The Hindu : Sport / Racing : Motor : Alonso seizes the initiative on home turf

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 13, 2006

Sport

Sport - Racing : Motor

Alonso seizes the initiative on home turf

BARCELONA: Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher look set for another duel after posting the fastest times in practice on Friday for the Spanish Grand Prix.

Most of the top drivers skipped the morning's first practice as wet conditions limited track time.

But in the afternoon session, Alonso was the fastest with a time of 1 minute, 16.860 seconds, while Schumacher clocked 1:17.100.

Test drivers Anthony Davidson of Honda (1:16.533) and Robert Doornbos of Red Bull (1:16.624) were quickest. The second fastest race driver was Christien Klien in 1:17.086.

Fined for speeding

Incidentally, Alonso was fined $2,000 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit in the first session.

In the morning session, Ferrari's Felipe Massa and Schumacher went out briefly for one timed lap, recording the top two times among nine drivers.

Massa's morning

Fastest time of the morning went to Massa with 1:15.796, followed by Schumacher at 1:16.099.

Alonso, who last year became the youngest driver and first Spaniard to win the Formula One title, did not take part as the Renault team held off. He has finished behind Schumacher in the last two races after winning two of the first three GPs this season.

Alonso leads the championship after five races with 44 points, followed by Schumacher at 31.

There is another practice session on Saturday morning, with qualifying in the afternoon. The 60-lap race on Sunday is on the 4.627-km circuit. — AP

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