Qualifying: Sperafico's surprise pole

Despite a last lap do-or-die effort from series leader Justin Wilson's Nordic machine, Sperafico's Petrobras car took pole with a 1m59.526s, just 0.073secs quicker than the Britain for his first pole in the series.

"I'm very happy to have taken pole in my first year," said Sperafico. "I felt very confident coming here after the test, which had gone very well for me. If I get a good start then it's possible to win tomorrow, but you never know with the long straights here."

Wilson, who was lying fifth before his last ditch flyer, said: "That last lap was something else - I knew it had to count. I was a little frustrated to get held up at the first corner, which lost me a couple of tenths, but the tyres were getting better and better. For the championship, it's great to be on the front row."

Wilson's team mate Tomas Enge was third quickest, although he suffered with suspension damage after clipping a kerb too hard in the Stadium section. The Czech, who lies third in the points standings, also revealed that he was putting his head down on the straights for maximum aerodynamic effect and was navigating his way down the straights at 285kph by watching the white lines at the side of the track...

Andrea Piccini (European Minardi) rose to fourth on the grid, while Darren Manning made a superhuman effort to qualify the car of Viktor Maslov in fifth after the engine on his own car blew up in the first session.

The third championship protagonist, Mark Webber, was one of the few drivers to fail to improve on his time from the first session, and will start his Super Nova car from seventh on the grid.

For full qualifying results, click here.