WRT Audi driver Rene Rast claimed pole position for the FIA GT Series finale on the new Baku street circuit (LEFT).

Rast, who shares his WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra with Niki Mayr-Melnhof, topped the times in the second of the two 15-minute qualifying sessions with a best time of 1m42.551s. That put him more than half a second clear of closest challenger Markus Winkelhock, who set his 1m43.062s in his Phoenix Audi in an opening session interrupted by two red flags.

Rast, whose teammate lies third in the title race, said: “It wasn’t the perfect lap to be honest, because I lost a bit in the last sector.

“The Audi is good here and I enjoy street circuits ” I’ve won twice at Monaco [in Porsche Supercup].”

Laurens Vanthoor, who leads the championship with co-driver Stephane Ortelli, claimed third spot with a 1m43.615s set in the second session in the next best of the four WRT Audis.

Fourth on the grid went to the second fastest driver in the opening session, Alexander Sims, who posted a 1m43.825s in his Boutsen McLaren.

Mike Parisy took fifth spot in the best of the Sebastien Loeb Racing McLaren MP4-12Cs on a second-session best of 1m43.885s

The second-placed crew in the championship, Frank Stippler and Edward Sandstrom, ended up only 12th with Sandstrom’s second-session time. The car will have to take a five-place grid penalty in Sunday morning’s qualifying race for avoidable contact in the opening session of free practice.

Qualifying was shortened as a result of delays completing the build of the circuit. There was no Superpole session, which meant the grid was decided as a result of times set in Q1 and Q2.

Pos  Drivers                 Team/Car                  Time       Gap 1.  Mayr-Melnhof/Rast       WRT Audi                  1m42.551s 2.  Winkelhock/Ide          Phoenix Audi              1m43.062s  +0.511s 3.  Ortelli/Vanthoor        WRT Audi                  1m43.615s  +1.064s 4.  Sims/Dusseldorp         Boutsen McLaren           1m43.825s  +1.274s 5.  Zuber/Parisy            Loeb McLaren              1m43.855s  +1.304s 6.  Catsburg/Martin         Marc VDS BMW              1m43.908s  +1.357s 7.  Loeb/Parente            Loeb McLaren              1m44.123s  +1.572s 8.  Vervisch/Vandoorne      Boutsen McLaren           1m44.216s  +1.665s 9.  Bell/Estre              Hexis McLaren             1m44.243s  +1.692s10.  Tandy/Holzer            Trackspeed Porsche        1m44.402s  +1.851s11.  Zonta/Jimenez           Brasil BMW                1m44.509s  +1.958s12.  Stippler/Sandstrom      WRT Audi                  1m44.587s  +2.036s13.  Khodair/Bueno           Brasil BMW                1m44.699s  +2.148s14.  Soucek/Turvey           MRS McLaren               1m44.851s  +2.300s15.  Sdanewitsch/Leo         AF Ferrari                1m45.156s  +2.605s16.  Afanasiev/Simonsen      Gravity Charouz Mercedes  1m45.207s  +2.656s17.  Ragginger/Watts         Trackspeed Porsche        1m45.297s  +2.746s18.  Campanico/Ammermuller   Novadriver Audi           1m45.491s  +2.940s19.  Webb/Hetherington       Fortec Mercedes           1m45.575s  +3.024s20.  Baumann/Proczyk         GRT Grasser Lamborghini   1m45.588s  +3.037s21.  Sladecka/Rosina         GRT Grasser Lamborghini   1m45.600s  +3.049s22.  Demoustier/Albuquerque  WRT Audi                  1m45.737s  +3.186s23.  Charouz/Janis           Gravity Charouz Mercedes  1m46.222s  +3.671s24.  Hassid/Beltoise         TDS BMW                   1m46.960s  +4.409s25.  Cunha/Stumpf            Rodrive Lamborghini       1m48.221s  +5.670s26.  Thomas/Melnikov         MRS McLaren               1m49.821s  +7.270s27.  Buhk/Day                Gravity Charouz Mercedes