Bernoldi fastest in Ricard qualifying

The Team Brazil Chevrolet driver will not start the penultimate round of the championship from pole position, however.

Bernoldi will take a six-place grid penalty for avoidable contact during the second free practice session on Friday.

Bernoldi ended this morning's qualifying session nearly a second clear of his closest challenger - his 2m09.19s compared with Alex Muller's 2m01.856s best in the fastest of the Vitaphone Maseratis.

Bernoldi, who shares the DKR-run Corvette C6.R with Roberto Streit, said: "The car behaved very well and I was a bit pissed because of the penalty, but I still didn't expect to be a second clear."

The lead Vitaphone Maserati MC12 and the PK Racing Chevrolet Corvette, which are tied for the lead of the championship, ended up fourth and sixth on the timesheets. Andrea Bertolini qualified the Maserati on a 2m02.043s, Mike Hezemans the Corvette on a 2m02.328s.

GT2 pole went to Gianmaria Bruni in the revised AF Corse Ferrari. His time of 2m08.735s was less than two tenths clear of Tim Mullen's best in the CR Scuderia Ferrari.

Thee lead AF Corse Ferrari, which Bruni shares with Toni Vilander, is racing this weekend to a 1245kg base weight. That means it can run wider tyres and a larger-diameter air-restrictor like the rival Porsche 911 GT3-RSR.

Pos  Qualifying Driver   Cl   Car       Time       Gap
 1.  Enrique Bernoldi    GT1  Corvette  2m00.919s
 2.  Alex Muller         GT1  Maserati  2m01.856s  + 0.937s
 3.  Alex Pier Guidi     GT1  Maserati  2m02.043s  + 1.124s
 4.  Andrea Bertolini    GT1  Maserati  2m02.044s  + 1.125s
 5.  James Ruffier       GT1  Corvette  2m02.300s  + 1.381s
 6.  Mike Hezemans       GT1  Corvette  2m02.328s  + 1.409s
 7.  Thomas Biagi        GT1  Corvette  2m02.541s  + 1.622s
 8.  Olivier Panis       GT1  Ferrari   2m04.796s  + 3.877s
 9.  Bas Leinders        GT1  Ford      2m05.853s  + 4.934s
10.  Thomas Mutsch       GT1  Ford      2m07.108s  + 6.189s
11.  Gianmaria Bruni     GT2  Ferrari   2m08.314s  + 7.395s
12.  Tim Mullen          GT2  Ferrari   2m08.480s  + 7.561s
13.  Martin Ragginger    GT2  Porsche   2m08.924s  + 8.005s
14.  Sascha Maassen      GT2  Porsche   2m08.972s  + 8.053s
15.  Alvaro Barba Lopez  GT2  Ferrari   2m09.436s  + 8.517s
16.  Darryl O'Young      GT2  Porsche   2m09.483s  + 8.564s
17.  Emmanuel Collard    GT2  Porsche   2m09.534s  + 8.615s
18.  Matias Russo        GT2  Ferrari   2m09.551s  + 8.632s
19.  Andrew Kirkaldy     GT2  Ferrari   2m09.722s  + 8.803s
20.  Matteo Malucelli    GT2  Ferrari   2m09.743s  + 8.824s
21.  Diego Romanini      GT2  Ferrari   2m11.078s  + 10.159s