The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Schumacher impressive in practice

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Saturday, Jul 29, 2006

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Sport - Racing : Motor

Schumacher impressive in practice

HOCKENHEIM: Michael Schumacher got off to a promising start in his bid to win his third straight Formula One race and close in on the defending champion and points leader Fernando Alonso.

Schumacher sat out the first practice on Friday for the German Grand Prix, then drove his Ferrari to the fastest lap among race drivers in the second session.

``At the moment, the situation seems pretty good,'' Schumacher said.

Alonso, third among race drivers in the morning session, was only 15th in the second trial.

``This quite a short lap and there seemed to be a lot of traffic out there today,'' Alonso said. ``My timed laps were all compromised a little bit by this.''

After 11 of 18 races, the Spaniard has 96 points and Schumacher has 79. A win is worth 10 points.

Schumacher, though, is riding a two-race winning run. A hat-trick at the German Grand Prix on Sunday would see him further reduce Alonso's lead at the top of the Formula One drivers' championship.

Schumacher's straight wins in the United States and France snapped Alonso's four-race streak. The Renault driver has won six races so far this season and has only one finish outside the top two. Schumacher has four wins.

No car apart from Renault or Ferrari has won a race this season, with one victory going to Alonso's teammate Giancarlo Fisichella.

A shower dampened the track shortly before the second session, making it slippery, Alonso said.

``The most important thing, though, was to recognise that the conditions today were quite different to what we expect for the rest of the weekend,'' Alonso said.

Fastest lap

BMW-Sauber test driver Robert Kubica used his only day of action this weekend to complete the fastest lap of the day of 1 minute, 16.225 seconds, .277 seconds ahead of Schumacher. Test drivers are only allowed to race on the practice day.

Schumacher beat Alonso by 1.58 seconds on the 4.574-km (2.842-mile) Hockenheimring circuit.

``I wouldn't put too much onto the figures,'' Schumacher said. ``If anyone has the chance of beating us, it's Renault.''

With teams experimenting with tires, Ferrari will have to study carefully the data gathered during practice ``to get a realistic idea of the pecking order,'' Schumacher said. ``But I think we have not yet seen the true potential of some of the teams,'' he said.

Schumacher has delayed a decision on his future until September and if he retires, this would be the seven-time champion's final race at home.

``It's the highlight of the year for me and a lot of fun. It's a great motivation and emotion to drive here,'' said the Formula One's most successful driver with 88 career wins, three of them at Hockenheim.

Raikkonen gave McLaren-Mercedes a boost by coming in fourth, behind another test driver, Robert Doornbos in a Red Bull. Felipe Massa, the second Ferrari driver, was fifth. Super Aguri gave the team's new car its debut, but only Takuma Sato set a time in second practice. — AP

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