Motorsports

M. Schumacher earns pole in Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia -- Michael Schumacher began his attempt to win a fourth consecutive Australian Grand Prix by taking the pole today for the season-opening Formula One race.

Schumacher lapped the 3.295-mile Albert Park circuit in 1 minute, 27.173 seconds. That was .245 seconds faster than Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello.

This race is the first under F1's new qualifying format, in which each car gets one lap on Friday, solely to determine the order of Saturday's qualifying. Friday's order is inverted, meaning the fastest qualifier runs last Saturday, and each car again gets one lap. The outcome of that session determines the starting grid. Barrichello was fastest in Friday's session; Schumacher was fourth.

"Four opportunities or one, you have to concentrate," said Schumacher, who also seeks his fourth consecutive points championship. "I had no margin left to push any further."

Juan Montoya's Williams BMW was third fastest in 1:28.101. Next came Heinz-Harald Frentzen's Sauber in 1:28.274.

Olivier Panis, driving a Toyota, was fifth in 1:28.288.

Light drizzle fell about an hour before the session, but the track was dry by the time qualifying started.

B. Bodine files order vs. wife

NASCAR owner-driver Brett Bodine has a restraining order against his estranged wife, whom he alleges hit him and threatened to ruin him financially.

The domestic violence protective order, signed by Mecklenburg County (N.C.) District Court Judge Rickye McKoy-Mitchell, requires Diane Bodine to stay away from tracks where her husband is racing.

She filed for divorce nearly two months ago and sued a Georgia woman, accusing her of seducing her husband of 22 years and ruining their marriage.

The woman has denied any involvement with Bodine.

ALTERNATIVE DRIVER: Former CART driver Bryan Herta will drive an experimental alternative-fuel Prototype in next weekend's 12 Hours of Sebring at Sebring International Raceway. Herta will drive Team Nasamax's entry, which runs on Bio-ethanol, a fuel made from agricultural products that does not pollute the environment.

CAPITAL CANCELLATION: The Washington Grand Prix was canceled by the American Le Mans Series, which blamed the race's promoter. The event was scheduled for the final weekend of June. The event was staged last year in the parking lot at RFK Stadium.

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