Bridgestone Looking for Win to Celebrate 100th GP

Japanese tyre manufacturer Bridgestone are looking to score their 15th win of the 2002 season to celebrate their 100th Formula One Grand Prix in style.

The Bridgestone-shod Ferraris of Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello completed an all-Ferrari front row, boosting the chances of yet another victory for the Japanese marque, who tomorrow will complete a century of Grands Prix after making their F1 debut back in 1997.

The day was especially pleasing for Bridgestone after Jordan's Takuma Sato completed his best ever qualifying performance in front of his home crowd with the seventh quickest time.

"This track is quite long but there are very few opportunities for overtaking so qualifying position is very important," said Bridgestone's technical manager Hisao Suganuma. "Therefore, I am very pleased for our teams today because most of our drivers will start from strong positions.

"In particular, I am happy for Takuma who did a great job for his first home Grand Prix. I am quite confident for tomorrow because our tyre performance was encouraging today and should be competitive for Bridgestone's 100th Grand Prix."