Jarek Janis delivered Zakspeed their fourth pole position of the season and their second in a row in qualifying for the penultimate round of the FIA GT Championship at Adria as both himself and co-driver Sascha Bert bid to make a last gasp championship effort.

Although any championship glory would actually fall Bert's way by virtue of having a point over his Czech team-mate, they still have to make up nine points on current leaders Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini in the Maserati MC12, the German-Italian duo having qualified in third place.

Splitting them in the championship and on the grid, Jean-Denis Delatraz and Andrea Piccini are still looking for their first win in the Phoenix Aston Martin but managed to take second place on the grid, just eight hundredths off the Zakspeed Saleen, setting up a tantalising prospect of a race around the tight and twisty Italian circuit.

Janis' pole, achieved also for Andrea Montermini as well as Bert, is all the more impressive as they are carrying 70kg of success ballast courtesy of their win at the previous round in Hungary, the Saleen seemingly performing well around tighter circuits.

Fourth on the grid was a surprise result for the All-Inkl.com Lamborghini Murcielago of Peter Kox and Christophe Bouchut, the steadily developing Italian supercar managing its best starting position after switching to Michelin tyres for this event, a move that has seen them trouble the top spot all weekend.

The two BMS DBR9s locked out the third row, ahead of the second Maserati of Thomas Biagi and Jamie Davies, while the GLPK Corvette was a disappointing eighth. Karl Wendlinger and Philipp Peter were ninth and last of the GT1 drivers.

Pole in GT2 fell to Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy in their Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari yet again, holding off stiff opposition from Matteo Bobbi and Jamie Melo in the AF Corse 430GT and Luxembourg-based newcomers Edil Cris in a similar vehicle.

Indeed, Bobbi and Melo are on the cusp of the GT2 title, needing a second place to guarantee the title and that is even if rivals and team-mates Rui Ageus and Mika Salo win the category, something they will have trouble doing from sixth on the grid.