Marc VDS' Maxime Martin takes World GT1 pole again in Ford GT at Beijing
Maxime Martin made it two pole positions in the FIA World GT1's Chinese double-header at the tight and twisty Goldenport track in Beijing on Friday
The Marc VDS Ford GT driver, who shares this weekend with sometime IndyCar racer Bertrand Baguette, lapped the track in 1m00.344s, just a tenth quicker than the Young Driver Aston Martin of Stefan Mucke, who is partnered by Darren Turner.
"Two races, two pole positions - perfect," said Martin.
The second Young Driver car of Tomas Enge and Alex Muller will start from row two alongside championship challengers Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock's All-Inkl Lamborghini.
The big news of qualifying was championship leader Lucas Luhr going off at Turn 1 in Q1, after he clipped grass on turn-in, which put him out of the qualifying process. It means he, and JRM Nissan team-mate Michael Krumm, will start the qualifying race down in 16th.
The Michael Rossi/Nico Verdonck Exim Corvette will start fifth. Sixth-placed Marc Hennerici went off into the tyre wall at the final corner in the last minute of Q3 attempting - unsuccessfully - to match his Marc VDS team-mate Bas Leinders' quickest time in Q2.
"Highs and lows - P6 is very disappointing," rued Leinders.
An earlier red flag was required in Q1 when Stef Dusseldorp dumped his Aston into the tyre wall, prompting Hexis team manager Philippe Dumas to say: "A stupid mistake; unbelievable. All he needed to do was one lap to make it through to Q2."
The Nicky Catsburg/Enrique Bernoldi Sumo Power Nissan did not even start qualifying after Catsburg hit the wall in practice.
Pos Drivers Team/Car Time Gap 1. Martin/Baguette Marc VDS Ford 1m00.344s 2. Mucke/Turner Young Driver Aston 1m00.441s + 0.097s 3. Enge/Muller Young Driver Aston 1m00.465s + 0.121s 4. Basseng/Winkelhock All-Inkl Lamborghini 1m00.588s + 0.244s 5. Rossi/Verdonck Exim Corvette 1m00.741s + 0.397s 6. Hennerici/Leinders Marc VDS Ford 1m00.943s + 0.599s 7. Hirschi/Nygaard Belgian Ford 1m01.253s + 0.909s 8. Campbell-Walter/Brabham Sumo Power Nissan 1m01.390s + 1.046s 9. Westbrook/Dumbreck JRM Nissan 1m01.074s Q2 10. Schwager/Pastorelli All-Inkl Lamborghini 1m01.118s Q2 11. Tung/den Boer Exim Corvette 1m01.173s Q2 12. Hohenadel/Piccini Hexis Aston 1m01.285s Q2 13. Bruck/Kennard DKR Lamborghini 1m01.335s Q2 14. Leclerc/Clairay Belgian Ford 1m01.453s Q2 15. Lauck/Leuenberger DKR Lamborghini 1m01.713s Q1 16. Luhr/Krumm JRM Nissan 1m02.054s Q1 17. Dusseldorp/Piccione Hexis Aston Q1 18. Catsburg/Bernoldi Sumo Power Nissan Q1
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