All-Audi front row in Adelaide

"It's very hard to do the perfect lap," said Capello. "I think maybe my lap was only 85 percent. I made a small mistake in the chicane."

With only one (albeit extended) qualifying session on the schedule, all the drivers were under pressure to make the best of their 30 minutes. Rafanelli's Mimmo Schiattarella and Panoz star David Brabham both had lurid spins on the way to qualifying eighth and third respectively.

"We're struggling for grip here and really fighting the car through the corners," said Brabham. "We've done the best that we can do, and the car is better than it's been all weekend."

Things looked even more gloomy in the adjacent garage, where the new Panoz LMP was beset by engine and gearbox problems. Despite sitting out much of the practice sessions, Jan Magnussen set the fifth quickest time in the US marque's 2001 car, just behind team-mate Johnny O'Connell.

Sixth and seventh - and their traditional four seconds slower than the Audis - were the privateer DAMS Cadillacs. Understeer, the traditional bane of the Northstar chassis, was a problem again.

"We found a little more balance in the car today, but we are still slow," said Emmanuel Collard. "But tomorrow's a different story."

In GTS, Olivier Beretta put in a ragged but effective qualifying lap to take pole for the ORECA Chrysler team in what will be the last race for the factory Vipers. The Monegasque had missed most of the previous day's practice sessions after team-mate Karl Wendlinger damaged the car.

"That lap was the first one I completed here in daylight," said Beretta. "The track was very slippery and we had only a short time to set up the car."

Jean-Phillipe Belloc posted second in the sister car, with Chamberlain's Steven Watson third. The privateer Viper occupied the top of the time sheets for the first half of the session by dint of going out before the works cars, then went out again in the closing minutes to entertain the crowd with some kerb-hopping.

PTG's trio of BMW M3s dominated the GT class until the dying minutes of qualifying, when Dick Barbour's Porsche 911s rolled out and usurped the top spots. Lucas Luhr took pole ahead of team-mate Sascha Maassen.

The race takes place on Sunday evening. Capello's co-driver Allan McNish will take the drivers' title simply by starting the race, but his participation is in doubt after he aggravated a back injury (see Top Story.)



1 Capello/McNish/Jones Audi R8 LMP 1:23.80
2 Pirro/Biela Audi R8 LMP 1:23.98
3 Brabham/Murphy/Bright Panoz Roadster LMP 1:24.99
4 O'Connell/Katoh Panoz Roadster LMP 1:25.17
5 Magnussen/Graf Panoz LMP 007 LMP 1:26.86
6 Collard/Bernard Cadillac Northstar LMP 1:27.55
7 Tinseau/Goossens Cadillac Northstar LMP 1:27.75
8 Schiattarella/de Radigues/Simon Rafanelli Lola-Judd LMP 1:28.82
9 Konrad/Slater/Heath Konrad Lola-Ford LMP 1:32.96
10 Beretta/Wendlinger/Dupuy ORECA Chrysler Viper GTS 1:34.60
11 Belloc/Amorim ORECA Chrysler Viper GTS 1:35.60
12 Watson/Duno/Lintott Chamberlain Chrysler Viper GTS 1:35.93
13 Luhr/Muller Dick Barbour Porsche 911 GT 1:36.64
14 Maassen/Wollek Dick Barbour Porsche 911 GT 1:37.08
15 Said/Stuck/van Overbeek PTG BMW M3 GT 1:37.44