Impressive Double Pole at Donington

Donington Park, UK
20 May 2006

Mike Conway will start this weekend's rounds of the British Formula International Series from pole at Donington Park in Leicestershire.

The Sevenoaks driver took his Mercedes-powered Dallara around the 1.9 mile circuit more than two-tenths of a second faster than the next quickest qualifier in both sessions.

Conway took provisional pole early in the first qualifying and held it throughout before pitting as a rain shower set in. In an exhilarating second qualifying, the Raikkonen Robertson Racing driver, who had sat on provisional pole for the most part of the session, lost and re-gained pole twice in the dying minutes of the 30-minute session before finishing on top.

The driver said the second pole was hard-earned. "We had to stay out there the whole session and really work for the times during the full half hour. We had a good comfortable margin at the beginning but then we lost it and had to win it back when everyone started to lap faster."

Conway added he felt optimistic ahead of tomorrow's races. "We're in good stead starting from the front. The team have done a great job with the car; we couldn't be in a better position."