European GP Qualy: Massa Takes Pole Position

Felipe Massa has taken the first ever pole position to the European Grand Prix held in the new street circuit of Valencia, Spain.

In a bid to revive his championship hopes, Ferrari's Felipe Massa, who had to walk away from the previous Grand Prix (Hungarian) with absolutely no point when his engine gave way just 3 laps from the chequered flag - while he was leading the race, the Brazilian had taken the pole position with a timing of 1:38.989.

McLaren-Mercedes' driver and current leader of the Drivers' Championship Lewis Hamilton will start beside Massa tomorrow on the front row of the grid, while Robert Kubica of BMW will be alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel was impressive during the qualifying session by taking the first spot on a few occasions, but eventually finished the session as 6th fastest. His teammate Sebastien Bourdais had a good run too and rounded up the top ten of the qualifying session.

Jarno Trulli will start from the 7th spot, beside BMW's Nick Heidfeld. Heidfeld almost failed to make it into Q2 when he was blocked by another car and he struggled to control his car as he tried to overtake it. A few quick laps at the crucial times were all it took to bring Heidfeld smoothly to the top ten. Williams' Nico Rosberg, who had not had good qualifying results for recent races, would start from the 9th spot tomorrow.

Home hero Fernando Alonso was unable to go into Q3 shootout after he made a mistake on his final lap during Q2, and will have to make his way up the field from 12th position on the grid.

The Honda duo look to be in serious trouble as they lack the pace and will be starting from 16th and 19th on the grid. Without the race pace and overtaking chances on the circuit, both Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello will certainly face an uphill task tomorrow.

The starting grid for tomorrow will be as follows:

1. F. Massa Ferrari 1:38.989
	2. L. Hamilton McLaren 1:39.199
3. R. Kubica BMW 1:39.392
	4. K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:39.488
5. H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:39.937
	6. S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:40.142
7. J. Trulli Toyota 1:40.309
	8. N. Heidfeld BMW 1:40.631
9. N. Rosberg Williams 1:40.721
	10. S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:40.750
11. K. Nakajima Williams 1:38.428 *
	12. F. Alonso Renault 1:38.435
13. T. Glock Toyota 1:38.499
	14. M. Webber Red Bull 1:38.515
15. N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:38.744
	16. J. Button Honda 1:38.880 **
17. D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:39.235
	18. G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:39.268
19. R. Barrichello Honda 1:39.811
	20. A. Sutil Force India F1 1:39.943

* Timing set during Qualifying 2 run
** Timing set during Qualifying 1 run
-- Starting grid if there are no further changes or penalties incurred by any of the drivers.

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Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved.

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