Ryan Lewis will start from pole position in this afternoon's ninth round of the Visma Software Formula Palmer Audi Championship around the picturesque Spa-Francorchamps circuit in Belgium. The nineteen year-old set the early pace in Friday's official testing, and will also line up on the front row for tomorrow's tenth round, narrowly missing out on his second pole of the weekend but determined to take double wins to extend his series lead.

The Royston, Hertfordshire youngster on his first visit to the historic Grand Prix track, will be joined on the front row by his Team Lewis team-mate Niki Faulkner, who will line up on the third row for tomorrow's race.

“Obviously it's great to be on pole for my first race here," said Ryan. "I was on pole in Monza and went on to win the race, so things are looking good here for another strong result. During the sessions, the weather was really bad - torrential rain, which I'd been a bit apprehensive about, but now, well I'm not bothered what the weather does now.”

Today's race takes place at 5.20 local time, with tomorrows race scheduled to start at 09.00.

Qualifying for Round 9

1. RYAN LEWIS 2:27.077
2. NIKI FAULKNER 2:27.183
3. Adam Smith 2:27.183
4. Stephen Young 2:28.409
5. Stuart Prior 2:28.562
6. Adam Sharpe 2:30.335

Qualifying for Round 10

1. Adam Smith 2:24.2
2. RYAN LEWIS 2:24.4
3. Jonathan Kennard 2:24.5
4. Stephen Young 2:24.9
5. NIKI FAULKNER 2:25.3
6. Sam Edwards 2:29.9

Ref: ml00025
30 August 2003

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