Trulli Wins Provisional Pole in Barcelona

Topics:  Spanish Grand Prix, Jarno Trulli

VOA Sports
May 7, 2005

Italian Formula One driver Jarno Trulli has claimed the provisional pole for Sunday's running of the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona, the fifth race of the Grand Prix season.

Trulli piloted his Toyota car around the 4.627 kilometer Circuit de Catalunya in one minute, 14.795 seconds, just 0.016 of one second faster that Renault's Fernando Alonso of Spain.

McLaren's Kimi Raikkonen had the third fastest time in the first qualifying session, 0.024 seconds behind Trulli. Toyota's Ralf Schumacher was fourth but his older brother, seven time driving champion Michael Schumacher of Ferrari, could only manage seventh place.

Saturday's qualifying times will be combined with Sunday's session and the driver with the lowest time wins the pole. A sellout crowd of more than 115,000 fans is expected for Sunday's race.

Alonso leads this year's drivers' standings after three wins in four races. Alonso has 36 points while Trulli is second with 20 points. Italian Giancarlo Fisichella and Michael Schumacher both have 10 points in the overall standings.

Some information for this report provided by AP, Reuters