Imola Superstars: Luigi Ferrara takes surprise pole

Having set the pace comfortably in both practice sessions, Liuzzi (Romeo Ferrari Mercedes) looked set to cruise to pole when he jumped to the top early with a 1m49.317s lap.

But with just minutes of the session remaining Ferrara made his move, the Roma Racing Mercedes driver jumping to the top with a 1m49.206s. With Liuzzi unable to respond, Ferrara found himself with a surprise pole.

Title contender Thomas Biagi was third fastest in his Romeo Ferraris Mercedes and the only other driver in 1m49s bracket, while CAAL Racing Mercedes Andrea Bacci was another driver to pop up with a surprise result, going fourth fastest.

Max Mugelli continued his form of being the fastest driver not in a Mercedes, converting his promising practice pace into fifth on the grid, ahead of Francesco Sini (Solaris Chevrolet) and Giovanni Berton (Dinamic BMW).

Biagi's title rival Gianni Morbidelli's miserable weekend continued, the Audi Sport Italia driver managing just the eighth best time. He and Biagi go into Sunday's first race locked on points at the top of the table.

Davide di Benedetto was ninth in the second Audi Sport Italia RS5, with Mauro Trentin rounding out the top 10 for Dinamic BMW.

Pos Driver                  Car                  Time       Gap     Laps
 1. Luigi Ferrara           Roma Mercedes        1m49.206s           9
 2. Tonio Liuzzi            Ferraris Mercedes    1m49.317s  +0.111s  8
 3. Thomas Biagi            Ferraris Mercedes    1m49.879s  +0.673s  8
 4. Andrea Bacci            CAAL Mercedes        1m50.112s  +0.906s  13
 5. Max Mugelli             Dinamic BMW          1m50.152s  +0.946s  7
 6. Francesco Sini          Solaris Chevrolet    1m50.240s  +1.034s  9
 7. Giovanni Berton         Dinamic BMW          1m50.607s  +1.401s  8
 8. Gianni Morbidelli       Audi Italia          1m51.568s  +2.362s  7
 9. Davide di Benedetto     Audi Italia          1m51.723s  +2.517s  12
10. Mauro Trentin           Dinamic BMW          1m51.734s  +2.528s  8
11. Leonardo Baccarelli     CAAL Mercedes        1m53.697s  +4.491s  9
12. Giuseppe Cipriani       Audi Italia          1m53.875s  +4.669s  11
13. Camilo Zurcher          Todi BMW             1m54.718s  +5.512s  10
14. Gianni Giudici          Giudici BMW          1m54.935s  +5.729s  6
15. Alessandro Battaglin    MRT Chrysler         1m57.902s  +8.696s  7