Maserati Dominate GT Monza Qualifying

The day also saw Austrian Philippe Peter claim his first GT pole position, after opting to run his first qualifying fast lap in the opening minutes of the morning session - a decision that proved wise, as soon after rain began to fall, and only became stronger in the afternoon session. Peter's fastest time from the morning became, therefore, the overall fastest lap of both sessions.

"It's my first pole position in the FIA GT and I am pretty happy," Peter said. "The programme for the car came together very late. Maserati has given us a car which has been great from the beginning. There was no shake-down for the car before we got here, so it's quite a surprise."

Peter will share his number 16 MC12 with Briton Chris Buncombe and Russian Roman Rusinov. And, alongside the JMB trio on pole starts another MC12 - the Vitaphone duo of Michael Bartels, of Germany, and Timo Scheider, of Austria.

"I am very happy with second position," Bartels commented. "We are on the right way, and in these conditions anything can happen. I think it is quite a good base for the race tomorrow."

But not all went smoothly for Maserati today. The second car of JMB Racing, shared by Andrea Bertolini and Karl Wendlinger, suffered malfunction in the traction control system in the morning, but it did not stop Bertolini from setting the fourth fastest time, which places him and Wendlinger, on the second row.

More problems hampered the pairing of Fabio Babini and Thomas Biagi, in the second Vitaphone Maserati, as they suffered from electric problems in morning practice. Neverthesss, the pair were quickest in the second qualifying session, and ended sixth fastest overall.

In the GT2 class, Tim Sugden claimed pole position in the Porsche 996 GT3 RSR that he shares with Frenchman Emmanuel Collard.

"It is still very early days, but getting pole is great," Sugden said. "Obviously, in a three-hour race it doesn't really matter where we are, but we are very happy."

Perhaps the most surprising result of the day came from Balfe Motorsport, who make their first appearence in the FIA GT. The Molser MT400, entered by Balfe, managed to qualify in third in the GT2 class, right behind the Gruppe M Porsche.

"We're incredibly pleased to be in this position in only our first qualifying performance," said Shaun Balfe later. "We are definitely making progress. We realised at the test day how much hard work we have to put in, so third place is a nice reward. My goal is to see the end of the race after the three hours, but I think the weather will be very difficult."

Pos GT Drivers                    Car                    Best Time* Laps**
 1. 1  Peter/Buncombe/Rusinov     Maserati MC12 GT1      1:45.699   28
 2. 1  Bartels/Scheider           Maserati MC12 GT1      1:45.807   20
 3. 1  Bouchut/Fomenko/Vasiliev   Ferrari 550 Maranello  1:45.881   23
 4. 1  Bertolini/Wendlinger       Maserati MC12 GT1      1:46.041   24
 5. 1  Lamy/Gardel                Ferrari 550 Maranello  1:46.372   22
 6. 1  Babini/Biagi               Maserati MC12 GT1      1:46.467   29
 7. 1  Kox/Simon                  Lamborghini Murcielago 1:46.905   26
 8. 1  Longin/Kumpen/Hezemans     Corvette C5R           1:47.800   28
 9. 1  Melo/Belloc                Ferrari 575 Maranello  1:48.022   20
10. 1  Ruberti/Camathias          Saleen S7 R            1:48.307   22
11. 1  Lechner Jr/Lechner/Konrad  Saleen S7 R            1:48.416   23
12. 1  Bryner/Calderari/Zacchia   Ferrari 550 Maranello  1:48.570   22
13. 1  Deletraz/Piccini           Ferrari 575 Maranello  1:49.143   30
14. 1  Verdon-Roe/Becker          Saleen S7 R            1:50.356   17
15. 1  Keen/Halliday              Lister Storm GT        1:50.815   29
16. 2  Collard/Sugden             Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:51.412   19
17. 2  Lieb/Rockenfeller          Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:51.731   14
18. 2  Balfe/Derbyshire           Mosler MT900R          1:53.775   18
19. 1  Stanco/Janus               Saleen S7 R            1:53.788   26
20. 2  Moccia/Busnelli            Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:53.882   29
21. 2  Kaufmann/Jurasz            Porsche 996 GT3 RS     1:54.141   28
22. 1  Pickering/Haupt            Saleen S7 R            1:54.466   18
23. 2  MacHanek/Studenic          Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:54.553   20
24. 2  Racz/Venc                  Porsche 996 GT3 RS     1:56.307   16
25. 2  Castro/Premoli/Barbaro     Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:57.056   32
26. 2  Ried/Ried                  Porsche 996 GT3 RS     1:58.618   13
27. 2  Panzavuota/Taylor/Hauraney Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    1:59.179   12
28. 2  Vonka/Amaduzzi             Porsche 996 GT3 RS     2:01.214   11

* Best qualifying time from both qualifying sessions
** Combined total laps run in first and second qualifying sessions