Melo pips Sperafico brothers to take pole

The Durango Formula driver stole pole position on the last lap of the second session to give the team a perfect return to the international championship after a year in the Italian domestic series.

Melo is entering his second year in the series, having driven for Petrobras in 2000, and this was his first pole position in the category. Both he and the Speraficos benefited from circuit knowledge during the two hour-long sessions, all three having raced at the circuit before in the SudAm Formula 3 championship.

"In the first session I was a little careful," said Melo. "But we made a good change for the second. It's difficult to get a clear lap, but I did manage it on my last. The car was really good and I'm very confident."

Ricardo Sperafico headed his twin brother Rodrigo, who only confirmed his deal to race with Coloni last Tuesday. With only two days testing for the team at the official Imola test, it was a star performance.

British F3 champion Antonio Pizzonia made a strong start to his F3000 career to take fourth on the grid, ahead of experienced Czech Tomas Enge. German F3 champion Giorgio Pantano was sixth ahead of Enge's Nordic team-mate and top Brit Justin Wilson.

The other UK drivers endured difficult sessions. Darren Manning could only manage a disappointing 14th for Arden International, while it was no surprise that Justin Keen was down in 23rd. Keen's deal with KJR Monaco Motorsport was sealed very late and he has little testing experience of the F3000 Lola.

Championship favourite Mark Webber was down in 10th and only just managed to improve his time in the second session after a gearbox ratio change. His team-mate Mario Haberfeld spun out of the second session, but had done just enough to stay ahead of Webber in ninth.

For full qualifying results, click here.