Morbidelli continues Donington Park domination by grabbing race one pole

Having been comfortably fastest in both practice sessions, Morbidelli kept his stunning run alive in the 30-minute qualifying session. Despite not appearing until mid-way through the session, Morbidelli fired to the top of the time sheets on his first flying lap with a 1m33.871s.

He completed two more laps to improve to a 1m33.575s, before parking his Audi Sport Italia RS5 until there was just a few minutes of the session remaining.

Despite there being no real threat to his time, Morbidelli emerged for one final lap right at the end of the session, improving to a 1m33.264s.

Second was Morbidelli's Audi team-mate Thomas Schoffler. The German missed most of the session due to an engine problem, but emerged in time to nab a front-row starting spot with a 1m34.004s right on the chequered flag.

British Touring Car Championship star Thomas Onslow-Cole was third fastest with a 1m34.833s, an impressive showing given Saturday was his first in the Ferlito Motors Jaguar. Johnny Herbert made it an all British second row, taking fourth spot in the Team Swiss Maserati.

Max Pigoli (Ferlito Motors Jaguar) and Tonio Luzzi (CAAL Racing Mercedes) locked out the third row, while Thomas Biagi (Team Dinamic BMW) struggled to replicate his practice speed, settling for seventh place. His BMW team-mate Stefano Gabellini was eighth.

Francesco Sini (Solaris Chevrolet) and rookie of the year contender Andrea Boffo (Roma Racing Mercedes) will start ninth and 10th respectively.

Championship leader Johan Kristoffersson will start the first race from the back of the grid, having missed Saturday's qualifying session.

Pos  Driver             Team/Car           Time       Gap
 1.  Gianni Morbidelli  Audi Italia        1m33.264s
 2.  Thomas Schoffler   MTM Audi           1m34.004s  + 0.740s
 3.  Tom Onslow-Cole    Ferlito Jaguar     1m34.833s  + 1.569s
 4.  Johnny Herbert     Swiss Maserati     1m34.924s  + 1.660s
 5.  Max Pigoli         Ferlito Jaguar     1m35.058s  + 1.794s
 6.  Tonio Liuzzi       CAAL Mercedes      1m35.067s  + 1.803s
 7.  Thomas Biagi       Dinamic BMW        1m35.194s  + 1.930s
 8.  Stefano Gabellini  Dinamic BMW        1m35.293s  + 2.029s
 9.  Francesco Sini     Solaris Chevrolet  1m35.454s  + 2.190s
10.  Andrea Boffo       Roma Mercedes      1m35.873s  + 2.609s
11.  Andrea Larini      Romeo Mercedes     1m35.932s  + 2.668s
12.  Max Mugelli        CAAL Mercedes      1m36.140s  + 2.876s
13.  Nico Caldarola     Roma Mercedes      1m36.225s  + 2.961s
14.  Paolo Meloni       W&D BMW            1m36.436s  + 3.172s
15.  Mauro Cesari       Swiss Maserati     1m36.729s  + 3.465s
16.  Sandro Bettini     Dinamic BMW        1m36.931s  + 3.667s
17.  Walter Meloni      W&D BMW            1m39.413s  + 6.149s