Filippi takes pole in busy qualifying

Filippi grabbed the top spot as early as ten minutes into the 30-minute session but was immediately demoted by Giorgio Pantano.

The Italian, in turn, who was beaten by Adam Carroll, only for Pantano to take it back, before Andi Zuber stole it, and then Filippi nabbed it back before the halfway point of the session.

The key to all the excitement was the use of Bridgestone's hardest compound tyre, which caused chaos in the cold at Silverstone but produced a remarkable session in the heat of Turkey, as it allowed drivers multiple attempts at a lap time.

Pantano, however, then spun at Turn 1, taking the edge off his new rubber. Timo Glock put in a lap of 1:34.502 that looked good for pole, but that was to discount Filippi.

The Italian took pole back for a third and final time with a 1:34.470 - this despite being balked badly by Andy Soucek in the final corners.

That seemed to make Filippi, and his final lap as the chequered flag fell was 1:34.278 - some 0.224 seconds faster than anyone else.

Glock will start second, ahead of iSport teammate Zuber. Pantano (Campos), who improved his position late on, will join him on the second row, while row three comprises Adam Carroll (FMS) and championship protagonist Lucas di Grassi (ART).

Di Grassi had called for his ART team to give him a better car in qualifying, which seemingly they did not, but at least rival Glock missed out on the two points for pole.

Xandi Negrao (Minardi/Piquet) shot up the order in the closing seconds to start seventh, ahead of Kazuki Nakajima (DAMS), Sebastien Buemi (ART) and Borja Garcia (Durango).

At the back, the recent additions/newcomers all qualified, led by Ricardo Risatti (Trident), ahead of Marcos Martinez (who spun his Racing Engineering car several times) and Henri Karjalainen (BCN).

Pos  Driver        Team                      Time      Laps
 1.  Filippi       Super Nova International  1:34.278   13
 2.  Glock         iSport International      +  0.224   15
 3.  Zuber         iSport International      +  0.267   14
 4.  Pantano       Campos Grand Prix         +  0.331   15
 5.  Carroll       FMS International         +  0.372    9
 6.  Di Grassi     ART Grand Prix            +  0.636   10
 7.  Negrao        Minardi Piquet Sports     +  0.761   13
 8.  Nakajima      DAMS                      +  0.900   15
 9.  Buemi         ART Grand Prix            +  0.932   10
10.  Garcia        Durango                   +  0.940   15
11.  Petrov        Campos Grand Prix         +  0.967   14
12.  Conway        Super Nova International  +  1.035   14
13.  Rodriguez     Minardi Piquet Sports     +  1.059   15
14.  Lapierre      DAMS                      +  1.209   16
15.  Tahinci       FMS International         +  1.727   11
16.  Tung          BCN Competicion           +  1.736   12
17.  Hirate        Trident Racing            +  1.899   13
18.  Senna         Arden International       +  1.943   12
19.  Soucek        DPR                       +  2.006   15
20.  Zaugg         Arden International       +  2.038   15
21.  Chandhok      Durango                   +  2.040   13
22.  Risatti       Trident Racing            +  2.490   15
23.  Martinez      Racing Engineering        +  2.833   13
24.  Villa         Racing Engineering        +  2.847    4
25.  Karjalainen   BCN Competicion           +  4.164   16