Webber is on Provisional Pole

By Steve
April 5 2003

A great day for Jaguar has seen Webber take Provisional Pole! Pizzonia has provisionally qualified a highly commendable 8th in treacherous wet conditions.

Webber, who was second last to take his run, snatched pole from local hero Rubens Barricello.

Webbers comments "What can I say, an amazing day all-round!As a result of the [free practice] session being stopped [for team-mate Antonio Pizzonia's accident] my fastest lap there wasn't actually recorded - however, I am pleased to say that it was in qualifying.

"We were fortunate that the track had dried to some extent by the time I went out, however, the team have done an amazing job with the car and pole position today is just reward for the hard work that the team both here and at the factory have carried out since the start of the season. To be last out tomorrow is going to be interesting, lets see how it goes!"

The heavy rain comtributed to Pizzonia aquaplaning in practice and damaging his car. He was forced to qualify in the T-car. Showing what he's capable of on a familar track
Pizzonia had this to say "It has been quite a difficult day for me today, with a few issues on the car this morning in testing and then my incident during warm-up," Pizzonia said, "We were working through a normal list of tyre comparisons and race set-up when my car suffered a fuel issue problem that forced me to stop. The rain was not making my job any easier this morning when, during practice, I aqua-planned into corner and did some damage to the car.

"I qualified in the T-car which was fortunately set-up for me this weekend, but the T-car always feels slightly different from your race car. Despite that, I am very pleased with my eighth position here at Interlagos. Knowing the track already has made a huge difference, as I am far more comfortable behind the wheel here than I have been at the first two tracks of the season. I am looking forward to tomorrow - let's hope the home fans are entertained."

"Mark was one of the last two drivers to qualify today and he did an inspiring job," concluded Dr Mark Gillan, the Jaguar team's head of vehicle performance, "The track conditions were difficult and, although we knew we were competitive, we are, of course, very pleased to be on pole. The team, along with Cosworth and Michelin have been working extremely hard since the start of the season to iron out the gremlins that we have been suffering. This result certainly gives the team a well deserved boost but we are already planning for tomorrow and working on race strategy."