US GP: Honda Saturday qualifying notes

HONDA-POWERED DUO TO START US GP FROM SECOND ROW
B.A.R Honda's Sato and Button qualify third and fourth at the Brickyard

Lucky Strike B.A.R Honda's Takuma Sato and Jenson Button continued their strong form at the Brickyard today, qualifying their B.A.R Honda 006s in third and fourth place to lock out the second row of the grid for tomorrow's United States Grand Prix.

Having set the fourth fastest time in pre-qualifying this afternoon, Sato was the 17th driver on track in final qualifying for the grid. The B.A.R Honda star was just up on provisional pole sitter Michael Schumacher's Ferrari in the second sector but lost a bit of time in the final sector, clocking a 1m10.601s, just 0.2 seconds off the German, nudging his team-mate down to fourth.

Button finished eighth in pre-qualifying, so was on track 13th for his final run, half way through the hour long session. Despite losing time in sector three, the B.A.R Honda driver set a clean 1m10.820s around the legendary Indy circuit to qualify fourth. The Briton will line up alongside team-mate Sato tomorrow when the Honda-powered pair will be aiming for good starts to get ahead of the Ferrari front row.

It was less humid in Indianapolis today but remained warm and sunny (24 degrees) as Rubens Barrichello snatched pole from Ferrari team-mate Michael Schumacher for tomorrow's US Grand Prix. B.A.R Honda's Takuma Sato and Jenson Button will line up behind them on the second row, followed by the Williams duo of Juan Pablo Montoya and Ralf Schumacher. Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) and Olivier Panis (Toyota) will start the race from seventh and eighth on the grid respectively.

Takuma Sato Position: 3rd

"I'm pleased with third on the grid for tomorrow. It was a shame that we couldn't reach the Ferraris as we were looking good in practice this morning. I'll settle for third and an all-B.A.R second row is great for the team. It was a little bit gusty out there so maybe our lap time was affected by that. Obviously I have a great opportunity for tomorrow which I intend to make the most of. My first priority is to finish the race but I would really like to finish it at least where I started. I'm really looking good for tomorrow's race and fighting for my first podium."

Jenson Button Position: 4th

"I wasn't very happy when I got out of the car but fourth is better than I thought we were going to end up. When Taku did his first run, obviously he was running after me when the circuit was cleaner and he had more wing than me, so we tried that setting and it was pretty awful actually. Loads of oversteer. In hindsight I wish we had kept the car as it was."

"It's difficult when you are going out third in for the first run to know what to do with the balance, so I thought we would have learnt more about the conditions from Taku's run but obviously we didn't and I had a lot of oversteer. It should be a good race however and it's great that both Taku and I will line up together tomorrow."

Shuhei Nakamoto, Engineering Director, Honda Racing Development:

"I am happy with that. Both drivers have done exactly what was asked of them and I think we should be in for a strong race tomorrow."

-honda-