Jarno Trulli salvaged what was shaping up to be a miserable weekend for the Toyota team by winning the pole on Saturday for the United States Grand Prix.
Trulli timed 1 minute, 10.625 seconds around the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway to earn the first pole for Toyota. Earlier, teammate Ralf Schumacher wasn't medically cleared to race after his hard accident during a practice session.
"It has been a difficult time for everybody here," Trulli said. "For sure it is a mixed emotion weekend."
But the Italian driver gave Toyota something to briefly cheer about in its breakthrough fourth season in Formula One. Trulli, in his first season with the team, gave Toyota its previous best qualifying effort with a pair of seconds to open the season.
He finally earned his first pole of the season -- third career -- and first since the Belgium Grand Prix in 2004.
"I am really glad with the outcome today," said Trulli, third in the world championship standings. "But it is still kind of emotional."
Toyota quickly fell behind after Schumacher and test driver Ricardo Zonta both crashed in Friday practice. Both accidents were attributed to tire failure, leaving Michelin officials scrambling to figure out what was wrong with its tires.
Michelin officials said on Saturday they were trying to ship a fresh batch from its France warehouse to replace the rubber already on site in what the supplier called a safety precaution.
But other drivers using Michelin tires said they had no problem with their supply and thought Toyota's troubles may have stemmed from aggressive setups.
Either way, Trulli showed no fear on his tires, speeding around the 13-turn course and taking his Toyota to the top.
He then had to hold off late runs by Kimi Raikkonen and the Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello to keep the top starting spot.
Raikkonen, the final driver to qualify and winner last weekend of the Canadian Grand Prix, almost snatched the pole away but finished second in a McLaren-Mercedes with a time of 1 minute, 10.694 seconds.
"Yes I am happy," Raikkonen said. "Of course, I would rather be in first place."
Jenson Button, the polesitter last weekend in the Canadian Grand Prix, qualified his BAR-Honda third.
Giancarlo Fisichella was fourth in a Renault, followed by Michael Schumacher, the two-time defending race winner. World championship points leader Fernando Alonso was sixth in a Renault.
Zonta, the replacement driver for Ralf Schumacher, wound up 13th.
"Yesterday's events mean this is not an ideal situation for the whole team, and I am especially sorry for Ralf," said Zonta, who was the first driver to attempt to qualify. "Of course, I'm glad to be back with a chance to race the car."
Zonta normally only practices a third car for Toyota on the opening day of Grand Prix events. That changed following Ralf Schumacher's accident.
Schumacher wasn't seriously injured when his car spun coming out of the final turn and backed into a part of the wall protected by the energy-absorbing SAFER Barrier.
The German driver appeared to be in pain when he climbed from the car, but medical personnel checked and released him. He later went to a local hospital to have his eye examined after complaining of an irritation.
When he arrived at the track on Saturday, an FIA medical delegate ruled that it would be unsafe for Schumacher to race because of the dangers another hard impact could cause. Schumacher sustained a serious concussion and two broken vertebrae in a similar accident here last season.
"This news is obviously very disappointing for myself and for the team," Schumacher said.
Juan Pablo Montoya, the fastest driver in three of the four practice sessions, followed Zonta out on the track for qualifying.
He was forced to qualify his McLaren-Mercedes early as punishment for his disqualification last weekend in Canada. With thousands of Colombian fans cheering him on, Montoya posted a lap that put him on top of the board.
It lasted just minutes, though, as the Renaults of Fisichella and Alonso both bested him on the speed chart.
Kylian Mbappe struck from the penalty spot as Real Madrid beat a dogged CA Osasuna 1-0 on Tuesday to make a winning start in Spanish La Liga under new coach Xabi Alonso. The France striker, last season’s European Golden Shoe winner, scored early in the second half, after he was fouled in the area by Osasuna defender Juan Cruz. It was enough to seal the points in Alonso’s first game in charge at the Santiago Bernabeu, with Madrid now unbeaten in their opening fixture of a league campaign since 2008. “You can see that Kylian wants to do even more
TO THE TOP: After securing the international title on Saturday, Team Taiwan were to face Las Vegas to potentially win their 18th Little League World Series championship A team from Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School won the Little League Baseball World Series’ international title on Saturday by defeating Aruba 1-0 in the annual baseball tournament held in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. The Taiwan team, competing under the name Chinese Taipei, were after press time last night to face a team from Las Vegas, Nevada, which beat a team from Fairfield, Connecticut, in the US championship 8-2. Taiwan are seeking to win their first Little League Baseball World Series title since 1996. “Really haven’t taken a moment to data dump right now on Taiwan,” Nevada manager T.J. Fescher said. “They’re a
‘CATASTROPHE’: Despite losing several key forwards in the summer transfer window, Bayern were up 3-0 in the first half before Harry Kane scored a hat-trick in the second Harry Kane hit a hat-trick, Michael Olise a double and newcomer Luis Diaz also scored as Bayern Munich made a “statement” against RB Leipzig 6-0 at home in the Bundesliga season opener on Friday. Bayern’s big-money arrivals, all brought in from the Premier League across the past three seasons, were dominant as the Bavarians begun their title defense in style. Olise scored twice in the first half, either side of a Diaz strike. Not to be outdone, Kane scored three goals in the second half — with two assists coming from Diaz, to bring Bayern’s total to 6-0. Kane told the Bundesliga
Kevin de Bruyne is to lead SSC Napoli’s Serie A title defense today when he makes his full debut at promoted US Sassuolo, but the champions head into the new season rocked by a long-term injury to star striker Romelu Lukaku. De Bruyne was, alongside aging icon Luka Modric, the big new name to arrive in Italy this summer and fans were hoping his linkup with Belgium teammate Lukaku would push Napoli to success both at home and in their return to the UEFA Champions League. The 34-year-old has suffered from hamstring injuries which caused him to miss significant chunks of the
RSS