Audi will start today's Blancpain GT Series finale at Catalunya from pole position after Robin Frijns topped the timesheets in qualifying.
The WRT driver's time of 1:46.019s eclipsed the initial benchmark set by Mirko Bortolotti in the #63 Grasser Racing Lamborghini to give the German marque its first pole of the season.
Frijns will share the #17 Audi with Stuart Leonard and Jake Dennis, while Bortolotti and team-mates Andrea Caldarelli and Christian Engelhart have an opportunity to secure the BGTS overall and endurance crowns.
The title-challenging Bentley Continental GT3 of Vincent Abril, Andy Soucek and Maxime Soulet finished 28th on a disappoining morning for the M-Sport run squad.
Soulet then struggled to establish a rhythm during the final shootout with persistent traffic, while Bentley's sister Continental was involved in a crash when Guy Smith lost control at the final right-hander in wet conditions.
Mercedes entries filled out much of the top 10, with the #88 AKKA-ASP and #84 HTP Motorsport cars locking out the second row.
The sister #85 HTP car rounded out the top five, while the #5 WRT Audi finished sixth.
Mercedes also qualified well in Pro-Am, as Jules Gounon gave the AKKA-ASP crew its second category pole of the year.
Am Cup champion David Perel added an extra point to his haul with the fastest lap in Am.
The three-hour season finale is scheduled to get underway at 15:00 local time.
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