Mégane Eurocup Trophy leader, Bas Schothorst, thought he had another pole in the bag and he was fastest for most of the session. On his last flyer Niccolo Nalio knocked him off the top of the timesheets with a lap in 2m 22.851s: it was the Italian’s first pole in the Mégane Eurocup Trophy.

Nalio showed that his pole wasn’t a fluke by doing the same thing in the second session from his team-mate Albert Costa in second.

Niccolo Nalio: “I’m on pole at last! Qualifying was my weak point and by setting two on the trot I’ve got the monkey off my back. In the first part of the session Fabien Thuner followed me and I didn’t push too hard to prevent him from taking advantage of slipstreaming. So I set my time right at the end. The second session was easier.”

Albert Costa: “My steering wheel wasn’t right! I didn’t have time to come in and have it repaired. I tried to continue like that and I ended up in the wall at Eau Rouge. Overall, I’m happy with sixth and second taking my problems into account. In free practice I was consistent so that could make the difference. You can pass on this circuit.”   

(http://www.worldseriesbyrenault.fr/en/tv_news/news/Pages/NiccoloNalioonpoleatlast.aspx)