The weather has been changeable early in the weekend's running
After two hectic qualifying sessions on the 3.6km Nogaro circuit, pole position for race 7 of the FIA GT3 European Championship was claimed by the No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, ahead of two Matech GT Racing Ford GT entries - the No.19 car claimed second, with the No.21 car third. And for race 8 the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette Z.06R GT3 took pole by the narrowest of margins from the No.10 Hexis Racing Aston Martin, with the Championship-leading No.20 Matech Ford GT in third.
The first 20-minute session saw several spins - the worst saw the No.3 Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 go hard into the barriers after taking too much kerb. The driver was unhurt, but damage to the front of the car was extensive - the team may not be able to repair it in time for the first race. And the No.46 Tech9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 missed the second session having lost oil pressure, and will require an engine change.
The second session only saw two or three cars spinning harmlessly; it also saw some stunning lap times. The opening qualifying session was the first time a car broke the 1in30sec barrier this weekend - yet the pole position time in second qualifying was a 1:28.0! In addition, the margin between first and second position was just 0.008sec - that is about a third of a metre.
With the weather forecast remaining good for the rest of the weekend, the teams will have gained some useful information on setting the cars up for the two one-hour races - the main question now is how many cars manage to avoid trouble on the opening laps of the tight, narrow circuit.