HOCKENHEIM (Germany), Aug 2: Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya grabbed pole position for Sunday’s German Grand Prix with a blistering late lap to outpace his German team mate at Williams Ralf Schumacher.

Montoya, pushing to keep his title challenge alive, clocked a best lap of one minute and 15.167 to secure his first pole of the season in a qualifying session run in torrid heat on Saturday.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello was third fastest for Ferrari ahead of Italian Jarno Trulli in a Renault with Finn Kimi Raikkonen fifth in a McLaren.

Ralf’s brother Michael, striving to protect his championship lead in a bid to lift a record sixth world title, was sixth for Ferrari.

Montoya’s time was just 0.018 seconds better than that of the younger Schumacher, who had been fastest in Friday’s opening qualifying and who ran last in the synchronised session run in torrid heat on Saturday afternoon.

After Montoya’s penultimate lap, Ralf Schumacher drove hard to deliver an even better time but had to settle for second place alongside his team mate on the front row.

With track temperatures rising to 49 degrees Celsius during the session, David Coulthard struggled to clock the 10th best time for McLaren and his fellow Briton Justin Wilson had to settle for 16th on the grid on his debut for the Jaguar team.

Grid positions:

1. Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia) Williams one minute 15.167 seconds; 2. Ralf Schumacher (Germany) Williams 1:15.185; 3. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Ferrari 1:15.488; 4. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Renault 1:15.679; 5. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) McLaren 1:15.874; 6. Michael Schumacher (Germany) Ferrari 1:15.898; 7. Olivier Panis (France) Toyota 1:16.034; 8. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 1:16.483; 9. Cristiano da Matta (Brazil) Toyota 1:16.550; 10. David Coulthard (Britain) McLaren 1:16.666; 11. Mark Webber (Australia) Jaguar 1:16.775; 12. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Jordan 1:16.831; 13. Jacques Villeneuve (Canada) BAR 1:17.090; 14. Heinz-Harald Frentzen (Germany) Sauber 1:17.169; 15. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) Sauber 1:17.557; 16. Justin Wilson (Britain) Jaguar 1:18.021; 17. Jenson Button (Britain) BAR 1:18.085; 18. Ralph Firman (Britain) Jordan 1:18.341; 19. Jos Verstappen (Netherlands) Minardi 1:19.023; 20. Nicolas Kiesa (Denmark) Minardi 1:19.174.—Reuters