Nurburgring Auto GP: Markus Pommer grabs pole position

Meanwhile, championship leader Kimiya Sato's hopes of claiming the title this weekend took a dive after a problematic qualifying session left him eleventh and last on the grid for race one.

Pommer positioned himself well in a session where track position would be important whatever happened.

At the start of the top 10 shootout it looked as though being last across the line on a drying track would be the right call. But then, just as the drivers completed their out-laps, heavy rain arrived, and the front of the train was the best spot.

Pommer was quickest as the pack completed their first laps, benefiting not just from a clear road but also from having just a corner or three more on a relatively dry track.

The Super Nova International driver managed to improve again before the rain thoroughly doused the circuit, but after the second full tour it was clear that nobody was going to go any quicker.

That left Pommer ahead of Kevin Giovesi, Tamas Pal Kiss and Michela Cerruti on the grid for race one.

Euronova Racing driver Sato was kept in the pits by a brake problem until just a couple of minutes remained of the first half of qualifying, in which he needed to post a time to make the top-10 shootout.

He did eventually make it out in time, but the points leader then went off at Turn 1 on his first flying lap. That caused the first session to be red-flagged with two minutes to go, and it was not restarted, leaving Sato high and dry in last place.

Pos Driver              Team                 Time       Gap
 1. Markus Pommer       Super Nova           1m38.045s  
 2. Kevin Giovesi       FMS                  1m38.777s  +0.732s 
 3. Tamas Pal Kiss      Virtuosi UK          1m39.450s  +1.405s 
 4. Michela Cerruti     Super Nova           1m39.981s  +1.936s 
 5. Andrea Roda         Virtuosi UK          1m40.018s  +1.973s 
 6. Yoshitaka Kuroda    Euronova             1m40.404s  +2.359s 
 7. Francesco Dracone   Super Nova           1m41.774s  +3.729s 
 8. Michele La Rosa     MLR 71 by Euronova   1m41.911s  +3.866s 
 9. Giuseppe Cipriani   Ibiza                1m43.165s  +5.120s 
10. Salvatore de Plano  FMS                  1m52.227s  +14.182s
11. Kimiya Sato         Euronova             no time