BOBBI TAKES HIS FIRST POLE FOR BMS SCUDERIA ITALIA 

Young Italian driver Matteo Bobbi took his first pole position in the FIA GT Championship today, three weeks after winning the Barcelona round with his team-mate Thomas Biagi. At the wheel of the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello, he claimed provisional pole towards the end of the morning's wet session, before improving once more on his final lap, with a best time of 1:55.642. 

The afternoon session was significantly wetter, and few drivers managed to improve their times, giving Bobbi the first place on the grid for Sunday's 500 km, three-hour race. "The Championship has started well for me", he said. "But the season is long. I am happy with today's pole position. It was difficult out there, with a lot of water on the track. But I had two clear laps and pushed hard. I enjoy driving in these conditions, and I think the Michelin tyres were better than the other tyres today. If it's dry tomorrow, the Lister will be faster than us, but I 'll try to win again." 

Second place on the grid was claimed by the reigning Champion, Christophe Bouchut, at the wheel of the nr 1 Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper. The French driver was fastest for much of the morning session, before losing out to Bobbi at the end of the 45-minutes. Third place went to the nr 2 Konrad Saleen S7-R, driven by Jean-Marc Gounon, with a time set after the chequered flag fell. 

MARC LIEB ON POLE FOR FREISINGER MOTORSPORT IN N-GT 

Marc Lieb claimed pole position in the N-GT class in the nr 50 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS, leading a group of three Porsche cars in the difficult conditions. Lieb set a time of 2:00.252. : "Our car was very good in the rain, and Dunlop have done a great job with the tyres," he said afterwards. I did three fast laps in the morning, and I was really surprised to be on pole." Second place in N-GT was the nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche of Lechner Jr and Daoudi, with Lechner Jr. improving during the second session, setting a time of 2:00.809. Third place went to the EMKA Racing car, which has been impressive all weekend, with Sugden setting a time of 2:00.971 in the morning session, which had placed him provisionally second. 

FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION 

The rain began to fall heavily shortly before the session began, and a wet practice was declared. Despite two red-flag periods, one of which allowed the nr 18 Zwaan's Racing Viper to be removed from the gravel, times fell gradually. The Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen of Erdos and Newton was fastest early on, to be replaced at the top of the lists by Bouchut, with a time of 1:57.245. Towards the very end of the session, the nr 23 Ferrari 550 Maranello moved to the top, with Bobbi at the wheel. The nr 2 Konrad Motorsport Saleen set the third time as the chequered flag fell to close the session. The nr 21 and 22 BMS cars were fourth and fifth respectively, with the nr 14 Lister sixth, ahead of the much-improved nr 4 Force One Chrysler Viper. The nr 15 Lister was down in 15th place, Piccini having spun a number of times whilst attempting to adapt to the car in the wet conditions. 

N-GT was dominated by the Porsches, with the Cirtek Motorsport fast at the start. However, Adam Jones's time of 2:02.166 was soon eclipsed by the nr 50 Freisinger car, with Marc Lieb taking provisional pole. The nr 61 EMKA Racing car was the next to improve, moving up to second place, while the second Freisinger Porsche of Gardel and Longin set the third time in the class. The leading Ferrari was the 88 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena of Davies and Mullen, in fourth place. 

SECOND QUALIFYING SESSION 

The second session was even wetter than the first, and at the start it looked as if there would be no improvements whatsoever. However, although the top eight places of the grid did not change, a number of cars did manage to improve their grid positions towards the end of the session. Fastest overall was the nr 14 Lister Storm, with Jamie Campbell-Walter setting a time of 2:00.678. He was followed by two N-GT cars, with the nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche setting the second time overall, and improving to second place on the N-GT grid for tomorrow's race. The nr 5 Force One Viper of Kumpen and Hezemans also improved, with Kumpen fourth overall and improving to 13th on the grid. Fifth, and fastest Ferrari in the session, was Tomas Enge in the nr 57 MenX car, with the nr 4 Creation Lister Storm sixth overall, improving his grid position to 20th. 

Matteo Bobbi -- nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia - 1st GT: "The Championship has started well for me, but the season is long. I am happy with today's pole position. It was difficult out there, with a lot of water on the track. But I had two clear laps and pushed hard. I enjoy driving in these conditions. I think the Michelin tyres were better than the other tyres today. If it's dry tomorrow, the Lister will be faster than us, but I'll try to win again. The 40 kg penalty weight does not make a different -- Piccini won last year with 100 kg !" 

David Terrien -- nr 10 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello - 12th in GT: "It's going better and better; there is still a lot to do, but we are discovering more of what we need to work on. We have not had any real problems, with no engine worries at all. Our aim is to get to the end of the race tomorrow." 

Boris Derichebourg -- nr 10 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello - 12th in GT: "The team has worked really hard after Barcelona, and everyone is very keen to improve. We have been concentrating on the set-up today; I really think that within two or three races we will be competitive -- the car has the potential." 

Tomas Enge -- nr 57 MenX Ferrari 360 Modena -- 4th in N-GT: "I am very happy with my position, and being the leading Ferrari in N-Gt. But I am disappointed with qualifying, as I did a really good lap at the end, but found traffic at the last corner. I really think I could have gone for pole, but this is still a good result. I am looking forward to the race and will try to aim for the podium." 

Darren Turner -- nr 89 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena -- 9th in N-GT: "Yesterday we had an engine problem so we didn't run in the afternoon, and lost most of the morning. This morning, Kelvin was in the car, as he has never been here before. I took over in the afternoon, when the session was wetter, but I still managed to get up the grid. I'm not that worried about our grid position; the car is working well, and it was quite a good thing to get some rain experience today. The result might not be great on paper, but I'm quite happy considering how the weekend started." 

Guillaume Gomez -- nr 58 Autopalace Ferrari 550 Maranello -- 13th in N-GT: "We had alternator problems this morning and only did 3 laps. But it was very difficult this afternoon, due to the rain, and it was the first time we had been out in this car in that sort of condition with Pirelli tyres and we do not have an efficient set-up for the rain conditions yet. For the dry, it was quite good in free practice. We have to find the right race strategy, taking the tyre choice and the fuel consumption into account. If we are careful and manage our race well, we can manage with just one refuelling pit-stop, which could make up for our poor starting position."