Both the GT1 and GT2 pole positions for Sunday's French round of the FIA GT Championship, at the circuit of Nevers Magny-Cours, were claimed by French drivers. Christophe Bouchut set the overall pole in the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, while Emmanuel Collard was the fastest GT2 driver, setting pole for British team Gruppe M in a Porsche 996 GT3-RSR.

The close qualifying sessions, which have guaranteed an exciting starting grid for tomorrow's race, saw most times set during the first session, as rising temperatures meant that the second session was significantly slower.

BOUCHUT GIVES RUSSIAN AGE RACING ITS FIRST POLE

Triple FIA GT Champion Christophe Bouchut claimed his eighth FIA GT pole position - and his first since 2001 - in the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, giving the team its first-ever pole position.

The Frenchman, already third on the grid in Monza, was pleased with the performance put in by the Russian team: "I am very happy as we are in France and I love this track! It is a nice feeling to be on pole. With Cirtek, we did a very good job in the first qualifying practice this morning. The car's set up was perfect. I tried to give my best. I am very happy with this lap. Tomorrow for the race, we will be three drivers sharing the car, which is the wrong number for a three-hour race. But we will do our best. We will not be in a position to win the race but I expect a good position in the race. I will be strong in the first hour."

He will start the race alongside the nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12, qualified by Andrea Bertolini, while the second row will consist of the nr 9 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati, third despite 30kg penalty weight from Monza, and the nr 6 GLPK-Carsport Corvette C5R.

COLLARD COMPLETES FRENCH DOMINATION WITH GT2 POLE

Emmanuel Collard, runner-up in the category in 2004, set the best time in the GT2 category at Magny-Cours today, making it two in a row for the nr 88 Gruppe M Porsche 996 GT3-RSR, which Tim Sugden had placed on pole in Monza. The leading GT2 car will start from 15th place overall. After the nr 66 Porsche lost some of its morning times due to rear wing problems, second place in GT2 was taken by the leading British GT car, the nr 83 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 Modena, with the nr 66 GruppeM Racing Porsche third.

FIRST QUALIFYING: BOUCHUT AND COLLARD TAKE PROVISIONAL POLE

The sun was shining on Magny-Cours for qualifying, and 31 cars took to the track for the 45-minute session. After ten minutes, the nr 10 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12 was in the overall lead, with a best lap of 1:37.573 for the car driven by Fabio Babini and Thomas Biagi.
 

They were followed by the nr 16 JMB Maserati and the nr 13 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Murciélago. At this stage, the nr 81 TVR was leading the GT2 category.

Fifteen minutes into the session, the nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 took provisional pole, setting a time of 1:37.357, while Andrew Kirkaldy in the nr 83 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 360 moved into the lead in GT2.

Five minutes later, the lead in both categories changed again. Christophe Bouchut, in the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, set a time of 1:36.580. In GT2, Emmanuel Collard took the lead, with a lap of 1:42.029, which he later improved to 1:41.893.

With the top of the grid stable, the nr 17 Ferrari followed by the nr 15 and 9 Maserati cars, the rest of the session saw the GLPK Corvette improve, first to fifth and then to fourth, less than five tenths behind the pole position holder.  The nr 10 Vitaphone Maserati was fifth, with the Monza pole-position holder, the nr 16 JMB Racing Maserati, sixth, eigth tenths behind the leader.

In GT2, Collard in the nr 88 car led Marc Lieb in the nr 66, followed by a group of GT2 cars from the British GT Championship. The two Scuderia Ecosse cars were third and fourth overall, followed by the nr 81 LNT TVR T400 and the nr 55 Embassy Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS. Rear wing problems saw the nr 66 car later lose its times.

SECOND QUALIFYING : JMB RACING AND GRUPPE M IN THE LEAD

Conditions were hotter for the second qualifying session, and very few cars managed to improve on their times, most notably the nr 5 Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7 of Robert Lechner and Uwe Alzen, which set a time of 1:39.798 after suffering from engine problems in the morning. The car will now start from 12th position on tomorrow's grid.

The best time overall was set by the nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 of Andrea Bertolini and Karl Wendlinger,  with a lap of 1:38.712, over two seconds slower than this morning. A close and varied session saw two Maserati cars followed by the nr 6 Corvette, the nr 13 Lamborghini and the nr 5 Konrad Saleen , all within a second.

The session was briefly red-flagged after the nr 56 Vonka Racing Porsche stopped at Estoril, the car only completing three laps. The nr 11 and 12 Larbre Ferrari cars lost times due to rear wing problems.