Sato snatches first pole

Sato had been fractionally slower than Pizzonia in pre-race testing, but maintained he could have gone quicker had testing not been curtailed by an accident.

Oulton Park winner Tomas Scheckter was third ahead of Andy Priaulx and Ben Collins, the order generally matching the testing times.

Qualifying times for race one at Donington Park:

1 T Sato Carlin Motorsport 1m04.116s
2 A Pizzonia Manor Motorsport 1m04.172s
3 T Scheckter Stewart Racing 1m04.285s
4 A Priaulx Promatecme 1m04.520s
5 B Collins Carlin Motorsport 1m04.623s
6 M Bentwood Fortec 1m04.710s
7 M Davies Promatecme 1m04.719s
8 M Pavlovic RC Motorsport 1m04.758s
9 N Karthikeyan Stewart Racing 1m04.776s
10 G Bruni Fortec 1m04.901s
11 G Paffett Fred Goddard Racing 1m05.082s
12 J-M Lopez Manor Motorsport 1m05.190s
13 M O'Connell Rowan Racing 1m05.403s
14 N Kiesa RC Motorsport 1m05.412s
15 W Barber Alan Docking Racing 1m05.420s
16 A Kirkaldy Team Avanti 1m05.663s
17 T Sriachavanon Alan Docking Racing 1m06.258s
18 W Carway Rowan Racing 1m06.314s
19 M Romanio Team Meritus 1m06.383s
20 M Mayall Diamond Racing 1m06.479s
21 P Hopkins Hopkins Motorsport 1m06.830s
22 R Walker Diamond Racing 1m06.848s
23 C Fleming ME Motorsport 1m06.954s
24 C Columbo Rowan Racing 1m07.097s
25 A Katsumata Team Meritus 1m07.098s