Danner takes Silverstone pole

Danner edged out Stefan Johansson, Derek Warwick and Riccardo Patrese in a session that ended with the top four covered by less than two tenths of a second.

"It took me a while to understand the track," said the German, "because I haven't really done anything here since they made all the changes. But once you feel safe you try harder. It was fun out there - believe me!"

Johansson felt a slight engine-mapping problem could have cost him time, as he felt power lagging each time he changed up through the gears.

Warwick, meanwhile, had a ragged session - "I went off at Copse, at Becketts, at Stowe..." - which also included an authentic bout of fist waving at Rene Arnoux, who was warming up for his own qualifying effort.

Another minor incident involved fifth-placed Jan Lammers, who was on a hot lap when he tried to overtake Andrea de Cesaris at Brooklands. The Italian wandered into the Dutchman's path and there was a minor collision.

Eddie Cheever was sixth fastest. He was quickest through the very fast sector one, but like Warwick had problems with overdriving in the rest of the lap.

Nigel Mansell was 13th, and slowest of those to set a time. He did one warm-up lap before going for it. He was up on the pole position time in the first sector, but then a radiator hose detached itself as he braked for Vale and he spun on his own water.

"There'll be shit flying when those lights go out tomorrow..." he warned.

This time only two drivers - Eric van de Poele and Pierluigi Martini - didn't get to take to the track, as the GP Masters mechanics continue to work hard to rectify the engine problems which have struck the series this weekend.

Qualifying times:

Pos   Driver              Time
 1.   Christian Danner    1:36.916
 2.   Stefan Johansson    1:36.932 +  0.016
 3.   Derek Warwick       1:36.982 +  0.066
 4.   Riccardo Patrese    1:37.087 +  0.171
 5.   Jan Lammers         1:37.242 +  0.326
 6.   Eddie Cheever       1:37.492 +  0.576
 7.   Andrea de Cesaris   1:37.761 +  0.845
 8.   Emerson Fittipaldi  1:37.859 +  0.943
 9.   Hans Stuck          1:38.511 +  1.595
10.   Eliseo Salazar      1:40.314 +  3.398
11.   Patrick Tambay      1:40.532 +  3.616
12.   Rene Arnoux         1:42.390 +  5.474
13.   Nigel Mansell       1:46.973 + 10.057
      Eric van de Poele   No time
      Pierluigi Martini   No time