Debut pole for Viper man Belloc

Belloc, driving the #2 Oreca Viper, took provisional pole during the hectic morning session, and as very few improvements were made in the afternoon, his time was never under threat.

With a lap of 1:01.532 on the narrow, twisting short circuit, the Frenchman was very pleased with his first GT pole.

'I am very happy - but more importantly the car is well prepared for the race tomorrow. It's going to be a very hard race, especially when passing back-markers.'

Justin Bell, sharing the #1 Oreca Viper with Luca Drudi, had a less successful day, and will start from tenth on the grid.

'The car was dreadful this morning. Now it's running better, but we had no tyres and terrible traffic. I'm looking forward to tomorrow - it should be better than today.'

Second fastest was 1998 Le Mans winner Stéphane Ortelli, driving the #3 Roock Racing Porsche 911 GT2. He was two tenths of a second slower than Belloc.

'This circuit has closed the gap between the cars: it's very good for the championship and it should be an interesting race tomorrow,' he said.

On row two of the grid will also be a Viper and a Porsche. Veteran French sportscar driver Bob Wollek set the third time at the wheel of the Konrad Motorsport Porsche 911 GT2.

The car has been undergoing a lot of development recently, and is also benefiting from the increased size of the Porsche restrictors
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Wollek and Konrad will be alongside the GL PK Viper, which is driven by Belgians Vosse and Dufourny - their best qualifying performance so far.

Julian Bailey, who was fastest in the morning practice yesterday, had a bad day due to brake problems on his Lister Storm.

'I spent most of the time in the pits," he said.

Despite this, he managed to set a time of 1:02.846 in the afternoon, putting him ninth.

'I could have been third if it wasn't for the traffic. The car is quick - I just haven't got any brakes.'

The car is being taken apart now, and should hopefully be back to Friday's form.

The second Lister, driven by Mike Hezemans and David Hart, both from the Netherlands, is fifth, after an excellent morning.

Qualifying times from Hockenheim