Alvaro Parente once again showed why he is considered one of the most promised drivers of the GP2 field by claiming pole position for Saturday's feature race at Spa-Francorchamps, but the Portuguese ace insisted that top spot was an important landmark for both himself and the Ocean Racing Technology team.

Parente's weekend began well, as he showed himself to be a contender throughout morning practice, before winding up in a good second place. Building on that in the half-hour afternoon session, however, he put himself at the very top of the timesheets, claiming his and ORT's first GP2 pole.

“This is a very important result for me and for the team!" the former F3 and World Series by Renault champion insisted, "Since practice, we were very competitive and we maintained our pace for the qualifying. I was able to do a good lap in the end of the session and that put me in pole position. I strongly enjoy Spa-Francorchamps, as it's a circuit where the driver still makes a difference, and to achieve my first GP2 pole here is very special for me.”

Despite the qualifying result, however, Parente admits that starting from the head of the field does not necessarily guarantee an easy ride on Saturday afternoon.

“We are where we wanted to be, but tomorrow's race will be very hard," he confirmed, "The start will be very important, as will the pit-stops, but if we can show a good pace from the start, I think that we can win.”