Having always been among the first three pacesetters during Friday morning's free practice sessions, Villa posted a time of 2min39.810s in qualifying, under the rain, at an average speed of 121.71 km/h.

Following a blistering qualifying performance yesterday Italian driver Manuel Villa will start from pole position in his 500 Abarth Assetto Corse for teatime's opening race of the second round of the Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe which taking place at Brno in the Czech Republic where the series for the identical-specification Abarth racers is once again supporting the FIA World Touring Car Championship.

The first row of the grid for today's race will in fact be all-Italian since Villa has squeezed ahead of his very young fellow countryman Simone Monforte, just 16 years of age, while the Portuguese driver Jorge Rodrigues is next up.

Having always been among the first three pacesetters during Friday morning's free practice sessions, Villa posted a time of 2min39.810s in qualifying, under the rain, at an average speed of 121.71 km/h. The pole sitter rose higher and higher: in the first two morning's sessions, still on a wet track, he was third and second fastest respectively. To complete his progression, Villa set the pole position.

This is the second round of the Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe, which kicked off at the Valencia circuit at the end of May with a double win for Spanish driver Lucas Guerrero. A third and a sixth place in the opening round for this weekend's pole sitter Villa sets the Italian up for a charge to the top of the points standings after Brno. Italian youngster Alex Campani collected a second and seventh place in Valencia and he goes into today's races third in the points standings and just one point ahead of Villa who is tied on 26 points with Benoît Perret who in fact will start from the second row of the grid today alongside Rodrigues.

Among the drivers entered for this second Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe meeting, all at the wheel of the 190bhp Abarth 500 Assetto Corse racers, there are also five representatives of the Czech Republic, a fact that bears witness to the large interest the 'Trofeo' has aroused in this country too. 19-year-old Italian pilot Erika Monforte, the only female driver entered in this second round, concluded qualifying yesterday with the eleventh best time. Race 1 starts today (Saturday 20 June) at 5:05pm, while Race 2 is scheduled for tomorrow (Sunday 21) at 5:05pm.

The inaugural Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe series, consists of six rounds, each one including two races, and all are being held in the environment of the FIA World Touring Car Championship. Following the opener at Valencia in May and this weekend's rounds at Brno, the rest of the calendar will comprise of Porto (Portugal) on 5 July, Brands Hatch (Great Britain) on 19 July, Oschersleben (Germany) on 6 September and finally Imola (Italy) on 20 September. These prestigious circuits are playing a large part in increasing the attraction of this championship which has brought the cars of the Scorpion brand back onto the race track.

Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe - Rd 2 Brno, Qualifying Results: 1. Manuel Villa (I), 2min39.810 - average speed 121.71kph; 2. Simone Monforte (I), 2min40.104s; 3. Jorge Rodrigues (P), 2min40.568s; 4. Benoît Perret (F), 2min40.843s; 5. Enrico Fulgenzi (I), 2min41.210s; 6. Petr Valek (CZ), 2min41.225s; 7. Michael Vorba (CZ), 2min42.000s; 8. Matons Kubu (CZ), 2min43.954s; 9. Daniele Vernuccio (I), 2min45.602s; 10. Petr Vencalek (CZ), 2min46.879.

Provisional Trofeo Abarth 500 Europe standings (after 1 round and 2 races): 1. Lucas Guerrero (E), 43 points; 2. Noel Jamal (E), 28; 3 Alex Campani (I), 27; 4. Manuel Villa (I) and Benoît Perret (F), 26; 6. Bernardo Arnaut (P), 18; 7. Simone Monforte (I), 16.