Ferrari on pole for Spa

Frenchman David Terrien, at the wheel of the Ferrari 333 SP, claimed the front position with a lap of 2m11.613sec, set in the final minutes of the SR1 qualifying session.

The car had undergone significant repairs after Pescatori crashed on Friday, aqua-planing on the straight.

"This was my first qualifying session, and my first pole," Terrien said afterwards. "The car was good in the dry, and the mechanics did a fantastic job, working until 5am to repair it. It's always good to start from the front, and it should be a good race on Sunday."

The weather had been showery all day, and heavy rain disrupted the final part of the Sports Racing Lights qualifying session.

The SR1 cars came out on wets, but as the sunshine dried the track, the cars pitted for slick tyres and the times steadily improved. The DAMS Cadillac Northstars, which had been fastest in Friday's free practice, dominated the early part of the session, with Belgium's Marc Goossens and France's Eric Bernard setting the pace.

But as the track dried, their rivals caught up, Mauro Baldi in the R&M Riley and Scott and David Terrien in the JB Giesse Ferrari exchanging best times.

Didier de Radigues, joining the Kremer team alongside Christian Gläsel and Christian Vann for this race, took provisional pole with three minutes to go, before a final rush from Baldi and Terrien demoted him to third.

When the chequered flag fell, the top five cars, from five different manufacturers, were within seven tenths of a second of each other.

"The car is looking good, although we have some understeer," Gary Formato said after his team-mate Mauro Baldi claimed the second grid position.

"I'll be doing the warm-up, and then we'll give it a go ! "

Formato and Baldi won the previous round at Monza in the Judd-powered Riley&Scott.

"We came so close to the pole," third-placed Didier de Radigues said. "But the important thing is that the car is well set up for the race. Considering how little running we've had, with the weather, we're very happy to see we're up with the competition."

For the second time this season, qualifying in the Sports Racing Lights category was led by Owen Mildenhall and Werner Lupberger, in the Nissan-powered Redman Bright Pilbeam MP84.

"I did a lap at the start of the session, and saw it was going to rain, so I handed the car over to Werner," Owen Mildenhall said. "He went out and took pole on his first timed lap."

The rain then started in earnest, and no further improvements were possible.

"I am confident the car has the pace to win the race," South African Lupberger commented. "We just have to keep our fingers crossed that it will run for two and a half hours !"

Qualifying positions
Sports Racing World Cup

1 Pescatori/Terrien, JB Giesse Ferrari 333SP, 2m11.613sec
2 Baldi/Formato, R&M R&S Judd, 2m11.766sec
3 Gläsel/Vann/Radigues Kremer, Lola B98 Roush, 2m11.996sec
4 Tinseau/Goosens, DAMS Cadillac Northstar, 2m12.232sec
5 Nielsen/Thyrring, DenBlaAvis Panoz Spyder LMP, 2m12.314sec
6 Zadra/Peter, BMS Ferrari 333SP, 2m13.011sec
7 Lavaggi/Filliberti, GLV Brums Ferrari 333SP, 2m13.050sec
8 Bernard/Collard, DAMS Cadillac Northstar, 2m13.544sec
9 Calderari/Bryner, BMS Ferrari 333SP, 2m16.197sec
10 Waaijenberg/vd Lof, Dutch Nat. Ferrari 333SP, 2m17.396sec
11 Mildenhall/Lupberger, Redman Br. Pilbeam MP84, 2m19.956sec
12 Ronca/Francioni, Lucchini Luchini SR2, 2m21.001sec
13 Nobili/Monti, BM Tampolli RS2, 2m21.887sec
14 Owen/Smithson, Redman Br. Pilbeam MP84, 2m23.995sec
15 Peroni/Maddalena, Lucchini Alfa Romeo, 2m25.466sec
16 Saccomanno/Tonetti, Audisio Luchini 99, 2m25.638sec
17 Henderson/Merche, EBRT Pilbeam MP84, 2m26.995sec
18 Peroni/Ligonnet, Tampolli Tampolli RS2, 2m27.058sec
19 Giudici/Raimondi, Giudici Picchio BMW, 2m27.246sec
20 Blom/Sa, Nogueira Tampolli Tampolli RS2, 2m28.275sec
21 Fores/Harris, MarkBailey MBR 972 MK2, 2m29.955sec
22 Bruneau/Rostan, Bruneau Debora BMW, 2m30.396sec
23 Prospero/Amadori, GPM Picchio BMW, 2m37.860
24 Randaccio/Sebastiano SCI Lucchini 2:38.064