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Gianni Morbidelli wins all-Audi Superstars pole duel at Spa

Gianni Morbidelli led an Audi one-two in qualifying for the International Superstars Series round at Spa-Francorchamps, after he and Johan Kristoffersson staged a thrilling battle for pole position

With the track drying throughout the session, it was all about timing. And Morbidelli was the master, making the call to switch to slick tyres earlier than anyone else, and consequently setting a time that was a full five seconds quicker than his rivals had gone to that point.

As the rest of the field cottoned on and the times started to tumble, Morbidelli had his challengers, the most promising being KMS Audi driver Kristoffersson. But while the Swede was able to grab top spot, Morbidelli crossed the line literally seconds later to post an unassailable 2m32.340s best, sealing pole position.

Kristoffersson was therefore forced to settle for second, despite improving on his final effort, dropping into the 2m32s bracket with a 2m32.943s.

In conditions that should have levelled the playing field between the four and two-wheel-drive cars, third-placed Tonio Liuzzi still found himself 1.7 seconds adrift of pole in the CAAL Racing Mercedes. The points leader left his run very late; he had been outside the 110 per cent cut-off required to qualify for the race with less than three minutes to go, posting his time within the last minute of the session.

Liuzzi's team-mate Luigi Ferrara was another driver to leave his run late, but did enough in the end to make it an all-CAAL Racing second row.

Mika Salo had hung around the top of the timesheets in the early part of the session when the track was damp, but could not match the Mercedes as the track dried out. He wound up fifth in the Swiss Team Maserati, ahead of Camilo Zurcher (Romeo Ferraris Mercedes), who had a very brief stint at the top during the switchover to slick tyres.

With an all-Audi front row, and all-Mercedes second row, Dinamic BMW kept the theme alive on the fourth row, where Thomas Biagi and Stefano Gabellini qualified seventh and eighth fastest respectively.

Andrea Larini made sure both Romeo Ferraris entries were in the top 10 with the ninth quickest time, ahead of the third Audi of Thomas Schoffler, the German only completing one flying lap on slick tyres
.
Ferlito Jaguar's Max Pigoli qualified outside the 110 per cent after completing just two laps. The veteran is still struggling with arm pain following a crash at the Hungaroring a fortnight ago, and it is unclear whether he will take part in Sunday's proceedings.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia        2m32.340s
 2.  Johan Kristoffersson  KMS Audi           2m32.943s  + 0.603s
 3.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes      2m34.016s  + 1.676s
 4.  Luigi Ferrara         CAAL Mercedes      2m34.305s  + 1.965s
 5.  Mika Salo             Swiss Maserati     2m35.007s  + 2.667s
 6.  Camilo Zurcher        Romeo Mercedes     2m35.065s  + 2.725s
 7.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW        2m35.112s  + 2.772s
 8.  Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW        2m35.324s  + 2.984s
 9.  Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes     2m35.440s  + 3.100s
10.  Thomas Schoffler      MTM Audi           2m35.531s  + 3.191s
11.  Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW            2m35.673s  + 3.333s
12.  Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet  2m35.952s  + 3.612s
13.  Domenico Ferlito      Ferlito Jaguar     2m36.158s  + 3.818s
14.  Jeff Smith            Dinamic BMW        2m39.714s  + 7.374s
15.  Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati     2m41.050s  + 8.710s
16.  Nico Caldarola        Roma Mercedes      2m42.992s  + 10.652s
17.  Alessandro Garofano   Romeo Mercedes     2m44.349s  + 12.009s
18.  Walter Meloni         W&D BMW            2m51.945s  + 19.605s
19.  Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar     2m53.302s  + 20.962s

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