The tortuous circuit of Brno (Czech Republic) is this weekend hosting the third round of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa. Today (Saturday 27 May) saw the 19 GranSport Trofeos take to the track for the qualifying session. Pole was taken by the crew of Alberto Ravasio-Diego Alessi, who set their best time of 2'14"525 on lap three. Also on the front row was the expert Alberto Cerrai (2'14"913).
Next came the youngsters, Nicolò Oddi-Giacomo Ricci (2'15"337). After the rain that had fallen during the night and in early morning, qualifying was held on a dry track. For Ravasio-Alessi, Brno was the second pole after that obtained at Monza in race 1.

A tight battle is expected in the middle of the group where the distances between the drivers are measured in tenths. Andolfato, Mugelli-Baccani and Vescovi, fifth, sixth and seventh, are bunched only two tenths apart.


Among the sponsors, Andrea Demegni (2'16"738) in the Pakelo GranSport car came eighth. In eleventh finished the Toora car with Paolo Necchi and the Polish driver Andrea Mancin (2'17"079) in the driving seat. Twelfth came the Audemars Piguet vehicle with Frenchman Jean Claude Andruet paired with the Czech Milan Jirous (2'17"184). Fourteenth was the Isoclima car with ex-rally driver GianMarino Zenere (2'17"471) and fifteenth was Alberto Pizzicannella in the Autosprint vehicle (2'17"614).

The grid positions were completed by Martin Klein and Jean Coulomb.
Frenchman Coulomb was forced to come in on lap six with a puncture while the debut making Klein spun at the end of lap seven coming out of turn four.

Cerrai, Fabris and De Megni, following the results obtained in the previous round at Silverstone, will have to cope with 12, 8 and 4 second penalties. These will have to be built into the pit stops during the race. Jean Coulomb (8 seconds) and Carlo Romani (4 seconds) will benefit from time bonuses.

Tomorrow, Sunday 28 May, the race is timed for 11.45 and will be the usual 60 minutes.

Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa Qualifying - Brno
1. Ravasio-Alessi, 2'14"525
2. Cerrai, 2'14"913
3. Oddi-Ricci, 2'15"337
4. Fabris, 2'15"522
5. Andolfato, 2'16"578

Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa 2006 classification after two races:
1. Cerrai 50 points;
2. Fabris 40;
3. De Megni 29;
4. Zenere 18;
5. Vescovi 17;
6. Villa and Burgan 16