Phoenix Racing's Marcel Fassler and Jean-Denis Deletraz will start from pole position at
Silverstone on Sunday, ahead of the opening round of the 2008
FIA GT Championship.
Fassler managed to post a 1 minute 55.220 second lap in qualifying, even though the weather played a part in setting the grid.
Light rain started during the GT2 /G2 qualifying session, however, it grew much heavier during the fifteen minutes reserved for the GT1 cars, and it looked as if the race could start with the G2 and GT2 pole-men at the front of the grid. But as the rain eased, the normal hierarchy was partially restored.
Fassler, who secured his first ever FIA GT pole, was delighted to take top spot: "It was a good learning experience, and I think I really learnt something about the car. It was difficult to choose the right tyres at the right moment," he reflected.
Fellow Corvette runners Xavier Maassen and Christophe Bouchut in their SRT-run C6R meanwhile will start second, despite a spin.
In the end Bouchut was just 0.083 seconds slower on a 1m 55.303s: "It's a bit of a shame to be so close to the pole and not have it, but we are happy with it," the triple FIA GT champion added.
Belgian Racing trio Bas Leinders, Renaud Kuppens and Sean Edwards meanwhile will start from third - having also taken the G2 pole.
Edwards looked set to take the overall pole at one stage - however, as the conditions dried out towards the end of the GT1 session so those cars managed to regain the initiative and he dropped back to P3.
Unlike much of the grid, Sean is hoping the rain continues for the race: "I'm not worrying too much about starting so high up the grid, and I hope it'll be wet tomorrow, because in the dry I'm quite far off the pace. The Saleen's a very nice car, and everything's going well."
