Baku FIA GT: Rene Rast takes pole for WRT Audi

Rast, who shares his WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra with Niki Mayr-Melnhof, topped the times in the second of the two 15-minute qualifying sessions with a best time of 1m42.551s.

That put him more than half a second clear of closest challenger Markus Winkelhock, who set his 1m43.062s in his Phoenix Audi in an opening session interrupted by two red flags.

Rast, whose team-mate lies third in the title race, said: "It wasn't the perfect lap to be honest, because I lost a bit in the last sector.

"The Audi is good here and I enjoy street circuits - I've won twice at Monaco [in Porsche Supercup]."

Laurens Vanthoor, who leads the championship with co-driver Stephane Ortelli, claimed third spot with a 1m43.615s set in the second session in the next best of the four WRT Audis.

Fourth on the grid went to the second fastest driver in the opening session, Alexander Sims, who posted a 1m43.825s in his Boutsen McLaren.

Mike Parisy took fifth spot in the best of the Sebastien Loeb Racing McLaren MP4-12Cs on a second-session best of 1m43.885s

The second-placed crew in the championship, Frank Stippler and Edward Sandstrom, ended up only 12th with Sandstrom's second-session time.

The car will have to take a five-place grid penalty in Sunday morning's qualifying race for avoidable contact in the opening session of free practice.

Qualifying was shortened as a result of delays completing the build of the circuit. There was no Superpole session, which meant the grid was decided as a result of times set in Q1 and Q2.

Pos  Drivers                 Team/Car                  Time       Gap
 1.  Mayr-Melnhof/Rast       WRT Audi                  1m42.551s
 2.  Winkelhock/Ide          Phoenix Audi              1m43.062s  +0.511s
 3.  Ortelli/Vanthoor        WRT Audi                  1m43.615s  +1.064s
 4.  Sims/Dusseldorp         Boutsen McLaren           1m43.825s  +1.274s
 5.  Zuber/Parisy            Loeb McLaren              1m43.855s  +1.304s
 6.  Catsburg/Martin         Marc VDS BMW              1m43.908s  +1.357s
 7.  Loeb/Parente            Loeb McLaren              1m44.123s  +1.572s
 8.  Vervisch/Vandoorne      Boutsen McLaren           1m44.216s  +1.665s
 9.  Bell/Estre              Hexis McLaren             1m44.243s  +1.692s
10.  Tandy/Holzer            Trackspeed Porsche        1m44.402s  +1.851s
11.  Zonta/Jimenez           Brasil BMW                1m44.509s  +1.958s
12.  Stippler/Sandstrom      WRT Audi                  1m44.587s  +2.036s
13.  Khodair/Bueno           Brasil BMW                1m44.699s  +2.148s
14.  Soucek/Turvey           MRS McLaren               1m44.851s  +2.300s
15.  Sdanewitsch/Leo         AF Ferrari                1m45.156s  +2.605s
16.  Afanasiev/Simonsen      Gravity Charouz Mercedes  1m45.207s  +2.656s
17.  Ragginger/Watts         Trackspeed Porsche        1m45.297s  +2.746s
18.  Campanico/Ammermuller   Novadriver Audi           1m45.491s  +2.940s
19.  Webb/Hetherington       Fortec Mercedes           1m45.575s  +3.024s
20.  Baumann/Proczyk         GRT Grasser Lamborghini   1m45.588s  +3.037s
21.  Sladecka/Rosina         GRT Grasser Lamborghini   1m45.600s  +3.049s
22.  Demoustier/Albuquerque  WRT Audi                  1m45.737s  +3.186s
23.  Charouz/Janis           Gravity Charouz Mercedes  1m46.222s  +3.671s
24.  Hassid/Beltoise         TDS BMW                   1m46.960s  +4.409s
25.  Cunha/Stumpf            Rodrive Lamborghini       1m48.221s  +5.670s
26.  Thomas/Melnikov         MRS McLaren               1m49.821s  +7.270s
27.  Buhk/Day                Gravity Charouz Mercedes