Saelens takes Euro F3000 pole.

Belgium's David Saelens took his first F3000 pole position at a wet-dry Nurburgring this afternoon, as his rivals struggled to stay on the track.

The Super Nova driver, who finished on the podium in round three at Barcelona, finished the two-session qualifying procedure two-tenths clear of championship leader Bruno Junqueira, as a damp start and persistent drizzle ruled out big improvements in the second 30 minutes.

Belgium's David Saelens took his first F3000 pole position at a wet-dry Nurburgring this afternoon, as his rivals struggled to stay on the track.

The Super Nova driver, who finished on the podium in round three at Barcelona, finished the two-session qualifying procedure two-tenths clear of championship leader Bruno Junqueira, as a damp start and persistent drizzle ruled out big improvements in the second 30 minutes.

He will race tomorrow, however, with the same shoulder problem which forced him to cede second place in Spain to team-mate Nicolas Minassian. Saelens claims that the injury is better than it was at the last round, although still not completely healed, but reckons that the less severe nature of the Nurburgring will be an advantage.

Much of the grid was decided by times recorded in the opening session, which also started with rain in the air, but ended with a dry track and the 30 drivers attempting to make the most of the good conditions. There were a few alterations to the order as the track alternated between dry and merely damp in the second session, with Czech Tomas Enge bouncing up to third at the expense of Justin Wilson.

The inaugural Formula Palmer Audi champion also found himself bumped by Barcelona pole sitter Enrique Bernoldi to end the session in a slightly disappointing fifth place. The top four thus revolved around the same four driver as in Barcelona, albeit with Saelens and Bernoldi swapping places.

Frenchmen Franck Montagny and Soheil Ayari were next up, ahead of fellow countrymen Fabrice Walfisch and Minassian, with Kevin McGarrity snatching the last spot in the top ten as the chequered flag came out.

Junqueira will no doubt be happy to have finished comfortably ahead of championship rival Minassian, and received even better news when Silverstone winner Mark Webber could not better 16th overall. He was prevented from challenging the top ten by the second Petrobras car of Jaime Melo Jr (eleventh), Ricardo Mauricio, Sebastien Bourdais, Fabrizio Gollin and pre-season favourite Stephane Sarrazin, who again suffered in a qualifying session.

British stand-in Jamie Davies racked up an encouraging 18th after being asked to replace the injured Mario Haberfeld at Fortec, but fellow countryman Mark Hynes fared less well on his first appearance in the series, and failed to qualify his WRT-run Lola as the rain fell.

Joining the reigning F3 champion on the sidelines will be Kristian Kolby (DAMS), Ananda Mikola (WRT) and Viktor Maslov (Arden). The Russian's team-mate, and Silverstone pole winner Darren Manning crept in at 25th.

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