Happy Barrichello Targeting Victory

Rubens Barrichello said he was excited by this year's three-way World Championship battle on Saturday as he sidestepped questions over team tactics after qualifying for Sunday's United States Grand Prix.

Brazilian Barrichello will start alongside title contender and pole man Kimi Raikkonen at the front of the grid in Indianapolis and is in prime position to aid World Champion teammate Michael Schumacher's efforts to retain his crown.

But he was unmoved by questions over his team's apparent plans to use team orders in the race and said: "Hopefully to win the race. I think that's the first plan right now.

"It's such a good Championship because you would see after the last race that the two main contenders were Montoya and Schumacher and then all of a sudden you see Kimi on pole and the other two guys behind. It is quite open."

Schumacher leads the title race by thee points from Juan Pablo Montoya but will start from seventh place on the grid after putting in his second worst qualifying performance of the year. Montoya could only manage fourth place on the grid, directly behind his close friend Barrichello, but the Brazilian was only thinking of himself after the qualifying runs.

"I was actually hoping for pole," said Barrichello. "I think the car is good and looked good for the whole time, the whole weekend. On the warm-up, it felt a little bit different due to the wind, but I think everyone felt the same.

"It was still a good lap. It was a little bit of a compromise on the set-up because in the warm-up the car was really loose everywhere, but the compromise paid off a little bit."