Misano Blancpain Sprint: Norbert Siedler gives Rinaldi Ferrari pole
Rinaldi Ferrari driver Norbert Siedler claimed his first Blancpain Sprint Series pole position after the chequered flag had dropped at the end of final qualifying at Misano
The Austrian stopped the clocks with a 1m32.774s following the end of the 10-minute session to snatch pole from Nissan driver Craig Dolby by three tenths of a second.
Siedler, who shares the Rinaldi Racing Ferrari 458 Italia with Marco Seefried, said: "It was a really good lap after a not so good first lap.
"I did a cool-down lap, which was important and I just had time to do another one."
Dolby's time of 1m33.080s set aboard the AIM Autosport-run Always Evolving Motorsport Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 put him just three hundredths up on third-placed Stephane Richelmi in the fastest of the four WRT Audi R8 LMS ultras.
The Monegasque was in turn just four thousandths ahead of Vincent Abril in the best of the HTP Motorsport Bentley Continental GT3s.
Christopher Mies and Nicky Catsburg rounded out the top six in their respective WRT Audi and Reiter Lamborghini entries.
Silver Cup honours went to Grasser Lamborghini driver Jeroen Mul, who was the slowest of the nine cars to go through to Q3.
BSS championship leaders Laurens Vanthoor and Robin Frijns failed to reach Q3 and their WRT Audi will line up in 12th position for this evening's one-hour qualifying race.
STARTING GRID:
| Pos | Driver | Team | Car |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | M.Seefried, N.Siedler | Rinaldi Racing | Ferrari |
| 2 | S.Walkinshaw, C.Dolby | Always Evolving Motorsport | Nissan |
| 3 | S.Richelmi, S.Ortelli | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi |
| 4 | V.Abril, M.Buhk | Bentley Team HTP | Bentley |
| 5 | E.Ide, C.Mies | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi |
| 6 | A.T.Taxis, N.Catsburg | Reiter Engineering | Lamborghini |
| 7 | N.M.-Melnhof, M.Winkelhock | Phoenix Racing | Audi |
| 8 | M.Bortolotti, P.Kujala | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini |
| 9 | J.Mul, A.Di Folco | GRT Grasser Racing Team | Lamborghini |
| 10 | V.Brito, A.Abreu | BMW Sports Trophy Team Brasil | BMW |
| 11 | C.Bueno, S.Jimenez | AH Competicoes Team Brasil | BMW |
| 12 | M.Bonanomi, F.Salaquarda | ISR | Audi |
| 13 | M.Asmer, A.Vasiliev | GT Russian Team | Mercedes |
| 14 | M.van Splunteren, J.Szymkowiak | Bentley Team HTP | Bentley |
| 15 | C.Bouchut, A.Karachev | GT Russian Team | Mercedes |
| 16 | J.Nash, F.Stippler | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi |
| 17 | A.Fjordbach, T.Fjordbach | ISR | Audi |
| 18 | R.Frijns, L.Vanthoor | Belgian Audi Club Team WRT | Audi |
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