Muller and Snobeck fastest in Canada

Mild temperatures saw the cancellation of Friday's free practice sessions, and the scheduled qualifying sessions were postponed until Saturday morning.

Once the T3F ice-racing cars were eventually allowed onto the ice, Opel's line-up of Yvan Muller and Dany Snobeck put in an impressive performance, setting the fastest times in both sessions.

The second fastest time was set by Marcel Tarres and Jean-Pierre Richelmi in the Citroen Xsara, with James Ruffier and Bruno Saby third in their Opel Tigra.

The Subaru Forester was an excellent fourth, with regular driver Christophe Balas joined by his older brother Bertrand for this event.

This is the second time that Sherbrooke has hosted an ice-race at the Bertrand Fabi circuit. 1.6 km long, the track is extremely wide and fast. Twenty-one cars have entered the competition, run under the same rules and regulations as the 24 Hours of Chamonix.

After qualifying, the cars and drivers will compete in six 25-minute heats, with a compulsory driver change in each heat. The best five results out of the six heats will count towards the final classification.

As well as the Andros regulars such as Muller, Tarres, Ruffier and Colard, former F1 driver Jacques Lafitte has made a return to ice-racing, sharing a Porsche 993 with Patrick Postillon and Jean-Claude Dayraut. They qualified in fourteenth place.

Per Eklund and Jean-Pierre Jarier are back with the Saab 993 in which they competed at Chamonix, coming in fifteenth.

Stéphane Peterhansel , driving a Nissan Micra with Philippe Gache, failed to set a time.

Some local drivers are also taking part, such as former F3000 driver Bertrand Godin and promising young Quebec driver Marc-Antoine Camirand.

Qualifying times from Sherbrooke: