Qualifying: Wirdheim fastest

Bjorn Wirdheim timed his final run to perfection in qualifying for this weekend's Formula 3000 race at Silverstone, taking pole position with five minutes to go on a rapidly drying track

Jul 18, 2003, 5:20 PM

Rain finally hit the Northamptonshire track shortly after the end of Formula 1 qualifying, leaving the circuit wet for the start of the F3000 session. Drivers were forced to lap on wet tyres for some time before a dry line emerged enough for the switch to slicks to be made.

With the tyres at their best on their third run, it was championship leader Wirdheim who timed his run right, claiming pole by 0.432s from Magny-Cours winner Giorgio Pantano. Ricardo Sperafico was third fastest, ahead of Vitantonio Liuzzi and Patrick Friesacher.

It was a tough session for F3000 debutant Michael Keohane and returnee Marc Hynes. Astromega driver Keohane was 13th fastest after a spin and an incident with another car. Hynes, who hasn't raced regularly since 1999, was the slowest of the 16 runners, over a second off the pace of the next driver, his BCN team-mate Williams Langhorne.

As expected, the Den Bla Avis team is not competing this weekend.