Wendlinger takes Tourist Trophy pole

Wendlinger claimed his ninth FIA GT Championship pole aboard the KplusK Motorsport Saleen S7R with a best time of 1m42.216s. That was nearly a second quicker than Andrea Bertolini in the best of the Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12s.

Wendlinger, who is bidding for a second consecutive TT victory with teammate Ryan Sharp, said: "When you have a new team, a new group of people working together for the first time, you don't know where you are going to be. Qualifying gave us the answer. The set-up is great and the car is fast."

Bertolini, who again shares with Vitaphone team boss Michael Bartels, said that he quickly realised that he could not beat Wendlinger's time.

"After my first lap, I asked my engineer what the gap was. When he said it was more or less a second, I said, 'okay, pits'," he explained.

Alex Muller qualified the second Vitaphone Maserati third on the grid, two tenths ahead of Mike Hezemans in the PK-Carsport Chevrolet Corvette C6.R.

GT2 pole went to Gianmaria Bruni in the number one AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT, shading Frederic Makowiecki's Aston Martin Vantage by one tenth.

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