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FIA GT and FIA GT1 have been racing at Paul Ricard for many years and it is the fitting venue for the final European races before the GT1 World Championship jets off to China and South America for the final three rounds of the 2011 season. Last year Paul Ricard saw a double win for Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini on their way to becoming the inaugural FIA GT1 World Champions but with the Maserati MC12 not on the grid this season the way is open for a crew from another manufacturer to step onto the top step of the podium. The Nissans and Lamborghinis took top 3 finishes last season, while the Corvette, Aston Martin and the Ford were always in the running for a podium finish.

Under clear blue skies and blazing sunshine Richard Westbrook, in the nr22 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R, went fastest In the first session of the weekend at Paul Ricard with a lap time of 2:04.335.

After another strong performance by the Nissan GT-Rs, led by the nr23 JR Motorsport Nissan of Michael Krumm, it was the nr8 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 of Stefan Mucke that was at the top of the time sheets at the end of the 80-minute Pre-Qualifying session.

The JR Motorsport Nissan GT-Rs took a 1-2 in qualifying at Paul Ricard for Round 7 of the FIA GT1 World Championship and will start on the front row for this afternoons Qualifying Race. Richard Westbrook scored his second pole position of the 2011 season with a time of 2:03.419 in the nr22 JSM Nissan, just 0.084s ahead of Michael Krumm in the sister nr23 GT-R. Despite a spin early in the final qualifying session Tomas Enge took third place in the nr7 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DB9 to head Row 2.

Luhr and Michael Krumm that won the first encounter of the weekend at Paul Ricard. Starting alongside their teammates in the nr22 Nissan on the front row of the grid, Luhr had to be content with sitting behind Peter Dumbreck until the pitstops. Luhr stayed out a lap longer than Dumbreck and a quick pitstop put Krumm ahead of Westbrook. The nr22 Nissan started to drop away from Krumm's car as tyre pressures became an issue as the race drew to a close. This allowed Tomas Enge in the nr7 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin to take advantage and on the last lap swept past the Nissan at Turn 9. Enge's teammate Stefan Mucke also saw his opportunity and two corners from home also went ahead of the struggling Nissan to put two Young Driver Aston Martins in the top 3 for the first time.