Suspension Failure Costs Trulli Third Place

A problem with his car's suspension on his final run stopped Italian Jarno Trulli from moving ahead of McLaren's David Coulthard in today's qualifying session, according to the Jordan driver, who endured another promising session to finish in fourth place.

A problem with the circuit's timing made things difficult for Trulli, but the Italian was pleased with the team's result at their home track and claimed he could have made it to the second row of the grid if not for the problem which forced him to stop before he could complete his final attempt.

"Great qualifying for me and for the team," said Trulli. "It's a shame because the car was really running well but it was a difficult because I was running completely blind thanks to having no computer readout of the lap times. So I was completely blind and unable to know where I was losing and where I was gaining.

"I'm sure I could have beaten Coulthard's time because I had a bit left for that last run. Anyway, a very good result for the team, especially at Jordan's home Grand Prix."

Heinz-Harald Frentzen was also pleased after posting the fifth quickest time right behind his teammate, the German driver happy with his Honda-powered EJ-11's handling.

"Certainly qualifying was confusing a little bit because we were expecting some rain," said Frentzen. "That's why we tried to do our runs early but then we received information that there would not be any rain. So everyone was running more or less to the same plan.

"But we had a well-balanced car for qualifying and I had a good feeling we would be competitive here. That's the way it has proved and I'm quite happy."