Lewis takes pole in Japan

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Oct 11, 2008

LEWIS HAMILTON ensured he has the best chance possible of extending his World Championship lead after securing pole position for the Japanese Grand Prix in qualifying this morning.

The McLaren driver shot to the top of the timesheet late on with a time of one minute 18.404 seconds on the Fuji Speedway circuit.

But there was disaster for Felipe Massa as the Ferrari driver will start fifth on the grid tomorrow.

Kimi Raikkonen finished second with a time of 1:18.644, while Hamilton's team-mate Heikki Kovalainen took third and Singapore Grand Prix winner Fernando Alonso fourth for Renault.

"I'm very happy, the team have done a phenomenal job," said a delighted Hamilton.

"We will push forward with the strategy we have tomorrow." Massa, who had started from pole in Singapore before a pitstop blunder ended his chances in the race, could only manage a time of 1:18.874 and faces an uphill challenge to deny Hamilton edging closer to the world championship title.

BMW Sauber's Robert Kubica, who had gone fastest in practice earlier today, will start sixth while Jarno Trulli and Timo Glock gave Toyota a boost in their home race by claiming seventh and eighth respectively.

Toro Rosso pair Sebastien Vettel and Sebastien Bourdais round out the top 10.

After a damp final practice session this morning the circuit was starting to dry out by the start of qualifying.

Grid positions after qualifying: 1 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) McLaren 1min 18.404secs, 2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:18.644, 3 Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren 1:18.821, 4 Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:18.852, 5 Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari 1:18.874, 6 Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:18.979, 7 Jamo Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:19.026, 8 Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:19.118, 9 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:19.638, 10 Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Scuderia Toro Rosso 120.167, 11 David Coulthard (Gbr) Red Bull 1:18.187, 12 Nelson Piquet Jr. (Bra) Renault 1:18.274, 13 Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull 1:18.354, 14 Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams 1:18.594, 15 Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams 1:18.672, 16 Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:18.835,17 Rubens Barrichello (Bra) Honda 1:18.882, 18 Jenson Button (Gbr) Honda 1:19.100,19 Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India 1:19.163, 20 Giancarlo Fisichella (Ita) Force India 1:19.910.

CAPTION(S):

UPBEAT: Hamilton