Zolder Superstars: Gianni Morbidelli and Audi take pole in Belgium

After being slowed by a rear diff problem in the second practice session, the former series champion was right back on the pace in qualifying.

Having been at or near the top for the majority of the 30-minute session, Morbidelli put in his final flyer five minutes from the end, his 1m36.055s lap easily the fastest of the day.

Tonio Liuzzi's Romeo Ferraris Mercedes wound up second, albeit four tenths down on Morbidelli's time, while Belgian driver Renaud Kuppens was the surprise of the session, taking third spot in the Scuderia Giudici BMW on his series debut.

After missing the majority of free practice two thanks to an engine problem with his Roma Mercedes, Luigi Ferrara took no time getting back up to speed. He ended up fourth, less than a second behind Kuppens, having spent the middle part of the session at the top.

Max Mugelli was the best of the Dinamic BMWs in fifth, ahead of Raffaele Giammaria's CAAL Racing Mercedes, which took sixth despite whacking the wall halfway through the session.

Giovanni Berton was seventh, his Dinamic BMW carrying 40 kilogrammes of performance ballast after he won the last race in Slovakia.

Nicola Larini, Thomas Biagi and Francesco Sini were next.

Meanwhile, Laurens Vanthoor's qualifying session was significantly shorter than expected. The debutant was expected to be a pole contender after showing promising pace in the morning's practice sessions, only to have his Audi Sport Italia RS5 stop on track with a transmission problem before he had the chance to set a flying lap.

He will start Sunday's first race from the back of the grid.

Pos  Driver               Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli    Audi Italia        1m36.055s
 2.  Tonio Liuzzi         Ferraris Mercedes  1m36.462s  +0.407s
 3.  Renaud Kuppens       Giudici BMW        1m36.934s  +0.879s
 4.  Luigi Ferrara        Roma Mercedes      1m36.940s  +0.885s
 5.  Max Mugelli          Dinamic BMW        1m37.113s  +1.058s
 6.  Raffaele Giammaria   CAAL Mercedes      1m37.283s  +1.228s
 7.  Giovanni Berton      Dinamic BMW        1m37.288s  +1.233s
 8.  Nicola Larini        Petri Porsche      1m37.325s  +1.270s
 9.  Thomas Biagi         Ferraris Mercedes  1m37.441s  +1.386s
10.  Francesco Sini       Solaris Chevrolet  1m37.831s  +1.776s
11.  Fabrizio Giovanardi  Petri Porsche      1m37.928s  +1.873s
12.  Mauro Trentin        Dinamic BMW        1m38.449s  +2.394s
13.  Andrea Bacci         Roma Mercedes      1m38.612s  +2.557s
14.  Mimmo Schiattarella  Solaris Chevrolet  1m39.175s  +3.120s
15.  Roberto Benedetti    RC Cadillac        1m40.354s  +4.299s
16.  Marco Cassara        Roma Mercedes      1m41.401s  +5.346s
17.  Gianni Giudici       Giudici BMW        1m41.710s  +5.655s
18.  Laurens Vanthoor     Audi Italia