Japanese GP qualifying - BMW WilliamsF1 Team

JAPANESE GP - QUALIFYING 13 October 2001

Weather: dry, slightly overcast, Air temperature 22°C. Track temperature 26°C.

The BMW WilliamsF1 Team drivers have kept up with their recent run of good 
qualifying performances with Juan Pablo Montoya second and Ralf Schumacher 
third on the grid for the Japanese Grand Prix.

Juan Pablo Montoya 
Position: 2
Chassis: FW23 08
Best Time: 1:33.184
"I think second and third for the BMW WilliamsF1 Team here is pretty good and 
I like this circuit a lot. I think it is not too bad being on front row at 
the first visit to Suzuka but I think experience in this place would help 
quite a lot. Yesterday on high fuel the car felt really good and it did the 
same this morning, but then we got lost a little bit. The first two runs in 
qualifying were okay, then in the third one we picked up the pace through the 
esses and it is a place were you really have to flow. My car didn't have as 
good stability as Michael's and I think that was all the difference."

Ralf Schumacher 
Position: 3
Chassis: FW23 07 (T-Car FW23 02)
Best Time: 1:33.297
"Qualifying went pretty well. We have been working really hard after we had 
some problems yesterday. It is nice for the team to have both of us so high 
on the grid. Michael was driving in his own world, he was unbeatable. We have 
a very good car for the race, and quite a good chance of podium finishes. It 
would be nice to finish ahead of Rubens, although we are only fighting for 
third place in the Championship."

Patrick Head (Technical Director WilliamsF1)
"Both the drivers extracted the maximum possible from their cars in 
qualifying. It is going to be a very interesting race tomorrow and we will 
see how Michelin and Bridgestone match up against each other. I believe it 
will be a very strategic race tomorrow."

Dr. Mario Theissen (BMW Motorsport Director)
"This was a very good qualifying session. The only person we could not beat 
was the World Champion. Apart from Michael's outstanding time in the first 
sector, we were able to match his split times. I think Ralf and Juan Pablo 
got the most out of the cars. So far we have not suffered any technical 
problems with the engine in Suzuka. We have every chance of achieving a very 
good result in this final race of the season."

Current high-resolution photographs may be downloaded from the BMW Press Club 
at www.press.bmw.com (registration at any time).

Media contact:

WilliamsF1
Ann Bradshaw
ann.bradshaw@williamsf1.com
Tel: +44 79 772 75 838

BMW
Guido Stalmann
Tel: +81 90 5444 0884 (for this race weekend only)
guido.stalmann@bmw.de

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945