Stewards Reject Minardi Appeal

Race stewards rejected a request by the Minardi team for Malaysian Alex Yoong to be allowed to start tomorrow's San Marino Grand Prix.

"The stewards of the meeting have decided that there are no exceptional circumstances which would allow (Yoong) to take part," a statement said.

Yoong's time of 1:27.241 was outside the qualifying limit of 1:26.767 and more than six seconds slower than World Champion Michael Schumacher's pole position for Ferrari.

The 25-year-old became the first Malaysian Formula One driver when he made his debut at the Italian Grand Prix last year. He has yet to score a point.

"I was a bit handicapped at the outset by never having driven this circuit in the dry," said Yoong, who made his Formula One debut last September. "I felt I had it sorted after the second 45 minute (practice) session this morning, but I underestimated the levels of grip available here in the dry with the car in qualifying trim.

"I'm particularly sorry for the guys, who worked really hard to get me in the race."

Australian teammate Mark Webber put his car in 19th position on the grid - ahead of the Arrows of Brazilian Enrique Bernoldi and Jaguar's Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa. Sunday's race will be the 275th start for Minardi, whose factory is in nearby Faenza.