Pastor Maldonado has take pole position in Monaco for the second GP2 season in succession after leading the way during qualifying in the principality.
The Piquet Sports driver posted a best time of 1min 21.057secs mid-way through the session despite touching the wall on entry to the tunnel and it proved to be a time than none of his rivals could match.
Maldonado had been the first man to venture onto the track during the session but the pressure on the rest of the field to try and topple the Monaco master from the top of the times claimed its first victim early on when Andy Soucek went into the wall at St Devote on his first flying lap.
Romain Grosjean, Adrian Valles and Bruno Senna were the early pacesetters as everyone tried to find a way through the traffic, a task which wasn't helped when Ho-Pin Tung ran too hot through the swimming pool complex and lost the rear of his car at the exit. Marcello Puglisi also went off at Casino Square on his return to the series with both drivers qualifying down the order as a result.
When most of the field came in for new tyres, Maldonado struck, setting two fast laps and giving his competitors a target to aim for. Adrian Valles was one of the drivers hoping to try and take top spot, but he was caught out by the barriers at St Devote and binned his BCN car, bringing out the red flag with just minutes remaining.
When the session restarted, no-one was able to launch a challenge on Maldonado who duly took pole ahead of Bruno Senna and Mike Conway. Despite his accident, Valles finished up with the fourth fastest time with points leader Giorgio Pantano and Karun Chandhok rounding out the top six.
Despite the traffic issues that affected the session, less than a second covered Maldonado in pole down to Adam Carroll in 14th.
![Pastor Maldonado - Piquet Sports [pic credit: GP2 Series]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/443396.jpg)
