Qualifying: Priaulx stuns rivals

The Briton, who scored his first victory in the ETCC at Brno a month back, set a time of 2m32.217s, a full two seconds quicker than last year's pole time.

"At Spa you need a car that's good everywhere," he said afterwards, "and I feel I've got that. I can do consistently good lap times which should put me in good shape for the race."

BMW Team Deutschland ace Dirk Muller was second quickest but was baffled at Priaulx's pace: " We need to look into our data and find some time for the race."

Factory Alfa Romeo driver and championship leader Gabriele Tarquini was pleased with his third-placed time, especially since he was carrying 40kgs of success ballast, but he too was stunned by the pole time. "I was very happy with my time," he said, "but I was surprised when the team came on the radio and told me what Andy had done."

Tarquini's team-mate Nicola Larini will join him on the second row, while reigning champion Fabrizio Giovanardi and Jorg Muller rounded out the top six.

Andy Priaulx BMW 320i 2m32.217s
Dirk Muller BMW 320i 2m32.948s
Gabriele Tarquini BMW 320i 2m32.971s
Nicola Larini Alfa Romeo 156 2m33.495s
Fabrizio Giovanardi BMW 320i 2m33.754s
Jorg Muller BMW 320i 2m33.871s
Paolo Ruberti Alfa Romeo 156 2m34.139s
Fabio Francia Alfa Romeo 156 2m34.297s
Rickard Rydell Volvo S60 2m34.401s
Antonio Garcia BMW 320i 2m34.522s