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One of these days Juan Pablo Montoya is going to perform the motor racing equivalent of alchemy and turn a pole position into a race win. The Colombian, the best qualifier in the game, would like nothing better than for that to happen today having taken the premier slot on the grid for the fourth successive time. The last three races - in Monaco, Montreal and at the Nurburgring - have all gone against him, but sooner or later his luck must turn. It would be apposite for it to happen in Sir Frank Williams' and Patrick Head's back yard.
Before the BMW Williams driver stiffened his sinews for his final, successful attack at the end of yesterday's qualifying session, Silverstone 2002 had been all about Ferrari. In the rain on Friday the European Grand Prix winner Rubens Barrichello had again kept his team-mate Michael Schumacher behind him with another strong and convincing performance, capitalising on a rare error which saw the world champion lose half the day after spinning off and stalling on his first quick lap of the morning. Yesterday's free practice session in the morning continued the trend as the Brazilian and the German fought for the fastest time. Qualifying initially followed a similar pattern, even though Barrichello lost one run when oil from Jenson Button's broken Renault engine made the track slippery.
This is the crunch year for Silverstone, after its years of traffic-flow problems. The first indications are that the new A43 bypass and other improvements have made a significant...