Kubica takes provisional Macau pole.

Robert Kubica put set-up dramas and a problem with his seat behind him to take provisional pole position for the Macau Grand Prix on his first outing with British champions Carlin Motorsport.

The Polish driver had to come into the pits early in the session to make radical alterations to the set-up of his car after going the wrong way following the morning's free practice session, while the team also needed to make modifications to his seat after it started coming lose in the cockpit of the Dallara-Mugen.

However, despite the dramas, Kubica steadily moved up the timesheets during the 45-minute session, and grabbed top spot with just over a minute of qualifying remaining. He eventually edged out Brazilian Lucas di Grassi and Frenchman Loic Duval to claim provisional pole ahead of Friday's second qualifying session.

?We had to change the set-up completely, and I had to stop to make sure we were back in the right direction,? Kubica said afterwards, ?The car was better, but we can still improve. And, although the team tried to fix my seat, it was still moving around a bit in the car, so we will have to sort that too. I'm happy - but it's more important to be on pole position tomorrow.?

di Grassi, who had been on the pole spot for ten minutes before being pipped by Kubica, was unable to respond to his rival's effort after complaining of traffic. However, the Brazilian was still pleased with the feel of his Manor Motorsport car.

?There was far too much traffic,? said Euroseries frontrunner, ?I could not match the best potential from my tyres with getting a clean lap, but I am pretty pleased to have done two laps very close together in the 2min 13secs range. That makes me confident for tomorrow.?

Duval had been the early pacesetter, but slipped down to third, while Fabio Carbone put in a late effort to take a provisional fourth place in the unique Signature-built SLC chassis ? one slot ahead of leading Japanese runner Naoki Yokomizo. Danny Watts was sixth, with All-Japan champion Joao Paulo de Oliveira seventh and fellow Briton Mike Conway eighth.

Sebastian Vettel, who had been a sensational third fastest in the morning practice session, was baffled about his lack of pace in qualifying as he ended up twelfth, while morning pacesetter Paolo Montin was a lowly 14th after stopping with mechanical problems. Cheong Lou Meng damaged the front of his car after crashing out early in the session.