 Racing	1:37.140	13	0.270
5	12	Albert COSTA	Epic Racing	1:37.175	12	0.305
6	2	Arthur PIC	Tech 1 Racing	1:37.191	13	0.321
7	7	Alexander ROSSI	Fortec Motorsports	1:37.195	12	0.325
8	26	Sergio CANAMASAS	BVM Target	1:37.252	13	0.382
9	8	Cesar RAMOS	Fortec Motorsports	1:37.316	11	0.446
10	28	Brendon HARTLEY	Gravity-Charouz	1:37.366	13	0.496
11	4	Nathanael BERTHON	ISR	1:37.378	14	0.508
12	24	Daniil MOVE	P1 Motorsport	1:37.436	12	0.566
13	15	Stephane RICHELMI	International Draco Racing	1:37.452	11	0.582
14	17	Oliver WEBB	Pons Racing	1:37.649	12	0.779
15	21	Anton NEBYLITSKIY	KMP Racing	1:37.714	14	0.844
16	19	Chris VAN DER DRIFT	Mofaz Racing	1:37.788	13	0.918
17	27	Jan CHAROUZ	Gravity-Charouz	1:37.819	12	0.949
18	11	Sten PENTUS	Epic Racing	1:37.839	12	0.969
19	22	Nelson PANCIATICI	KMP Racing	1:37.847	12	0.977
20	23	Walter GRUBMULLER	P1 Motorsport	1:37.876	12	1.006
21	9	Daniel MCKENZIE	Comtec Racing	1:37.964	13	1.094
22	10	Daniel DE JONG	Comtec Racing	1:38.155	14	1.285
23	16	Andre NEGRAO	International Draco Racing	1:38.199	13	1.329
24	20	Jake ROSENZWEIG	Mofaz Racing	1:38.301	11	1.431
25	18	Filip SALAQUARDA	Pons Racing	1:38.394	14	1.524
26	25	Daniel ZAMPIERI	BVM Target	1:38.415	14	1.545

*Penalized to 5th starting position after unavoidable contact in Race 1