Jean Alesi will start from pole position ...
Published on 06 September 1997 by Verstappen Info Page
Jean Alesi will start from pole position tomorrow in the Italian Grand Prix. It is his second pole position in his career, the first was also on Monza in 1994. With 1:22.990 he was the fastest man and the only one that went under the 1:23 barrier. Very positive for him and for Flavio Briatore who will leave the team at the end of this year as was announced yesterday by Alessandro Benetton, president of Benetton Formula. The top 6 for tomorrow is: Alesi, Frentzen, Fisichella, Villeneuve, Hakkinen and Coulthard. Jos was doing his very best today but couldn't get his Tyrrell with the Ford V8 further than a 20th position in 1:25.845, teammate Salo was a little bit faster and qualified 19th with 1:25.693.
Giancarlo Fisichella set the first serious time this afternoon with 1:23.901. After about 20 minutes Mika Hakkinen passed him and set the pole time on 1:23.340, Frentzen just behind him with 1:23.380. In his first run of 4 laps Jos set his first best time on 1:26.1. Salo was 4/10s of a second quicker than Jos after his first run. After 25 minutes the qualification was over for Jarno Trulli when he spinned and parked his car besides the track. Fisichella in the mean time set the first time on 1:23.067 in his second run.
After half an hour Jos goes out for his second run of 4 laps and improves his best lap time to 1:25.882, 2/10s behind Salo who had set 1:25.693 in his first run. Mika Salo won't get any better because he went through the gravel with his car in his second run and has to his third in the spare car. For a short while Frentzen has pole because he passed Fisichella with 1:23.042 but shortly after it is Jean Alesi who definitively sets the best time to 1:22.990. In his third run, 15 minutes before the end of the session Jos improves to 1:25.845 but eventually sticks to a 20th position. The Tyrrell just won't go any faster.
Just before the end of the session Katayama spins hard off the track. He and teammate Marques, who stays with Minardi for another year, are 21st and 22nd. The complete overview of the times can be found in our season section.
