Monfardini pleased to take pole.

Fernando Monfardini will start the second race of the GP2 meeting at Monza from pole position after taking eighth place in the opening race of the weekend.

Despite suffering from an over-steer problem in the opening race, the Durango driver was able to battle his way through to eighth place from an early pit-stop and will now emulate team-mate Clivio Piccione, who took his first GP2 victory earlier this season.

"I'm very happy because I start in pole position, which for me is very good," he said. "At the start of the race I had a little problem with the set up of the race, so I had to just drive and wait until the car was better in the second part of the race. I overtook one car, and the car at the end was not perfect but not bad. For Sunday I am really happy because the car is not bad, especially at the end of the race, but the first part with heavy fuel is a problem for oversteer.

"It is very important to get through the first corner in first position, because Jani I think will be slower than me - if I pass the first chicane in first position I think it is possible for me to get a podium, which will be very important for me in Italy. When I close the visor I will be thinking just about the car. It will be fantastic to start at the front of the grid, but I will be thinking about the race."