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Schumacher sets all-time pole best
![]() Schumacher was in imperious form on his home circuit at Imola. IMOLA, San Marino -- Michael Schumacher made Formula One history by claiming a record 66th pole of his career in setting the fastest time in final qualifying for the San Marino Grand Prix on Saturday. The Ferrari ace recorded a time of one minute 22.795 seconds at Imola to break out of a tie for all-time pole positions with the great Ayrton Senna. Britain's Jenson Button will start alongside Schumacher on the front row with his Honda teammate Rubens Barrichello qualifying third. Schumacher's teammate Felipe Massa filled an all-Brazilian second row. Championship leader Fernando Alonso of Spain qualified fifth in his Renault in one minute 23.709 seconds. Alonso lines up alongside Toyota's Ralf Schumacher on the third row, with the McLarens of Juan Pablo Montoya and Kimi Raikkonen behind. "I don't think fifth is the perfect place to start at this circuit because overtaking is so difficult, but we are not in such a bad position either," said Alonso. Already winner of more races and titles than any other Formula One driver, Schumacher overtook triple champion Senna as the sport's most successful qualifier at the same circuit where the Brazilian died in 1994. Senna's last pole was the day before that fateful race at Imola, won by Schumacher in a Benetton -- the first of his six victories at the circuit named after Ferrari founder Enzo and son Dino. A delighted Schumacher said: "With the car we had, getting a pole was sort of obvious, but it is always great to start from pole. "The record is less important for me - you look at records when you finish racing. I think we can show our very strong race pace." Schumacher, who has won six times at Imola and is still looking for his first victory of the season, beat the Honda pair by less than two tenths of a second.
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