Formula E star Lucas di Grassi took a shock pole position for the Brazilian Stock Car ‘Million Race’ at Interlagos.
Di Grassi, who is an invited driver for the event, beat Eurofarma teammate Ricardo Mauricio by a tenth of a second to take the top spot. For this event, the series has introduced an additional qualifying phase and the cars will have to start with the same amount of fuel and the same tires that they ended with on Saturday.
“Yesterday we worked hard on the car to get it right for the race,” said di Grassi. “The car is very good for the race pace but surprisingly also for a lap. I am confident. Obviously, with this fuel difference, it will shuffle a lot after the pitstop, but our goal was to [get the] pole, and that’s what we did, so I’m very happy.”
Stock Car points leader Daniel Serra will start fourth in the hunt for his third title, while former F1 racer Ricardo Zonta finished seventh and may have an advantage in the race as he was the best-placed among those who did not run in Q3 and the SuperPole, ensuring a faster pitstop than the drivers ahead of him as he will start with more fuel.
“There are faster cars, but mine is steady and fine,” he said. “And maybe that’s the best strategy, starting seventh with more fuel than the first six. This makes a lot of difference at the pitstop, because they will have three more seconds for the refueling.”
Of the other star names in the field, Nelson Piquet Jr will start eighth and Rubens Barrichello in 11th.
“We have margin to improve and keep evolving,” said Piquet. “Let’s work now to think of the best strategy for the race. Many things are being studied, but the most important is to have a good and competitive car.”
Barrichello added: “Today has shown that we are all very close to the other drivers. But only tomorrow we will know the best strategy. I have no doubt that from seventh to 15th, everyone has a little more fuel than the first six on the grid, but we don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.
“We are hoping for the best, Interlagos is always great for me and I can’t wait to race.”
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