Fernando Alonso (Renault) will spearhead the Michelin challenge in tomorrowï¿½s French Grand Prix after securing his second consecutive Formula One pole position at Magny-Cours. The Spaniard lapped in 1m 14.412s ï¿½ the fastest time seen at the Nevers track so far this weekend ï¿½ to pip Jarno Trulli (Toyota/Michelin) by just 0.109s. Kimi Rï¿½ikkï¿½nen (Team McLaren Mercedes) completed an all-Michelin top three, but he has been penalised 10 grid positions in the wake of an unscheduled engine change and will thus line up only 13th.
Alonsoï¿½s pole is the 92nd in Michelinï¿½s illustrious F1 history and maintains the companyï¿½s 100 per cent record for the season.
Takuma Sato (Bï¿½Aï¿½R-Honda) was fifth fastest ï¿½ and best of the remaining Michelin drivers ï¿½ ahead of Giancarlo Fisichella (Renault, seventh), Jenson Button (Bï¿½Aï¿½R-Honda, eighth), Juan Pablo Montoya (Team McLaren Mercedes, ninth), Felipe Massa (Sauber-Petronas, 10th), Jacques Villeneuve (Sauber- Petronas, 11th), Ralf Schumacher (Toyota, 12th), Mark Webber (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, 13th), Nick Heidfeld (BMW WilliamsF1 Team, 14th), David Coulthard (Red Bull Racing, 15th) and Christian Klien (Red Bull Racing, 16th).

This morningï¿½s third free practice session got off to a damp start and only nine drivers completed flying laps. Running on wet-weather tyres, Renault/Michelin drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella set the two fastest times. Fisichella was quickest in the following final free practice, which ended in dry conditions.

Michelinï¿½s day
Pierre Dupasquier, Michelin motorsport director ï¿½Our partners have performed extremely well since the start of the weekend and todayï¿½s result is a source of great satisfaction for the whole Michelin team.
ï¿½This morningï¿½s rain affected the track a little. When conditions dried out, lap times werenï¿½t particularly slower than before but the circuit became more abrasive, so one or two teams briefly had graining problems although this was to be expected. Conditions have since stabilised and I think we will be in excellent shape for tomorrowï¿½s race.ï¿½

Nick Shorrock, director of Michelin F1 activities ï¿½Our preparations were knocked slightly out of step by this morningï¿½s rain, but it was nice to have an opportunity to try our wet-weather products. They performed very well, although it was difficult to make many valid comparisons because relatively few cars did any serious running.
ï¿½Our partners have chosen to use three of Michelinï¿½s four available dry-weather tyres in tomorrowï¿½s race. These all delivered exactly the results we expected in terms of performance and durability. Once again, it was gratifying to see Michelinï¿½s tyres working so effectively on a wide variety of chassis.ï¿½

Team perspective:
Bob Bell, technical director (chassis), Renault F1
ï¿½Our tyres have performed extremely well this weekend. Michelin brought two very well-chosen compounds, in terms of both performance and durability. Theyï¿½ve delivered all we could have asked for.ï¿½

2005 French Grand Prix - Main Page
2005 French Grand Prix - Team and Driver Qualifying Reports Page

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