Trulli sets pace, Schumacher back in eight

ITALY'S Jarno Trulli was the surprise pace-setter yesterday in the first qualifying session for the United States Grand Prix while Formula One points leader Michael Schumacher slumped home eighth.

The German champion seeks an unprecedented sixth F1 crown, but the Ferrari racer’s slow showing here means that he will start Saturday’s pole qualifying session three spots before his main rival, Williams BMW's Juan Pablo Montoya.

Schumacher has 82 points, three ahead of Colombia’s Montoya and seven ahead of Finland’s Kimi Raikkonen, who will start just ahead of Schumacher on Saturday when qualifying runs are made in reverse order of Friday’s results.

That should give Montoya an edge in trying to secure a superior starting spot in Sunday’s 73-lap showdown, while the test for Schumacher will be to regain the form that has led him to five F1 triumphs this season.

Schumacher, who went first by virtue of his points lead, completed his lap around the 13-turn, 4.192-km course in 1:10.736, finishing .02 ahead of Raikkonen’s McLaren Mercedes but .436 behind fifth-place Montoya.

But track speeds improved as the session continued, leaving Schumacher helpless as rivals took advantage of cool, overcast conditions at Indianapolis Motor Speedway until rain slowed matters midway through the time trials.

Renault’s Trulli led the way in 1:09.566 followed by Schumacher’s Brazilian Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello in 1:09.835 and Australia’s Mark Webber of Jaguar in 1:10.081.

If Trulli can duplicate his feat Saturday, he will capture the first pole of his F1 career.

Schumacher’s brother Ralf, Montoya’s teammate at Williams, was fourth in 1:10.222 followed by Montoya in 1:10.372. Britain's David Coulthard was next, followed by Spain's Fernando Alonzo, Schumacher and Raikkonen.

Italy’s Giancarlo Fisichella blew an engine to halt practice for 20 minutes, his Jordan parked on the final straightaway.

Five minutes after cars returned, rain arrived and sent everyone back to the garages for slick-weather tyres.

Fisichella’s teammate, Briton Ralph Firman, came to a stop in the 10th turn late in the session, doubling the Jordan garage’s pre-qualifying workload.

Cool conditions and a chance of rain for the weekend means tyre strategy could be pivotal and Michael Schumacher says he will not be slowing down at the finish line to wait for Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello this time the way he did here at last year’s United States Grand Prix.