Qual: Ekstrom takes pole

A stunning final sector was the key to his 1m53.003s pole time while, ironically, that part of the track was the downfall of team-mate Tom Kristensen, who had paced the pre-qualifying session. The Dane was ragged in the final corners, dropping him to fourth behind Christijan Albers (Mercedes) and Martin Tomczyk (Audi). "It's nice to end Saturday with pole position," said Ekstrom.

Albers and Gary Paffett (Mercedes) are the only men who can beat Ekstrom to the title, but Gary could only manage the seventh fastest time, behind the two Opels of an inspired Heinz-Harald Frentzen and Marcel Fassler.

"I'm really satisfied with a place on the front row," said Albers. "It was the maximum I could manage with what I had."

Frentzen added: "It has pissed me off that I've not scored any points this year, and now I'm in the perfect position to do that."

Christian Abt (Audi), Peter Dumbreck (Opel) and Emanuele Pirro (Audi) round out the top 10, as Mercedes stars Jean Alesi (13th) and Bernd Schneider (a terrible 15th) failed to make the Super Pole.

Mattias Ekstrom, Audi A4, 1m53.003s
Christijan Albers, Mercedes C-Class, 1m53.231s
Martin Tomczyk, Audi A4, 1m53.248s
Tom Kristensen, Audi A4, 1m53.314s
Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Opel Vectra GTS, 1m53.462s
Marcel Fassler, Opel Vectra GTS, 1m53.592s