Qualifying 2: Bourdais on pole again

Bourdais, who missed out on pole at the A1-Ring, clawed himself to the head of the pack 15 minutes in to the second session, and he put the matter beyond doubt when he improved to a 1m28.258s on his final flying lap.

"It's good to come back after Austria," he said. "In the first session the car was uncomfortable to drive and it was difficult to be confident. The team did a fantastic job to make it better for the second session."

Lining up alongside Bourdais in the race will be Rodrigo Sperafico, winner of round one in Brazil. The Durango driver vaulted up the order with just three minutes of the session remaining - a welcome return to form for man who led the championship earlier in the season.

"We have had our problems in the last two races, but we've tested and now we are back," he said. "To start of the front row here is half the battle."

Provisional polesitter Patrick Friesacher failed to improve on his earlier time, and his cause was not aided by a crash at Rascasse that prevented him from running during the last 10 minutes. He was fortunate to drop just one place to Sperafico, and starting third represents a good job by the Austrian.

Championship leaders Tomas Enge and Giorgio Pantano had sessions to forget. Enge is no great fan of Monaco, but his first session performance gave the promise of a competitive showing. However, his Arden International Lola developed an overheating problem with its engine and the Czech spent much of the session in the pits. He failed to improve on his earlier time and dropped to seventh. In contrast Pantano appeared to have no problem other than getting to grips with the track and he starts a very disappointing 13th.

Enrico Toccacelo, David Saelens and Bjorn Wirdheim all did well to make it into the top six, while Antonio Pizzonia was another driver who failed to improve on his earlier time and he'll start 10th, one place ahead of Rob Nguyen, who did a sensational job on his first visit to the track to qualify 11th - his best showing of the season so far.

For combined qualifying times, click here.