Brazilian GP: Bridgestone Saturday qualifying notes

Rubens Barrichello powered his way to a stunning pole position on his Bridgestone Potenza tyres this afternoon, thrilling the thousands of fans who had turned out to watch their local hero in action. The Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro driver had never before taken pole position at his home circuit, fuelling the expectations of the Brazilian public who have seen a Brazilian driver win at home every tenth year for the past thirty years (1973, 1983, 1993).

Fellow Scuderia driver Michael Schumacher lines up a respectable seventh. Jordan Ford meanwhile had a positive start to their race weekend with Giancarlo Fisichella posting eighth fastest time which will see him line up on the fourth row of the grid. The team has attributed their better tyre usage to recent development work.

Hisao Suganuma, Technical Manager of Bridgestone Motorsport:

"I'm delighted to see Rubens on pole - it's really quite encouraging for race day. Of course tomorrow will be a tough day but I believe our tyres should perform well. However, a lot of factors affected this afternoon's qualifying result and we're not really sure of everyone's true performance - that remains to be seen tomorrow. It does seem though that the new rules are proving interesting. Regarding the race on Sunday, I think in general we'll see what has previously been a one-stop strategy circuit become a two- stop circuit."

Ross Brawn, Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro:

"Rubens did a super lap and I'm looking forward to a good race tomorrow. Both drivers were on the same tyre and although we haven't had a great deal of time this weekend to work on tyres, to be on pole with a tyre we believe to be a good race performer is obviously the ideal combination."

Gary Anderson, Technical Director of Jordan Ford:

"We're very happy with that performance - we achieved what we set out to do. The car was good and balance reasonable. We've done some development work for the race in Brazil and it seems to be paying off. It's certainly helped us with our tyre usage. We can now get the best out of the tyres."

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