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Jarno Trulli
(Toyota/Michelin) will lead the field away in tomorrow's United States Grand
Prix after securing the third pole position of his Formula One career - and
a first for Panasonic Toyota Racing.
The
Italian also maintained Michelin's unbroken run of nine F1 poles this
season. He lapped the 4.192-kilometre (2.605-mile) track in 1m 10.625s - the
fastest time of the weekend so far - to pip Canadian GP winner Kimi
Raikkonen (Team McLaren Mercedes/Michelin) by just 0.069s.
Jenson Button (B7A7R-Honda) and Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault) completed a
Michelin clean sweep of the top four with as many different chassis. World
championship leader Fernando Alonso (Renault, sixth) was quickest of the
remaining Michelin runners, ahead of Takuma Sato (B7A7R-Honda, eighth), Mark
Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, ninth), Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas, 10th),
Juan Pablo Montoya (Team McLaren Mercedes, 11th), Jacques Villeneuve
(Sauber-Petronas, 12th), Ricardo Zonta (Toyota, 13th), Christian Klien (Red
Bull Racing, 14th), Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, 15th) and David
Coulthard (Red Bull Racing, 16th).
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin Motorsport Director:
"In terms of pure performance, it is clear that our tyres are well suited to
the Indianapolis circuit and it is very gratifying to see four different
Michelin chassis filling the first two rows of the grid.
"Following yesterday's incidents, however, we still have work to complete
before the start of the race, for the reasons outlined below. Whatever
happens, I can assure you that like the other participants in motorsport
Michelin will always propose a product respecting the needs of total
security and independent of any rules."
Nick Shorrock, Director of Michelin F1 activities:
"As previously explained we are still continuing our investigations into
yesterday's tyre incidents. This consists of full examinations of all the
tyres that ran on Friday and those from Saturday morning's free practice
sessions. In addition we are continuing to work at our research centres in
Clermont-Ferrand
and Greenville, South Carolina. As yet we have not been able to understand
the reason leading to yesterday's sudden tyre-pressure drop on two Toyotas.
"Using the latest data available we continue to direct our teams in the
usage of our products so that drivers could participate safely in today's
free practice and qualification sessions.
"During the build-up to the United States Grand Prix, engineers at our
research centres will continue to focus on the product we ran today to
decide if we will be able to use this specification safely in tomorrow's
race." |