Karl Wendlinger, in the nr 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9, will start from pole position for the seventh round of the FIA GT Championship, at the Adria International Raceway in Italy. His lap of 1:12.051 was unfortunately followed by a trip into the gravel, with his car apparently suffering a broken steering arm. The session was briefly red-flagged, but after the re-start, no-one was able to improve on Karl’s time. This pole position – his fifth in the FIA GT - rounds off an Italian double for the Austrian, who also set pole in Monza earlier this season. The car will be fine for tomorrow’s race.
He will start alongside the nr 2 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12, driven by Christian Montanari. Third place went to Mike Hezemans in the nr 5 Carsport Holland Corvette C6-R, despite the 70 kg penalty weight the car is carrying after its victory in the Total 24 Hours of Spa
In GT2, Dirk Müller set the fastest time of the session, with a lap of 1:14.883 in his nr 50 AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2. However, during post-qualifying scrutineering, the car did not pass the ride height test with tyres at 1.5 bar. His qualifying times were therefore cancelled, and the car will start from the back of the grid. This gave Racing Team Edil Cris a one-two in qualifying, with Paolo Ruberti inheriting his home pole position with a lap of 1:14.945. Ruberti, who was also on pole in Monza, will start alongside his team-mate, FIA GT newcomer Maurizio Mediani. Originally fourth, the nr 51 AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2 of Bruni and Ortelli moves up to third, with Mullen and Turner fourth for Scuderia Ecosse.
In the Citation Cup, Alain Ferté set pole position in the nr 16 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 he is sharing with Ben Aucott this weekend. The Frenchman, who last raced in the FIA GT in 1997, set a lap of 1:14.812, despite the car, the track and traction control all being new to him. He qualified ahead of the nr 18 SRT Corvette C5R of Cloet and Amaduzzi, with the nr 15 JMB Racing car third. The nr 21 Kessel Racing car did not take part in qualifying due to engine problems.
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