Jolyon Palmer has qualified third, equalling his previous best performance in GP2 qualifying, for tomorrow's (Saturday) Italian Feature Race at Monza. In a tight session, held in clear conditions, the top three were separated by just over half a tenth of a second.

Jolyon consistently featured in the top-three for much of the qualifying period, holding the top spot in the early stages. He set the first sub 1m32s lap of the weekend with his first flying effort and remained at the head of the standings until the session was halted by a red flag as marshals cleared gravel off the track.

Jolyon continued to lead the way after the track was cleared and remained the man to beat with only ten minutes remaining. He was displaced late on by Fabio Leimer and later Sam Bird, eventually finishing third overall.

Speaking after the session, Jolyon commented, "I'm a little disappointed not to get pole position as it was definitely in the car but it didn't quite come together.  Nevertheless third place is still my best grid position of the year and we have a good package for the races.  I'm fighting for the win, I either come out of the first corner leading or I don't come out of the first corner at all!"

GP2 Series Qualifying, Monza
1, S Bird, Russian Time, 1:31.788s
2, F Leimer, Racing Engineering, +0.034s
3, J Palmer, Carlin, +0.055s
4, M Ericsson, DAMS, +0.127s
5, T Dillmann, Russian Time, +0.161s
6, S Coletti, Rapax, +0.205s
7, D Clos, MP Motorsport, +0.236s
8, J Calado, ART Grand Prix, +0.245s
9, J Rosenzweig, Barwa Addax Team, +0.312s
10, S Trummer, Rapax, +0.376s

Full coverage of rounds 17 and 18 of the 2013 GP2 season at Monza, including live timing, will be available on Jolyon's official website, while TV coverage of all sessions will be available on Sky F1's HD Channel.