Simonsen on pole at Zolder
Danish driver Allan Simonsen put the Gigawave Aston Martin DB9 on pole position for the ninth, and penultimate, round of the FIA GT championship at Zolder on Saturday
Simonsen, who shares the car with Philipp Peter, was 0.2s fastest than the three-time 2008 race-winning Jet Alliance Aston driven by Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp.
Mike Hezemans and Marcel Fassler put the two Phoenix Carsport Corvettes on the second row, while Jose Maria Lopez was fifth fastest in the Ferrari 550 Maranello.
GT1 points leaders Andrea Bertolini and Micheal Bartels, two of ten drivers still in contention for the title, will start sixth in their Vitaphone Maserati MC 12.
Andrew Kirkaldy took a series record 12th GT2 pole for CR Scuderia Ferrari in the F430 he shares with Le Mans Series GT2 champion Rob Bell.
"Everything went exceptionally well today," said Kirkaldy. "We've had a good car for the last few races but it hasn't gone our way; pole at Brno but then a first corner accident, and a fast car at Nogaro but Rob [Bell] was taken off by Montanari, twice!
"Hopefully we can go out and have a clean race tomorrow. It won't be easy but Rob and I will give it everything we've got.
"I'm really happy to now have 12 FIA GT pole positions. This is only my third year in the championship and I hope there will be many more years, and poles, to come."
The Scot was just over a tenth faster than factory Porsche driver Emmanuel Collard in the ProSpeed Competition 997 GT3. Marc Lieb, in the home team's sister Porsche, was third fastest.
Pos Class Driver Car Time 1. GT1 Allan Simonsen Aston Martin DB9 1:25.810 2. GT1 Karl Wendlinger Aston Martin DB9 1:26.029 + 0.219 3. GT1 Mike Hezemans Corvette Z06 1:26.139 + 0.329 4. GT1 Marcel Fassler Corvette Z06 1:26.266 + 0.456 5. GT1 Jose Maria Lopez Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:26.280 + 0.470 6. GT1 Andrea Bertolini Maserati MC 12 1:26.357 + 0.547 7. GT1 Xavier Maassen Corvette Z06 1:26.702 + 0.892 8. GT1 Vincent Vosse Saleen S7 1:26.818 + 1.008 9. GT1 Anthony Kumpen Saleen S7 1:26.831 + 1.021 10. GT1 Pedro Lamy Maserati MC 12 1:26.882 + 1.072 11. GT1 Alexandre Negrao Maserati MC 12 1:27.717 + 1.907 12. GT2 Andrew Kirkaldy Ferrari F430 1:30.382 + 4.572 13. GT2 Emmanuel Collard Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 1:30.495 + 4.685 14. GT2 Marc Lieb Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 1:30.579 + 4.769 15. GT2 Stefan Mucke Aston Martin Vantage V8 1:30.826 + 5.016 16. GT2 Matteo Malucelli Ferrari F430 1:30.870 + 5.060 17. GT2 Matias Russo Ferrari F430 1:30.967 + 5.157 18. GT2 Toni Vilander Ferrari F430 1:31.130 + 5.320 19. GT2 Thomas Biagi Ferrari F430 1:31.280 + 5.470 20. GT2 Fabio Babini Ferrari F430 1:31.313 + 5.503 21. GT2 Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 1:31.488 + 5.678 22. GT2 Joel Camathias Ferrari F430 1:31.750 + 5.940 23. GT2 Bas Leinders Gillet Vertigo 1:31.971 + 6.161 24. GT2 Henri Moser Ferrari F430 1:32.707 + 6.897
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