Gascoyne Pleased with Qualifying

Trulli had been a front-row starter at the first two races of the year and, although being beaten this time by Fernando Alonso and Schumacher, his third place grid slot means that he will be starting on the clean side of what is an incredibly sandy track.

And, with Ralf Schumacher having improved on his Saturday performance to grab sixth place on the final grid, Gascoyne was pleased with the outcome of qualifying.

"It was a pretty good session this morning with Ralf more than making up for his lap yesterday with an excellent run to make up five positions on his way to sixth on the grid," said Gascoyne.

"Jarno, although not on the front row, will benefit from starting the race on the clean side of the track from where we will be looking to ensure a second successive podium finish and both cars firmly in the points."

Trulli was equally upbeat about where he is actually starting the race. "For the first time this season, I will not start from the front row of the grid, but I think third is a still a good result and representative of our current competitiveness," he said.

"I am starting on the cleaner side of the track, which will hopefully enable me to get a better start than my immediate challengers and from there we have to look at finishing amongst the front-runners."

Schumacher himself certainly appeared far happier with his performance, after seeing his first qualifying effort ruined by a wild moment under braking that cost him valuable time.

"My lap this morning was good, but I can't quite shake the feeling of frustration because of the mistake on my flying lap yesterday," said the German.

"Looking on the positive side, I made up five positions as a result of today's session, which has put me in with a real chance for another good points finish this afternoon with a car that Jarno has shown can challenge for the podium."