Barrichello steps out of shadows

Favorite Michael Schumacher had trouble with his car's handling.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) -- Michael Schumacher set the target midway through Saturday's U.S. Grand Prix qualifying. Rubens Barrichello tore past it in a flash.
Barrichello made up a 0.2-second deficit over the final two-thirds of Indianapolis' 2.605-mile road course, beating Schumacher's qualifying time by 0.177 seconds to claim the pole for the U.S. Grand Prix today.
"We made progress since [Friday]," Barrichello said. "We made a small change in the car. I didn't have much of a reference, but it was an easy lap."
A relief
The winning run also came as a relief to Barrichello, a Brazilian best known as Ferrari's other driver. He earned the 10th pole of his career and his first since October in Japan with a time of 1 minute, 10.223 seconds.
Barrichello's move Saturday wasn't a total surprise. He had been fastest in three of the four practice sessions on the 13-turn road course, then set a new track record with a time of 1:09.454 during pre-qualifying. The previous record, 1:09.566, was set last year by Italy's Jarno Trulli.
But even as Barrichello posted the best times and moved into position as the pole favorite before qualifying, everyone seemed to be waiting for Schumacher.
When he finally got on to the track, Schumacher moved into his customary position -- at the front of the field. The six-time world champion glided through the turns, finishing in 1:10.400. The truth was, Schumacher, of Germany, was fighting with the car's handling.
"I just slid around too much, couldn't keep it on the track on the proper line," he said.
Opened door
The rare problem opened the door for eight drivers still waiting to qualify.
Three had a chance to supplant Schumacher. Japan's Takuma Sato finished in 1:10.601 and England's Jenson Button completed his lap in 1:10.820. Sato and Button, teammates for BAR Honda, will start third and fourth in Row 2 -- just behind the two Ferrari teammates.
Two others also were expected to challenge Schumacher after running quicker than 1:10 in pre-qualifying. Neither France's Olivier Panis nor Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya could duplicate their efforts when it mattered most.
Panis, of Panasonic Toyota, finished in 1:11.167 and will start eighth. Montoya, of the BMW Williams team, will start fifth after going 1:11.062. Montoya won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 while driving for Chip Ganassi's CART team.
"I am a little bit disappointed because I believe there's more in the car than fifth position," Montoya said. "All in all, I believe we have a good race car and starting from the third row is still promising."
Not stagnant
Barrichello was the last driver in qualifying line and it appeared Schumacher's domination of the Formula One circuit would continue when Barrichello slipped 0.2 seconds off the pace at the first split.
Then he made a change.
Instead of going strictly for speed on a cool, breezy day, Barrichello opted for precision and beat Schumacher's second split time by 0.4 seconds -- giving Barrichello a 0.2 second advantage. It was all he needed to coast across the finish line as some fans waved the Ferrari team flag.
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