May 14, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-us-Sani 15, 1427

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BARCELONA (Spain), May 13: World champion Fernando Alonso drove an enthusiastic Spanish crowd into a frenzy on Saturday by taking pole position for the Spanish Grand Prix.

The 24-year-old Spaniard set a time of one minute 14.648 to beat his Italian team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella by five hundredths of a second as Renault claimed the front two positions on the grid.

Alonso hit the front with less than five minutes remaining in the top-ten shoot-out' - prompting a huge roar from the massed Spanish crowd that packed the grandstand beside the start-finish straight.

He then went faster still in the dying seconds of the session.

Michael Schumacher did his chances of closing the 13-point gap to Alonso in the world championship no help by qualifying third — alongside his Brazilian Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa. Brazilian Rubens Barrichello continued his up-turn in form by qualifying fifth for Honda while German Ralf Schumacher was sixth for Toyota.

Australia's Mark Webber was just four hundredths of a second away from making the cut-off point for the top-ten shoot-out' in his Williams and will start 11th. Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was another surprise name to miss the cut in his McLaren - one place further back.

Germany's Nico Rosberg in a Williams, Canadian Jacques Villeneuve in a BMW Sauber, Austrian Christian Klien in a Red Bull, and Italian Vitantonio Liuzzi in a Toro Rosso, also missed the mark.

The opening 15-minute session was delayed by a red flag when Briton David Coulthard crashed his Red Bull heavily into the barriers at turn three - ensuring that he will start his 200th Grand Prix from the back of the grid.

Also eliminated from the running at that stage were American Scott Speed, driving a Toro Rosso, Portuguese driver Tiago Monteiro and his Dutch team-mate Christijan Albers, both in Midlands, as well as Japanese driver Takuma Sato, and his French team-mate Franck Montagny, both in Super Aguris.

Grid position

1.Fernando Alonso (Spain) 1:14.648

2.Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy)1:14.709

3.Michael Schumacher (Germany)1:14.970

4.Felipe Massa (Brazil) 1:15.442

5.Rubens Barrichello (Brazil)1:15.885

6.Ralf Schumacher (Germany)1:15.885

7.Jarno Trulli (Italy) 1:15.976

8.Jenson Button (Britain)1:16.008

9.Kimi Raikkonen (Finland)1:16.015

10.Nick Heidfeld (Germany)1:17.144

11.Mark Webber (Australia)1:15.502

12.Juan Pablo Montoya (Colombia)1:15.801

13.Nico Rosberg (Germany)1:15.804

14.Jacques Villeneuve (Canada)1:15.847

15.Christian Klien (Austria)i1:15.928

16.Vitantonio Liuzzi (Italy) 1:16.661

17.Scott Speed (U.S.) 1:17.36118.Tiago Monteiro (Portugal) 1:17.702

19.Christijan Albers (Netherlands) 1:18.024

20.Takuma Sato (Japan) 1:18.920

21.Franck Montagny (France) 1:20.763

22.David Coulthard (Britain).—Agencies