Friday Second Free Practice - Canadian GP

Takuma Sato staked his claim for a BAR-Honda pole position in this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix when he topped the times in the second practice session at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Friday.

Japanese driver Sato set a time of 1:14.086 to top the second session but his time was still 0.073 seconds shy of World Champion Michael Schumacher's best time in the first session.

Sato finished 0.340 seconds ahead of second-placed Spaniard Fernando Alonso, of Renault, with Schumacher third in the second session with a time of 1:14.535 seconds, more than half a second slower than his earlier lap.

Schumacher had several problems in the session and hit the wall at turn nine, causing a small spark to flicker from his front right wheel, then went off track again later at turn eight.

Finn Kimi Raikkonen finished fourth for McLaren-Mercedes with Brazilian Rubens Barrichello fifth in the second Ferrari and Brazilian Ricardo Zonta, the Toyota test driver, in sixth.

Toyota race driver Cristiano da Matta, also Brazilian, finished seventh fastest with Briton Jenson Button eighth in the second BAR-Honda, Scot David Coulthard ninth for McLaren and Italian Giancarlo Fisichella tenth in his Sauber.

British BAR-Honda test driver Anthony Davidson blotted his copybook after finishing best of the rest in the morning session when he hit the barriers at turn six. He finished 12th.

Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was well down the order in his Williams-BMW, finishing 20th after managing to add only six laps in the second session to his first session total of 13.

Italian Giorgio Pantano sat out the second session as he did the first while he attempted to solve suspected financial problems regarding the future of his Jordan drive. His possible replacement, German Timo Glock, finished 19th.

Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. Sato BAR-Honda (M) 1:14.086 20 2. Alonso Renault (M) 1:14.426 + 0.340 29 3. M.Schumacher Ferrari (B) 1:14.535 + 0.449 26 4. Raikkonen McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:14.581 + 0.495 19 5. Barrichello Ferrari (B) 1:14.705 + 0.619 31 6. Zonta Toyota (M) 1:14.871 + 0.785 33 7. da Matta Toyota (M) 1:15.146 + 1.060 30 8. Button BAR-Honda (M) 1:15.152 + 1.066 21 9. Coulthard McLaren-Mercedes (M) 1:15.164 + 1.078 19 10. Fisichella Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:15.293 + 1.207 28 11. Trulli Renault (M) 1:15.492 + 1.406 17 12. Davidson BAR-Honda (M) 1:15.513 + 1.427 21 13. Panis Toyota (M) 1:15.538 + 1.452 28 14. R.Schumacher Williams-BMW (M) 1:15.803 + 1.717 22 15. Webber Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:15.926 + 1.840 14 16. Massa Sauber-Petronas (B) 1:16.119 + 2.033 25 17. Bruni Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:16.235 + 2.149 22 18. Heidfeld Jordan-Ford (B) 1:16.508 + 2.422 23 19. Glock Jordan-Ford (B) 1:16.524 + 2.438 28 20. Montoya Williams-BMW (M) 1:16.564 + 2.478 6 21. Klien Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:16.815 + 2.729 27 22. Baumgartner Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:16.981 + 2.895 17 23. Leinders Minardi-Cosworth (B) 1:17.697 + 3.611 23 24. Wirdheim Jaguar-Cosworth (M) 1:19.260 + 5.174 18 25. Pantano Jordan-Ford (B) No Time All timing unofficial