Qualifying: Larini wins Alfa battle

After trading times for much of the session, the two Alfas were split by just 0.060s come the final reckoning, although championship leader Tarquini was hampered in his efforts by having to run with 30kg of success ballast.

"I enjoyed the fight with Gabriele," said Larini, "and I'm very happy I managed to steal the pole from him. This is a good start for the weekend, but I'm really focussing on tomorrow's races, because I need to win to maintain my chances for the championship."

Dirk Muller was the first of the BMW's to qualify in third, ahead of reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and the third Alfa of Roberto Colciago. BMW's Antonio Garcia set the sixth fastest time, ahead of Fabio Francia.

Briton Andy Priaulx was a disappointed eighth in his BMW Team Great Britain entry, after being hampered by the success ballast that was his reward for winning the last round of the championship.

"To be honest I half expected this result," admitted Priaulx. "We did some testing last week, in which we saw we have problems with the ballast. I'm quite confident anyway, because maybe the reverse grid might help me in the second race. We will do our best under the circumstances and I think I can be faster tomorrow."

Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 1m40.463s
Gabriele Tarquini Alfa Romeo 156 1m40.523s
Dirk Muller BMW 320i 1m40.858s
Fabrizio Giovanardi BMW 320i 1m40.935s
Roberto Colciago Alfa Romeo 156 1m40.974s
Antonio Garcia BMW 320i 1m41.321s
Fabio Francia Alfa Romeo 156 1m41.338s
Andy Priaulx BMW 320i 1m41.371s