Bernoldi takes home GT1 pole
Enrique Bernoldi took his first pole in the GT1 World Championship in qualifying for his home round at Interlagos, but while Bernoldi and team-mate Xandi Negrao will start first in the #2 Vitaphone Maserati, the squad's championship-leading #1 car was only 19th
Andrea Bertolini blamed a small mistake and the effects of success ballast for the lack of pace from the MC12 that he shares with Michael Bartels.
Bertolini and Bartels still have a comfortable 35-point cushion and can wrap up the title this weekend. Their nearest rival Thomas Mutsch qualified fifth with team-mate Richard Westbrook in the Matech Ford, but the duo will take a three-place penalty carried over from an incident at Navarra.
Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager missed out on pole by just 0.027 seconds in the All-Inkl/Munnich Lamborghini, while the Tomas Enge/Darren Turner Young Driver Aston Martin was also in the thick of the Q3 fight and starts third, alongside Marc Hennerici and Alex Margaritis' Phoenix/Carsport Corvette.
Leading Nissan drivers Peter Dumbreck and Michael Krumm (Sumo Power) will move up to fifth when the Matech Ford's penalty takes effect.
Local guest entrants Daniel Serra (Triple H Maserati) and Sergio Jimenez (Mad-Croc Corvette) had starred with first and second in Q1, but their respective gentleman driver partners Francisco Longo and Claudio Dahruj could only manage eighth-row spots when they took over for Q2.
Pos Drivers Car Time Session 1. Bernoldi/Negrao Maserati 1m32.060s Q3 2. Schwager/Pastorelli Lamborghini 1m32.087s Q3 3. Enge/Turner Aston Martin 1m32.169s Q3 4. Hennerici/Margaritis Corvette 1m32.410s Q3 5. Westbrook/Mutsch Ford 1m32.468s Q3 6. Dumbreck/Krumm Nissan 1m32.500s Q3 7. Zonta/Kechele Lamborghini 1m32.516s Q3 8. Jani/Armindo Ford 1m32.773s Q3 9. Bobbi/Palttala Ford 1m33.174s Q2 10. Piccione/Hirschi Aston Martin 1m33.192s Q2 11. Martin/Leinders Ford 1m33.488s Q2 12. Campbell-Walter/Hughes Nissan 1m33.559s Q2 13. Wendlinger/Moser Nissan 1m33.814s Q2 14. Makowiecki/Clairay Aston Martin 1m34.120s Q2 15. Jimenez/Dahruj Corvette 1m35.076s Q2 16. Serra/Longo Maserati 1m35.948s Q2 17. Huisman/Kuismanen Corvette 1m33.131s Q1 18. Kox/Haase Lamborghini 1m33.320s Q1 19. Bertolini/Bartels Maserati 1m33.331s Q1 20. Nygaard/Mucke Aston Martin 1m33.386s Q1 21. Ara/Nilsson Nissan 1m33.497s Q1 22. Bouchut/Basseng Lamborghini 1m33.592s Q1 23. Heger/Muller Maserati 1m33.857s Q1
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