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Schumacher on pole for Spanish GP


Michael Schumacher
Schumacher is seeking his sixth Spanish Grand Prix victory.
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BARCELONA, Spain -- Ferrari's Michael Schumacher convincingly claimed pole position for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.

The six-times world champion completely dominated the field, finishing with a time of one minute 15.022 seconds.

Williams-BMW driver Juan Pablo Montoya finished second, 0.617 seconds behind.

The front row pair clashed at the San Marino Grand Prix at Imola two weeks ago after Schumacher had briefly forced Monyota off the track.

"We had an interesting fight at Imola and we will find out whether we have one tomorrow," said Schumacher, who claimed not to have seen his rival. "It's part of racing. It is a tight business."

Schumacher is seeking his third straight win in Spain and his fifth overall, as well as a record-equalling fifth win since the start of the season. Nigel Mansell won the first five races of the 1992 season.

"It is a track I like, with a lot of high speed corners," said Schumacher.

"I knew that I had a very good first and second sector and that meant I was able to just be safe on the last sector and not overdo anything. I just had a very nice and perfect lap."

BAR-Honda's Takuma Sato was third fastest and will start on the second row of the grid next to Jarno Trulli in a Renault.

Japanese best

Sato's qualifying performance was the best by a Japanese driver in Formula One history, and leaves the 27-year-old with a good chance of matching compatriot Aguri Suzuki's third-place finish in the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix.

"This is a target, not only a personal point of view but also from team, especially if you qualify third," said Sato,

Rubens Barrichello and Ralf Schumacher are on the third row after finishing fifth and sixth respectively.

BAR-Honda driver Jenson Button, seeking his fourth straight podium finish, managed to place just 14th after running over the grass coming out of the Campsa corner and losing valuable time.

Button admitted it was his mistake. "I did well early on but slipped off. These things happen, but I will try to do better in the race although I am very disappointed."


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