Fourth pole for Oreca GT Team

Returning to the Championship with Beretta after missing the third round due to ALMS commitments, Wendlinger set a time of 1:38.862 in the morning session.

'It's not so easy for us anymore," the Austrian said, after what has seemed to be a straightforward weekend for them so far.

'We have 70kg penalty weight, and the Porsche cars have bigger restrictors. You can really tell the difference.

'We can still do a good qualifying time, but it will be hard work for the car over the three hours of the race.'

The only team to make significant improvements during the afternoon session was Roock Racing, with Sascha Maassen taking third place on the grid for the number 5 Roock Sportsystem Porsche 911 GT2.

'I'm very happy to be the best Porsche driver,' said the German, who won the race here last season.

Stephane Ortelli had a frustrating day with tyre problems. 'The car becomes undriveable with new tyres,' he said after qualifying fourth in his Porsche.

The qualifying sessions saw plenty of cars leaving the track, either into the grass or gravel.

The number 24 RWS Porsche went off, damaging the car and spreading gravel all over the track, which damaged the number 19 Chamberlain car, breaking the windscreen and damaging the bodywork.

Christian Vann and Christian Glasel will start from 13th on the grid.

Cor Euser, whose Marcos LM600 took the GT2 pole in last year's race, had problems today, only managing to complete nine laps of the 3.9 km circuit.

'We still have an engine problem. It doesn't look too good for tomorrow - we're really not up to speed.'

They will start from 11th on the grid.

Nearn and Smith, whose Seikel Porsche was badly damaged in free practice yesterday, has been fully repaired and is running well.

The British drivers are 15th.

However, they have been promised a new 3.8 litre engine for the next round at Zolder.