Qualifying was a session of two halves. The track was dry for 15 minutes until rain fell and wet conditions ensued.

All of the drivers posted their best times in the dry with the top 14 within one second.

Rickard Rydell claimed his third pole position of the season for SEAT Sport after clocking a time of 2:06.289 in his first flying lap.

Alessandro Zanardi, who came out top in both free practice sessions, will line up on the front row alongside the Swede after posting a time of 2:06.427.

Behind pole man Rydell on the grid will be team-mates Gabriele Tarquini in 3rd and Yvan Muller in 4th. Duncan Huisman rounded up the BMW - SEAT top five.


Nicola Larini continued to be the quickest of the Chevrolet trio and his time of 2:06.871 was good enough to place him 6th on the grid. Farfus was 0.623 of a second off the pace and will line up 7th tomorrow at the wheel of his Alfa Romeo 156.

The best time of the independent drivers was set by Luca Rangoni of Proteam Motorsport which was 16th fastest overall. His competitors Tom Coronel and Stefano D'Aste qualified 17th and 18th respectively.

Peter Terting's lap in 2:07.061 was 9th quickest but the young German will begin from 19th as a result of the mandatory 10 place penalty issued for an engine change.