Qualifying: Joest Audis dominate at the top
The Joest-run Audis carried their dominating practice form into qualifying and locked out the top two grid spots for Sunday's Jarama round of the ELMS, with the Rinaldo Capello and Tom Kristensen R8 pipping team mates Frank Biela and Emanuele Pirro to pole position
Despite the fact that the track is both new to some drivers and a stark contrast to Le Mans, where the cars last ran during official testing two weeks ago, the teams adapted very quickly to the Spanish circuit.
"This track is not easy," said Kristensen, "but it becomes easy if you have a good car like the Audi R8. The car is working very well. Jarama is completely opposite to Le Mans. You need to get a lot of mechanical grip out of the car for the slow corners. I am very pleased."
The works cars were the only driver pairings to drop below the 1m23s barrier and the second-placed car of Biela and Pirro finished 0.375s ahead of the Gulf liveried 2000-spec Audi of Stefan Johansson and Guy Smith.
The lead Panoz LMP of former Grand Prix drivers David Brabham and Jan Magnussen continued to struggle for pace and finished the day in its usual slot as best-of-the-rest behind the Audis in fourth, ahead of the sister car of Klaus Graf and Frenchman Franck Lagorce.
The highest starter in Sunday's race from the LMP675 class will be the Dick Barbour Racing Reynard of Didier de Radigues and Eric van de Poele from sixth on the grid ahead of the Roock Racing Lola of Mel Hawkins, Earl Goddard and Tomas Saldana.
The Ray Mallock Limited Saleen of Ian McKellar and Bruno Lambert was the fastest of the GTS cars in ninth place, while Dirk Muller and Fredrik Ekblom pipped BMW team mates Jorg Muller and JJ Lehto for the top GT spot by qualifying 11th with the latter pair just one place behind.
1 Rinaldo Capello/Tom Kristensen Joest Audi R8 (LMP900) 1m22.285s
2 Frank Biela/Emanuele Pirro Joest Audi R8 LMP900 1m22.665s
3 Stefan Johansson/Guy Smith Johansson Motorsport Audi R8 LMP900 1m23.040s
4 David Brabham/Jan Magnussen Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP07 LMP900 1m23.883s
5 Klaus Graf/Franck Lagorce Panoz Motor Sports Panoz LMP07/Elan LMP900 1m24.381s
6 Didier de Radigues/Eric van de Poele Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q/Judd LMP675 1m27.015s
7 Mel Hawkins/Earl Goddard/Tomas Saldana Roock KnightHawk Racing Lola B2K-40/Nissan LMP675 1m30.052s
8 John Graham/Milka Duno Dick Barbour Racing Reynard 01Q/Judd LMP675 1m30.972s
9 Ian McKellar/Bruno Lambert RML Saleen S7R GTS 1m31.583s
10 Franz Konrad/Toni Seiler/Walter Brun Konrad Team Saleen Saleen S7R GTS 1m32.298s
11 Fredrick Ekblom/Dirk Muller BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT 1m32.868s
12 JJ Lehto/Jorg Muller BMW Motorsport BMW M3 GT 1m32.925s
13 Randy Pobst/Emanuele Collard Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m33.440s
14 Lucas Luhr/Sascha Maassen Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m33.477s
15 Mike Youles/Robin Liddell PK Sport Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m36.201s
16 Terry Rymer/Stephen Watson Harlow Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3R GT 1m37.585s
17 Paco Orti/Jesus Diez de Villarole Paco Orti Racing Porsche 911 GT3R GT 1m37.950s
18 Piers Masarati/Mark Humphrey PK Sport Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m37.980s
19 Marciel Stanco/Bernardo Sa'Nogueira Porsche 911 GT2 GTS 1m38.539s
20 Tony Burgess/Max Cohen-Olivar GT Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m38.782s
21 Hugh Hayden/Stephen Earle Sebah Racing Porsche 911 GT3RS GT 1m39.482s
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