The nr 51 Ferrari F430 GT entered by the Italian AF Corse Motorola team and crewed by Gianmaria Bruni, Stephane Ortelli and Rui Aguas will start from pole position in the GT2 class for the 24 hour race which gets underway this afternoon at 16:00 on Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit, just after the second series of races in the fourth round of this season's European Ferrari Challenge Pirelli Trophy take place on the track. In qualifying for the sixth round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship, the car developed by the Maranello Corse Clienti department beat the nr 97 BMS Porsche of Collard, Malucelli and Lieb.

The expected battle between Ferrari and Porsche for honours in the GT2 category this weekend got underway when all the cars which will fight over 24 hours for honours took to the track on Thursday morning for a free practice session, and first blood immediately went to the nr 97 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 997 GT3 RSR who were just ahead of the nr 50 AF Corse Motorola Ferrari F430 GT of Vilander, Müller and Salo.

However after the two qualifying sessions held in the afternoon and evening of Thursday the tables were turned with the nr 51 AF Corse Ferrari moving to the top of the timesheets and taking provisional pole position (one more qualifying session on Friday morning still remained), closely chased by the nr 97 Porsche, and the nr 52 Racing Team Edil Cris Ferrari F430 GT, the close times offering all the signs that a frenetic battle in GT2 between the Ferrari and Porsche cars is in store.

Bruni was at the wheel of the nr 51 AF Corse entry which posted the fastest time with a lap of 2:21.929. "This is my first 24-hour race and my first provisional pole position," he said on Thursday evening. "For this race, I am really relying on the experience that Stephane Ortelli has.  My fast lap went really well: it was my speed and Stephane’s experience! I was a bit stressed before going out for my night laps, but Stephane did some laps to set up the car and the lights and finally I found a good pace, it was better than I expected. I am pleased and I enjoyed it."
 

He was followed by the nr 97 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche, which was qualified by Collard, with the nr 52 Edil Cris Racing Team Ferrari F430 GT in third place. The Ferrari F430 GT was also making waves in the more basic G3 class as the fastest car in this category was the nr 174 Sport Garage Ferrari F430 GT3.

The top ten positions in GT2 didn't change during Friday's third and final qualifying session, leaving Bruni to savour pole position. The Italian already has plenty of experience at Spa-Francorchamps, where he previously set three pole positions in GP2 and had his best-ever Formula One qualifying with Minardi. He set the pole position in the GT2 category on Thursday night in the nr 51 car and with no improvements in the leading GT2 cars on Friday, the time stood untouched, giving Bruni his first FIA GT pole. “For the free practice I was just taking it easy and learning from the others,” he said. “I tried my best during the qualifying, I put everything together and I set the pole position. Driving at night is difficult, I need to get used to it a little bit more, but it is fine. We have lights, even if it is not enough, but we will see. If I’m not fast enough during the night, I’ll let the others do the job! Rui Aguas won last year, and Stéphane Ortelli has a lot of experience here. I’ve learnt a lot from him. It is good to be on the front, but nothing has been done yet, the race is really going to be something!”

Also in supporting race action at Spa yesterday was the Ferrari Challenge series. The first races for the one-make Ferrari series, which feature identical-specification F430 Challenge cars, saw victory went to Max Blancardi (Italy - Team Motor/Malucelli) in the Pirelli Trophy and to Jaime Constable (Great Britain - Ferrari GB Dealer Team) in the Shell Cup for gentlemen drivers.