THE SIDELINES : Senna Leads Portugal Qualifiers

Brazil’s Ayrton Senna gained the provisional pole position for the Portuguese Grand Prix today with a last-minute qualifying record.

Senna, in a McLaren-Honda, raced around the 2.703-mile Autodrome circuit in 1 minute, 14.246 seconds--an average of 131.06 m.p.h.

He did his lap as time was running out in the one-hour session. He had the previous best time, 1:15.468, which gained him the pole last year.

Alain Prost of France, the three-time world champion now in a Ferrari, followed Senna at 1:14.530, with Senna’s teammate, Gerhard Berger of Austria, next at 1:14.552.