Johan Kristoffersson claims Imola Superstars pole

Despite missing all of free practice two thanks to a driveline problem, the Audi Sport driver was in sublime form in the 30-minute qualifying session, jumping to the top of the sheets with five minutes to go with an unassailable 1m49.548s lap. Kristoffersson's pole position is the first for the brand new Audi RS5, which made its debut earlier this month at Monza.

Andrea Larini will start second, the Italian waiting until there was just 90 seconds left in the session to catapult his Romeo Ferraris Mercedes from the middle of the pack to the front row.

Behind the top two, the final 30 seconds of the session were frantic. Having led the way early in the session, Dinamic BMW's Thomas Biagi was shuffled down the order just after the 10-minute mark - only to recover to third with his final lap of the session. Gianni Morbidelli was another driver to spend time at both the top and the middle of the sheets during the session, the Audi pilot finally settling on fourth in the closing seconds.

Tonio Liuzzi (CAAL Racing Mercedes) was another driver caught up in the late rush of lap times - with just over a minute to go he went from the fringe of the top 10 to third, only to be pushed back to fifth at the flag.

Francesco Sini (Solaris Chevrolet) was sixth, while Thomas Schoffler made sure there were three Audis in the top 10, qualifying seventh in the third Audi Sport RS5.

Points leader Max Pigoli (Ferlito Jaguar) was eighth, former Formula 1 driver Christian Fittipaldi (Swiss Team Maserati) was ninth, and Stefano Gabellini (Dinamic BMW) rounded out the top 10.

Pos  Driver                Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Johan Kristoffersson  Audi Italia        1m49.548s
 2.  Andrea Larini         Romeo Mercedes     1m49.677s  + 0.129s
 3.  Thomas Biagi          Dinamic BMW        1m49.759s  + 0.211s
 4.  Gianni Morbidelli     Audi Italia        1m49.825s  + 0.277s
 5.  Tonio Liuzzi          CAAL Mercedes      1m50.128s  + 0.580s
 6.  Francesco Sini        Solaris Chevrolet  1m50.230s  + 0.682s
 7.  Thomas Schoffler      Audi Italia        1m50.467s  + 0.919s
 8.  Max Pigoli            Ferlito Jaguar     1m50.638s  + 1.090s
 9.  Christian Fittipaldi  Swiss Maserati     1m51.387s  + 1.839s
10.  Stefano Gabellini     Dinamic BMW        1m51.423s  + 1.875s
11.  Andrea Boffo          Roma Mercedes      1m51.605s  + 2.057s
12.  Paolo Meloni          W&D BMW            1m51.815s  + 2.267s
13.  Ananda Mikola         Ferlito Jaguar     1m52.046s  + 2.498s
14.  Mauro Cesari          Swiss Maserati     1m52.544s  + 2.996s
15.  Max Mugelli           CAAL Mercedes      1m52.619s  + 3.071s
16.  Sandro Bettini        Dinamic BMW        1m52.990s  + 3.442s
17.  Francesco Ascani      Todi BMW           1m53.924s  + 4.376s
18.  Gianni Giudici        Giudici BMW        1m55.453s  + 5.905s
19.  Walter Meloni         W&D BMW            1m55.468s  + 5.920s
20.  Andrea Perlini        Todi BMW           1m55.564s  + 6.016s
21.  Nico Caldarola        Roma Mercedes      1m57.191s  + 7.643s