18.10.2003  JORG MULLER CLAIMS POLE AS DISASTER STRIKES THE AUTODELTA ALFA ROMEO RUNNERS
in association with
Roberto Colciago emerged as fastest of the Alfa runners, claiming third on the grid behind the two MullersJörg Müller claimed his second pole position of the season, giving a big boost to his hopes to secure the European title. The German driver and his BMW Team Deutschland team-mate Dirk Müller topped the time sheet and set the fastest and the second-fastest qualifying times, at 2:00.454 and 2:00.467, with only 0.013 seconds in-between.

Roberto Colciago and James Thompson managed to qualify their Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA cars in third and fourth positions; their times (2:00.613 and 2:00.786) were only one and three hundredths of a second from the pole respectively. However, this was only a minor consolation for Alfa Romeo, which experienced its blackest day on its home racetrack. Three of the five Autodelta drivers did not post a qualifying time after their cars went off on the warm up laps.

Giancarlo Fisichella began the carnage, with a massive shunt at the exit of the Ascari chicane, which caused the session to be red-flagged after three minutes. As the qualifying resumed, half-an-hour later, it was Nicola Larini’s turn to crash at the Ascari, while current Championship leader Gabriele Tarquini went off in the same corner, his car stranded in the gravel. It is not yet sure if Autodelta mechanics will be able to repair both, Larini’s and Fisichella’s cars in time for tomorrow’s warm up.

Carly Motors’ driver Duncan Huisman emerged as the fastest of the Independents, and was classified fifth overall, only 0.4 seconds behind the pole. As for Andy Priaulx, currently third in the drivers’ championship, he was clocked at 2:01.250, which was good enough for the seventh position on the grid. Paolo Ruberti, Tom Coronel and Fabio Francia completed the top-ten, who qualified within the same second.

Despite he missed the first free practice, Alessandro Zanardi managed to set a promising 11th fastest time, in his BMW Team Italy-Spain car, with a lap in 2:01.612. Zanardi was able to reduce his gap from the pole to 1.1 seconds. Yvan Muller was the fastest of the SEAT Sport driver, and ranked 12th, just ahead of André Couto in the PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R.

ETCC - Monza, 18th October 2003 - Qualifying Session:
 
NO
 DRIVER TEAM CAR Best Lap Av. Speed\Gap
1
42
 Jörg Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i
2:00.454
 173.13 kph
2
43
 Dirk Müller BMW Team Deutschland BMW 320i
2:00.467
 0.013
3
5
 Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:00.613
 0.159
4
56
 James Thompson Alfa Romeo Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:00.786
 0.332
5
21
 Duncan Huisman Carly Motors BMW 320i
2:00.928
 0.474
6
2
 Antonio García BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i
2:01.093
 0.639
7
11
 Andy Priaulx BMW Team Great Britain BMW 320i
2:01.250
 0.796
8
16
 Paolo Ruberti Clever Cats R&M Team Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:01.270
 0.816
9
20
 Tom Coronel Carly Motors BMW 320i
2:01.410
 0.956
10
15
 Fabio Francia Clever Cats R&M Team Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:01.441
 0.987
11
33
 Alessandro Zanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i
2:01.612
 1.158
12
30
 Yvan Muller SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
2:01.979
 1.525
13
12
 André Couto PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R
2:01.992
 1.538
14
9
 Jordi Gené SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
2:02.217
 1.763
15
1
 Fabrizio Giovanardi BMW Team Italy-Spain BMW 320i
2:02.576 *
 2.122
16
10
 Frank Diefenbacher SEAT Sport SEAT Toledo Cupra
2:02.839
 2.385
17
24
 Alessandro Balzan Scuderia Bigazzi Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:02.919
 2.465
18
19
 Tomas Engström PRO Motorsport Honda Civic Type-R
2:03.684
 3.230
19
26
 Adriano De Micheli Scuderia Bigazzi Alfa Romeo 156GTA
2:04.081
 3.627
20
61
 Sandro Sardelli ART Engineering Volvo S60
2:04.115
 3.661
21
3
 Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA
no time
  
22
4
 Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA
no time
  
23
66
 Giancarlo Fisichella Alfa Romeo Autodelta Alfa Romeo 156GTA
no time
  
Giancarlo Fisichella's smashed Alfa Romeo 156GTA is removed from the track
Italian Touring Car Championship front runner Adriano De Micheli steps up to drive the Bigazzi Alfa Romeo 156GTA at Monza, seen here during qualifying