Fassler claims Nogaro pole
Marcel Fassler and Jean-Denis Deletraz snatched pole position for the latest round of the FIA GT championship at Nogaro with a late effort at the French circuit
Swiss driver Fassler had been lying inside the top five for most of the field, but stormed to the top of the timesheet in the final 90 seconds as he lapped in 1:23.703.
The Larbre Saleen, returning for the first time since it was destroyed in warm-up for the Spa 24 Hours, looked set for a brilliant pole of its own, but Greg Franchi missed out to Fassler by just over a tenth of a second.
Christophe Bouchut put the Selleslagh Chevrolet Corvette on the second row, while Allan Simonsen joined him after another good performance from the Gigawave Aston Martin.
Championship leaders Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels will start a disappointing 10th, although carrying 60 kilos of handicap ballast.
It was a mixed day for the Jetalliance Aston Martin crew, with Karl Wendlinger putting the lead car seventh on the grid, and the second machine failing to set a time after Jiri Janak crashed it heavily during the morning practice session.
The GT2 class pole went to Britian's Richard Westbrook, in 12th place overall. The former Porsche Supercup champion, who was handling qualifying duties for the Prospeed Porsche he shares with Alex Davison, lapped in 1:26.296 inside the first five minutes of the session.
He then made an early exit to Parc Ferme while each one of the nine Ferraris in the class made an attempt at pole. None managed it, but Christian Montanari came closest, 0.332 seconds slower in the AF Corse-run 430 he shares with Thomas Biagi.
The two CR Scuderia cars were third and fifth quickest, Tim Mullen ahead in the faster car as Gianmaria Bruni squeezed in ahead of Andrew Kirkaldy in the final two minutes of the 15-minute session.
Pos Cl Qualifying driver Car Time 1. GT1 Marcel Fassler Corvette Z06 1:23.703 2. GT1 Greg Franchi Saleen S7 1:23.810 + 0.107 3. GT1 Christophe Bouchut Corvette Z06 1:23.996 + 0.293 4. GT1 Allan Simonsen Aston Martin DB9 1:24.284 + 0.581 5. GT1 Alexandre Negrao Maserati MC 12 1:24.428 + 0.725 6. GT1 Anthony Kumpen Saleen S7 1:24.452 + 0.749 7. GT1 Karl Wendlinger Aston Martin DB9 1:24.542 + 0.839 8. GT1 Mike Hezemans Corvette Z06 1:24.829 + 1.126 9. GT1 JP Dayraut Corvette Z06 1:24.832 + 1.129 10. GT1 Andrea Bertolini Maserati MC 12 1:25.235 + 1.532 11. GT1 Esteban Tuero Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:25.592 + 1.889 12. GT2 Richard Westbrook Porsche 911 GT3 RS 1:26.296 + 2.593 13. GT2 Christian Montanari Ferrari F430 1:26.628 + 2.925 14. GT2 Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 1:26.808 + 3.105 15. GT2 Gianmaria Bruni Ferrari F430 1:26.836 + 3.133 16. GT2 Andrew Kirkaldy Ferrari F430 1:26.903 + 3.200 17. GT2 Matias Russo Ferrari F430 1:27.292 + 3.589 18. GT2 Fabio Babini Ferrari F430 1:27.303 + 3.600 19. GT2 Matteo Malucelli Ferrari F430 1:27.474 + 3.771 20. GT2 Maurizio Mediani Ferrari F430 1:27.488 + 3.785 21. GT2 Markus Palttala Porsche 911 GT3 RS 1:27.806 + 4.103 22. G2 Tomas Enge Aston Martin Vantage 1:28.128 + 4.425 23. GT2 Joel Camathias Ferrari F430 1:28.574 + 4.871 24. GT2 Richard Williams Porsche 911 GT3 RS 1:28.661 + 4.958
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