Pergusa:Subject: First qualifying summary

FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP
ROUND 8 - PERGUSA (ITALY)
FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION

WEATHER
Sunny

FIRST QUALIFYING SESSION - FIRST PROVISIONAL POLE FOR GOLLIN

Fabrizio Gollin set fastest time in the first qualifying session for the eighth round of the FIA GT Championship at the Pergusa circuit. The Italian, driving the nr 4 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R set a time of 1m36.551s, two tenths of a second faster than his team-mate Mike Hezemans.

The nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello of Jean-Marc Gounon, Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner was third fastest after the team' s second car, driven by Andrea Piccini and Jean Denis Deletraz, was excluded from the results for failing an airbox test.

Piccini's exclusion meant that the second Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Fabio Babini and Marc Duez, which had provisionally finished seventh and out of the crucial top six, qualified for this afternoon's Superpole session.

The championship-leading nr 1 Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien was ninth fastest after losing most of Friday's practice session with an electrical problem. "Yesterday we had a lot of problems with the engine," said Bouchut. "The 100kg is a big handicap this weekend. Our only hope is that our competitors will have problems. The weight is noticeable on the kerbs. I don't think it was possible for us to be in the top six, and David still needed to learn the circuit." The second Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper of Vincent Vosse and Carl Rosenblad was tenth quickest, with Vosse setting a time of 1m39.598s. The car is still using the H-pattern gearshift and has 80kg of ballast after Vosse's winning drive in the previous round at Spa.

FERRARI FASTEST IN N-GT

Christian Pescatori and Andrea Bertolini set fastest time in the N-GT category in their nr 50 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena. Pescatori set a time of 1m42.587s, little more than a tenth of a second faster than the nr 54 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche of Stephane Ortelli and Marc Lieb.

Third fastest was Adam Jones in the Cirtek Motorsport entry, setting a time of 1m42.709s. "I did one warm-up lap and then went for it, " he said.

Philipp Peter set sixth fastest time in the nr 58 Autorlando Porsche despite his co-driver Toto Wolff crashing heavily during the second free practice session on Friday. The Austrian locked a brake and went into the wall, forcing the team to complete an all-night re-build of the Porsche. The car had handling difficulties during the qualifying session over the kerbs.

Peter's time of 1m43.670s was faster than Andrea Montermini and Iradj Alexander in the championship-contending nr 51 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena. Nikolaj Fomenko crashed his RWS Porsche 996 GT3-R, causing a red flag during the session. "I went to change into second gear far too late," said the Russian. "I spun into the barriers but it was just a stupid mistake."

<pre> SESSION RUNDOWN Weather : hot and sunny

10:30 Green flag 10:37 Gounon on provisional pole in the nr 22 Ferrari with a time of 1:37.046 GT : 22 - 14 - 15 - 31 - 2 - 17 N-GT : 62 - 66 - 53 - 77 - 70 10:43 Montermini in the nr 51 JMB Ferrari 360 on N-GT provisional pole with a time of 1:43.790 10:48 Pescatori in the nr 50 JMB Ferrari improves to 1:42.587 10:49 Gollin goes fastest in nr 4 Carsport Viper : 1: 36.586 GT: 4 - 22 - 14 - 11 - 12 - 15 - 3 - 32 - 1 - 2 N-GT : 50 - 76 - 51 - 53 - 62 - 58 - 66 10:50 Gollin further improves to 1:36.551; Hezemans in the nr 3 Carsport Viper improves to 4th 10:53 Nr 77 RWS Porsche stopped on the track close to the pit-lane entrance 10:54 Session red flagged so that the nr 77 Porsche can be removed GT : 4 - 22 - 13 - 3 - 11 - 12 - 23 - 15 - 32 - 1 - 2 - 31 - 17 - 16 N-GT : 50 - 76 - 51 - 54 - 53 -62 - 58 - 66 - 55 - 70 - 77 - 52 - 60 - 84 10:58 Green flag 11:04 Chrysler Viper nr 12 showed the black and white warning flag 11:06 JMB Ferrari nr 51 shown the black flag GT : 4 - 3 - 23 - 22 - 14 -11 - 12 -15 - 32 - 1- 2 N-GT : 50 - 54 - 76 - 55 - 51 - 58 - 53 - 62 - 66 - 70 - 77 11:10 Two Carsport Vipers ahead of the two BMS Ferrari Maranello cars 11:14 Adam Jones in the nr 62 Cirtek Porsche improves to 4th in N-GT Fastest times in both classes : 1:36.551 in GT (nr 4 Carsport Viper) and 1:42.587 (nr 50 JMB Ferrari) in N-GT 11:15 Adam Jones further improves to 3rd in N-GT 11:18 Spin for the nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari; returns slowly to the pits with 11:19 Chequered Flag GT : 4 - 3 - 23 - 22 - 14 - 11 - 12 - 15 - 32 - 1- 2 - 31 - 17 - 16 N-GT : 50 - 54 - 62 - 76 - 55 - 58 - 51 - 53 - 66 - 70 - 60 - 77 - 52 - 84 </pre> After the end of the session, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello failed technical scrutineering due to a faulty airbox, and was excluded from the results. This brought the nr 12 Paul Belmondo Racing up into the Superpole.

The nr 84 car also failed the rear wing check and had its times cancelled up until 10:48

Cars qualified for the Superpole
Nr 4 & 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R
Nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari Maranello 550
Nr 14 Lister Storm
Nr 11 & 12 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R

Nr 50 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena
Nr 54 & 55 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R
Nr 62 Cirtek Porsche 996 GT3-R
Nr 76 RWS Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R
Nr 58 Autorlando Porsche 996 GT3-R

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