Beijing's Martin takes pole in Portugal

In a closely-matched final of the football club-based series' head-to-head knockout qualifying system, Martin was only fractionally ahead of Davide Rigon (Anderlecht) at the first two splits, but an emphatic final sector gave him pole by 0.185 seconds.

Rigon laid waste to Andy Soucek (Galatasaray) in the first semi-final, outpacing the Spaniard by 2.5s after Soucek ran wide at the first corner.

Martin won an entertaining duel with Max Wissel (Basel) in the second semi: Wissel was fastest through the first sector by six hundredths of a second, but Martin turned it around in the other two sectors, winning through by 0.225s.

In the quarter-finals, Rigon thrashed Alvaro Parente (Porto) by over a second; Soucek beat Robert Doornbos (Corinthians) by 0.618s; Martin defeated ADR stablemate Craig Dolby (Tottenham Hotspur) by 0.726s and Wissel outpaced Duncan Tappy (Flamengo) by 0.656s.

Yelmer Buurman was a shock non-qualifier from the group stages, the AC Milan driver - second in the points table - only seventh-fastest in the first session, which was topped by Rigon, Martin, Soucek and Tappy.

As well as Buurman, those to go out at the first hurdle were series debutant Neel Jani (Olympiacos), Frederic Vervisch (Liverpool), Hywel Lloyd (PSV Eindhoven) and Tristan Gommendy (Lyon).

In Group B, Wissel set the fastest time - which would not have even got him through the first session - ahead of Doornbos, Dolby and Parente. Knocked out here were Marcos Martinez (Sevilla), newcomer Maximo Cortes (Sporting Lisbon), a troubled Julien Jousse (Roma), Maria de Villota (Atletico Madrid) and Celso Miguez (Bordeaux).

Pos  Driver             Team                Time       Session
 1.  John Martin        Beijing Guoan       1m33.149s  Pole shoot-out
 2.  Davide Rigon       RSC Anderlecht      1m33.334s  Pole shoot-out
 3.  Max Wissel         FC Basel            1m33.784s  Semi-final 2
 4.  Andy Soucek        Galatasaray         1m35.763s  Semi-final 1
 5.  Robert Doornbos    Corinthians         1m34.335s  Quarter-final 2
 6.  Craig Dolby        Tottenham Hotspur   1m33.893s  Quarter-final 3
 7.  Duncan Tappy       Flamengo            1m34.197s  Quarter-final 4
 8.  Alvaro Parente     FC Porto            1m34.236s  Quarter-final 1
 9.  Neel Jani          Olympiacos          1m33.472s  Group A
10.  Marcos Martinez    Sevilla FC          1m34.375s  Group B
11.  Frederic Vervisch  Liverpool FC        1m33.550s  Group A
12.  Maxi Cortes        Sporting            1m34.461s  Group B
13.  Yelmer Buurman     AC Milan            1m33.684s  Group A
14.  Julien Jousse      AS Roma             1m34.790s  Group B
15.  Hywel Lloyd        PSV Eindhoven       1m33.831s  Group A
16.  Maria de Villota   Atletico de Madrid  1m35.260s  Group B
17.  Tristan Gommendy   Olympique Lyonnais  1m34.043s  Group A
18.  Celso Miguez       Girondins           1m35.722s  Group B