Sport - Racing : Motor   

Kubica drives to pole at Sakhir

— Photo: AP

POLE ON POLE! Robert Kubica, flanked by Lewis Hamilton (left) and Felipe Massa, acknowledges the cheers after the official qualifying session for the Bahrain Formula One GP on Saturday.

MANAMA: BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica edged Ferrari’s Felipe Massa on Saturday to take pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old from Krakow, taking part in only his 27th Grand Prix meeting, outpaced Massa of Ferrari and old friend and current drivers’ championship leading Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren.

Kubica delivered a fastest lap of one minute and 33.096 seconds in the final stages of the third part-section of the Saturday session to give his team its first prime starting place.

In taking pole, Kubica snapped a Ferrari-McLaren monopoly on the top spot that had lasted 22 races. Fernando Alonso’s pole for Renault at the Chinese GP in October 2006 was the last for another team.

Massa endorsed his improved challenge this weekend after two pointless and error-strewn outings in Australia and Malaysia.

Hamilton, 23, crashed heavily in his McLaren on Friday afternoon in practice and had to use the team’s spare chassis, built up overnight at the circuit. He put in a huge effort and set the fastest time of the part-session with seconds remaining, but it was not enough.

Kubica, who had an amazing escape from a dreadful crash in the Canadian Grand Prix last year, followed up his career-best second place in Malaysia two weeks ago with the maiden pole of his brief career in a thrilling climax to the session.

Defending world champion Finn Kimi Raikkonen will start fourth in the other Ferrari.

Massa had dominated proceedings on the 5.412 km desert track in Sakhir where he roared to victory from pole last year.

But as the seconds ticked by to the end of the session first Hamilton displaced him from top spot before the British pilot, who leads the championship by three points, lost out to Kubica. Massa was left as the last man on the track, but for the first time since practice began had to settle for second best as he just failed to regain his position at the top of the time-sheets.

There was disappointment for Force India who had targeted progressing to the second qualifying session, but Italy’s Giancarlo Fisichella and Germany’s Adrian Sutil finished 18th and 20th respectively.

The starting grid: 1st row: Robert Kubica (BMW Sauber), Felipe Massa (Ferrari); 2nd row: Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes), Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari); 3rd row: Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren-Mercedes), Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber).

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