Qualifying: Lammers takes pole

For Jan and his teenage team mate Val Hillebrand it was a moment to savour after two frustrating races in the last rounds at Brno and Magny Cours. "It was a hell of a qualifying session," said the Dutchman, "the first few laps were critical as the rain got harder as the session went on. We actually came in for slicks to see if they were manageable but I came back in because it was just too wet."

The experienced Le Mans winner set his time early in the qualifying period and his best of 1m36.184s just pipped the other S101 of John Nielsen who was just 0.312 seconds behind in his Den Bla Avis backed car. The Dane missed the vital early dry part of qualifying after changing the gearing of his car, but team manager Karl Patman was happy that the team was not only on the front row but also two places ahead of their title rivals Scuderia Italia. "It was a bit of a lottery out there but John did a great job as usual. The critical part was at the very beginning when we were in the pits, so logically John could have gone much quicker when it was slightly drier but we're ahead of the Ferrari and in a good position for the race."

In a creditable third place was the Kremer Lola with Sam Hancock hurling the six litrre car around his home track to claim his best qualifying position of this, his debut season in sportscars. But the ever competitive Londoner was still not satisfied with his starting position. "We should be on pole", said the 21 year old. "I came in after about 15 minutes and got called in for a weight check. On my first lap after that I set my best time, so the few minutes I lost there cost me dear and I felt confident I could have gone much quicker in that little window midway through the session .

Joining the Lola on the second row is the championship-leading car of Marco Zadra and Jean Marc Gounon. Usually revelling in such difficult conditions, Jean Marc struggled with the handling of his 333SP and made several pit stops to make adjustments in order to give him more grip, particularly on right hand turns. The team's sister car of Enzo Calderari/Lilian Bryner and Angelo Zadra wound up 6th fastest.

Ascari were disappointed to be down in 5th place with Ben Collins suffering with tyre problems. The Judd powered A410 also suffered the same fate as the Kremer when it was called in for a weight check when the conditions were at their best.

GLV Brums had another frustrating session with Giovanni Lavaggi and Christian Vann down in 8th place after the team's brand new gearbox hit problems. The Riley & Scott of Mauro Baldi and Alex Caffi also struggled in the ever-worsening conditions and was just one place ahead of the Ferrari Judd in 7th. Mark Smithson was the final SR1 qualifier in his Reynard 01Q Judd run by local team Redman Bright.

SR2 saw a fascinating battle when their separate session went ahead in conditions that were the complete reverse of the SR1 session. A rain shower just before the start saw all the cars reach for wet tyres, but a dry line emerged right at the end of the session and it was the Lucchini Engineering squad that sprung a surprise with Piergiuseppe Peroni and team mate Sebastian Ugeux claiming their first pole since 1999.

It was Ugeux who set the time right at the end of the session, snatching the 3litre pole from team mate Denny Zardo in the other 2001 spec Lucchini Alfa. "I am so happy because this is my first time at Donington and the track was very slippery," said the Belgian who was a last minute replacement for the indisposed Jean Bernard Bouvet.

Thed Bjork was the fastest of the championship contenders in 3rd place in his Lola Nissan with the Rowan Racing duo of Martin O'Connell and Warren Carway down in 6th place after the last lap shoot out. The BM Autosport team who are third in the championship were forced to sit out the last 15 minutes when Massimo Monti lost 6th gear.

Ian Flux will start his 500th ever race from 4th place tomorrow after spectacularly sliding his way around his home track. SCI were pleased with a seasons best 5th place while Roberto Tonetti and Massimo Saccomanno start 5th in their Lucchini.

There was disappointment for local aces Phil Andrews and Michael Mallock who lost out in the quicker late stages in their Swara Tampolli.

Oli Wilkinson and Piers Johnson were playing catch up throughout the session after losing the entire free practice session in the morning with a clutch failure.