SPORTS

Montoya on pole for Belgian GP

September 10, 2005 18:39 IST

McLaren swept the front row for Sunday's Belgian Grand Prix with Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya on pole position alongside championship contender Kimi Raikkonen.

India's Narain Karthikeyan finished last, at 20, with a classification time of 1:51.675 as both the Minardi's performed better than the Jordans. Karthikeyan's teammate Tiago Monteiro will start 19th on the grid on Sunday.

Renault's 24-year-old title favourite Fernando Alonso, who will become Formula One's youngest champion if he beats Raikkonen by four points at Spa, starts on the second row behind his Finnish rival.

Montoya lapped the longest circuit on the calendar in one minute 46.391 seconds for his second successive pole position and second of the season.

Raikkonen, 27 points behind Alonso with four races remaining, was 0.049 seconds slower.

Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella was third quickest but lost 10 places because of an engine change after practice, relegating the Italian to 13th place.

That will be a blow for Renault, fighting for the constructors' championship with an eight-point lead over McLaren.

Compatriot Jarno Trulli, in a Toyota, will take the third slot with Alonso alongside while the Schumacher brothers, Ralf and Michael, fill the third row for Toyota and Ferrari respectively.

1.  Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia)    McLaren   1:46.391
  2.  Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)         McLaren   1:46.440
  3.  Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy)     Renault   1:46.497
  4.  Jarno Trulli (Italy)             Toyota    1:46.596
  5.  Fernando Alonso (Spain)          Renault   1:46.760
  6.  Ralf Schumacher (Germany)        Toyota    1:47.401
  7.  Michael Schumacher (Germany)     Ferrari   1:47.476
  8.  Felipe Massa (Brazil)            Sauber    1:47.867
  9.  Jenson Button (Britain)          BAR       1:47.978
10.  Mark Webber (Australia)          Williams  1:48.071
11.  Takuma Sato (Japan)              BAR       1:48.353
12.  David Coulthard (Britain)        Red Bull  1:48.508
13.  Rubens Barrichello (Brazil)      Ferrari   1:48.550
14.  Jacques Villeneuve (Canada)      Sauber    1:48.889
15.  Antonio Pizzonia (Brazil)        Williams  1:48.898
16.  Christian Klien (Austria)        Red Bull  1:48.994
17.  Robert Doornbos (Netherlands)    Minardi   1:49.779
18.  Christijan Albers (Netherlands)  Minardi   1:49.842
19.  Tiago Monteiro (Portugal)        Jordan    1:51.498
20.  Narain Karthikeyan (India)       Jordan    1:51.675

Source: REUTERS
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