Coulthard on Pole; Qualifying

Coulthard on Pole; Qualifying - European GP

Saturday May 20th, 2000

Briton David Coulthard on Saturday claimed his first pole position for nearly two years when he outpaced everyone in a rain-hit opening qualifying session for Sunday's European Grand Prix.

Just 18 days after he escaped from an air crash at Lyons in France which killed the pilot and co-pilot, the McLaren driver delivered the ninth prime starting position of his career.

The Scot, in his Mercedes-Benz-powered car, wound up one-tenth of a second ahead of championship-leading German Michael Schumacher in a Ferrari after a mid-session rainstorm curtailed the action, leaving everyone to make a vain effort to overturn Coulthard's best time in the final 90 seconds.

Coulthard's McLaren teammate Finn Mika Hakkinen, the defending world champion, was third fastest ahead of Brazilian Rubens Barrichello in the second Ferrari with Ralf Schumacher fifth in a Williams and Italian Jarno Trulli sixth for Jordan.

Briton Jenson Button, 20, who was fastest on Friday's practice in the second Williams, was unable to repeat the feat on Saturday and wound up in 11th place on the grid, having improved his time in the final flurry.

Coulthard, winner of seven Grands Prix in his career, will seek his first victory at the Nurburgring in Sunday's race to bolster his title challenge.

Pos  Driver         Team                 Time               
 1.  Coulthard      McLaren Mercedes     1:17.529  
 2.  M.Schumacher   Ferrari              1:17.667   +  0.138
 3.  Hakkinen       McLaren Mercedes     1:17.785   +  0.256
 4.  Barrichello    Ferrari              1:18.227   +  0.698
 5.  R.Schumacher   Williams BMW         1:18.515   +  0.986
 6.  Trulli         Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:18.612   +  1.083
 7.  Fisichella     Benetton Playlife    1:18.697   +  1.168
 8.  Irvine         Jaguar Cosworth      1:18.703   +  1.174
 9.  Villeneuve     BAR Honda            1:18.742   +  1.213
10.  Frentzen       Jordan Mugen-Honda   1:18.830   +  1.301
11.  Button         Williams BMW         1:18.887   +  1.358
12.  de la Rosa     Arrows Supertec      1:19.024   +  1.495
13.  Heidfeld       Prost Peugeot        1:19.147   +  1.618
14.  Verstappen     Arrows Supertec      1:19.190   +  1.661
15.  Wurz           Benetton Playlife    1:19.378   +  1.849
16.  Diniz          Sauber Petronas      1:19.422   +  1.893
17.  Herbert        Jaguar Cosworth      1:19.638   +  2.109
18.  Alesi          Prost Peugeot        1:19.651   +  2.122
19.  Zonta          BAR Honda            1:19.766   +  2.237
20.  Salo           Sauber Petronas      1:19.814   +  2.285
21.  Gene           Minardi Fondmetal    1:20.162   +  2.633
22.  Mazzacane      Minardi Fondmetal    1:21.015   +  3.486

All timing unofficial

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