Mosport qualifying rained off

The teams anticipated heavy showers as the last dregs of Hurricane Ernest headed over Ontario. Slippery conditions in final practice caused a number of incidents and the organisers decided to replace qualifying with an extra open practice session so that drivers could acclimatise to the conditions in preparation for the race, which is also expected to be wet.

The other concern was that accidents in qualifying might prevent teams from taking part in the race, and with only 22 cars entered the officials were keen to ensure that a full field could take the start.

The starting order will therefore be set by combined times from Friday testing and morning practice - putting James Weaver and Butch Leitzinger's Dyson Lola on overall pole.

Dyson are chasing a third consecutive Mosport win, and with Weaver's 1:06.843 practice lap being 0.3 seconds below the track record, the team appears to be in good shape - although Weaver gave them a little extra work to do by crashing into the backstretch barriers in wet practice.

Audi duo Allan McNish and Rinaldo Capello can clinch the title this weekend, and will start alongside Weaver on the front row.

The final grid will be released later today. Lucas Luhr and Romain Dumas should take third overall and LMP2 pole on the basis of their pacesetting Friday testing time.

In the GT classes, Pedro Lamy and Stephane Sarrazin will earn GT1 pole for Aston Martin via their Saturday practice time, while Stephane Ortelli and Johnny Mowlem are set for GT2 pole in their Risi Ferrari after leading the class on Friday.