Bridgestone Confident of Strong Race Pace

Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma is confident of a strong United States Grand Prix despite the Japanese manufacturer missing out on pole position in today's final qualifying.

Brazilian Ferrari driver Rubens Barrichello led the Bridgestone runners with second place behind Kimi Raikkonen in the Michelin-shod McLaren.

Barrichello's teammate Michael Schumacher was the other only Bridgestone runner to make in into the top ten, while the BAR drivers Jenson Button and Jacques Villeneuve were the fastest of the non-Ferraris with the 11th and 12th quickest times respectively.

Despite the Michelin dominance, however, Suganuma is confident of fighting back in the race.

"A very competitive front row start for Rubens Barrichello tomorrow, which we're pleased to see," said Suganuma. "His time this afternoon really demonstrated the competitive aspect of the Bridgestone tyres. Michael starts from seventh and we do expect him to be strong tomorrow.

"Other than limited dry running time this morning we didn't have any problems and judging from the practice data we're all set for the race. I fully expect our teams to be fighting for points."