After two extremely close qualifying sessions around the 3.62 km Silverstone international circuit, tomorrow's third round of the FIA GT Championship promises to be a fascinating race.

At one stage, the top four cars were within one tenth of a second. The 500 km, three-hour race, which will see the historic RAC Tourist Trophy awarded to the overall winner, will be led off the grid by the two Aston Martin DBR9 cars, which have entered the Championship for the first time at Silverstone, and which are running as Manufacturer entries.

DAVID BRABHAM ON POLE FOR TOURIST TROPHY

Australian driver David Brabham will try to go one better than his father, Jack, tomorrow, when he starts from pole position for the RAC Tourist Trophy. "It's one race he never won," David said afterwards. With an amazing lap of 1:15.792, which he admitted was on the limit of both car and driver, he led an extremely close first qualifying session. "Yesterday, obviously, we were learning the conditions. The car was very good in qualifying and I had a clean lap. It surprised me slightly how fast we went. The guys did a great job with the car. We did some aerodynamic changes and the improvements are coming together. We are very pleased. It is good to have Peter [Kox] second. It is a 1-2 team result. Obviously, to be here with Aston Martin, in a historic event, in Silverstone, means a great deal to me. In this type of racing, it is all about the car. With Aston Martin and Prodrive is just up the road, I am very pleased to be involved in this project".

Brabham and Turner will start alongside the second Aston Martin, the nr 29 DBR9 driven by Peter Kox and Pedro Lamy, both FIA GT regulars. Only four hundredths of a second separated the cars from third to sixth positions, with Bouchut, in the nr 17 Ferrari 550 Maranello, sixth on the grid, while setting a time of only 42 thousandths of a second slower than third-placed Vitaphone Maserati MC 12 of Fabio Babini.

FIRST FIA GT POLE FOR MIKE ROCKENFELLER

21-year-old German driver Mike Rockenfeller claimed his first FIA GT pole position today, when a lap of 1:20.572 placed the nr 66 Porsche 996 GT3-RSR ahead of the rest of the GT2 and G2 field. He will start from fifteenth position on the grid, alongside the team's second car, the nr 88 Porsche driven by Tim Sudgen and Emmanuel Collard. "I did the time this morning with new tyres," Rockenfeller said. "I tried to save the second set of tyres for the race tomorrow. Unfortunately, the number 88 had technical problems in the first session. So I am not sure on the gap we have over the other cars. Overall, I am really happy. The team did a great job. We changed a lot of things in the second session, just to try, and I only drove half of the session as the car was not ready. We have a great race set-up and we are quite consistent, so I am looking forward to the race tomorrow. It is quite a short circuit and there are not so many long straights. It is difficult for GT1 cars to overtake us. We will try our best not to be in the way of the faster car but we also have our own race."

Third in GT2 went to the Team LNT TVR T400, driven by former British Formula 3 Champion Jonny Kane, who celebrates his birthday today. Fourth went to the Embassy Racing Porsche, with the GPC Ferrari 360 GTC of Luca Drudi and Gabrio Rosa fifth.

FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION: ASTON MARTIN AND GRUPPEM FASTEST IN CLOSE SESSION

The first 45-minute session was close and extremely interesting. Early in the session, the nr 16 Maserati was fastest, followed by the Lister Storm on provisional pole with a time of 1:18.782. The times soon came down, with Fabrizio Gollin putting the nr 11 Ferrari at the top with a time of 1:17.486. This time was further improved by the nr 6 GLPK Corvette, bringing the time down to 1:17.120.
 

The Maserati MC 12 cars were next to rise up the table, with first the nr 15 and then the nr 16 taking second, but unable to touch the Corvette's time. Fifteen minutes into the session, David Brabham went fastest overall, bringing the pole time down to 1:16.539. At this stage, the top seven were Aston Martin, Ferrari, Maserati, Aston, Corvette, Maserati and Ferrari - all within seven tenths of a second.

Five minutes later, both Christophe Bouchut and Fabrizio Gollin crossed the line, having set identical times of 1:16.650 in their respective Ferrari 550 Maranello cars. Gollin having taken the timing line fractionally ahead, his nr 11 car will start ahead of the nr 17 on the grid.

Kumpen improved next, closing to within 71 thousandths of a second of the nr 28 Aston Martin DBR9. At this stage, the top four were within one tenth of a second. However, Brabham went out again in the nr 28, with new tyres, and set a time of 1:15.792, improving the pole time by a massive eight tenths of a second. Peter Kox responded by bringing his nr 29 DBR9 into second place, with a time of 1:16.239. Shortly before the end of the session, Fabio Babini also improved, setting a time of 1:16.608, a mere two thousandths of a second ahead of the GLPK Corvette. As the chequered flag fell, the two Aston Martins were first and second, ahead of the Vitaphone Maserati, the GLPK Corvette and two Ferrari 550 Maranello cars.

In GT2, the Sebah Porsche took an early lead, with a time of 1:22.728. The nr 80 LNT TVR improved to take provisional pole, but ten minutes into the session, the nr 66 Gruppe M Porsche set a time of 1:20.572, which remained fastest until the end of the session. He was followed by the G2 leader, the nr 101 Balfe Motorsport Mosler, with the nr 80 LNT TVR third among the GT2 and G2 cars. The nr 88 Porsche only completed five laps due to a wheel hub problem, and was third in GT2, ahead of the Embassy Racing Porsche and the GPC Ferrari 360 Modena of Rosa and Drudi.

SECOND QUALIFYING: MASERATI LEADS ASTON MARTIN; COLLARD IMPROVES IN GT2

With most cars concentrating on race set-up, and having used their new tyres in the morning session, the afternoon 45-minutes were slightly slower. The session was led by two Maserati cars, the nr 10 Vitaphone car of Babini and Biagi, with the nr 16 JMB car of Peter, Buncombe and Rusinov second. They were followed by the two Aston Martin DBR9 cars, Kox and Lamy ahead of Brabham and Turner. The Corvette was fifth; the car suffered an alternator problem at the end of the session but will be fine for tomorrow. The nr 88 Gruppe M Porsche was fastest in GT2, improving on its morning time and rising to second in GT2 for tomorrow\'s starting grid.

JAMIE DAVIES SIGNS FOR VITAPHONE FOR SPA

During a press conference today, it was announced that British driver Jamie Davies, who drove for Team Maranello Concessionaires in 2003, will be driving for the Vitaphone Racing Team in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa later this year. He will drive the nr 10 Maserati MC 12 with Fabio Babini and Thomas Biagi. Davies was the joint Le Mans Endurance Series Champion last year, in the Audi R8. "It is a great honour for me to drive for Maserati and the Vitaphone Racing Team," Jamie said. "I would like to thank Claudio Berro and the team for giving me this great opportunity. I can't wait to get in the car and join Fabio and Thomas. Spa was my final race last year, and I set the fastest time, so I hope to carry on in the same way."