Montoya Is Winner of Pole in Italy

Juan Montoya won the pole position Saturday for the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, and Michael Schumacher honored terrorist victims by a driving a car with a black nose.

It was the third pole of the season for Montoya, a former CART champion in his first season in Formula One. Driving a Williams-BMW, the Colombian edged Ferrari’s Rubens Barrichello by .31 of a second.

Barrichello will be in the front row today for the third time this year.

Montoya had the fastest lap of 1 minute 22.216 seconds, setting a record average speed at the Monza circuit, the fastest championship track.

Schumacher, who has already clinched the championship, came in third, four-tenths of a second behind Montoya. He will be joined on the second row by younger brother Ralf, who had the fourth-best qualifying time in a second Williams-BMW.

Few flags waved and almost no trumpets played during qualifying. Ferrari President Luca Di Montezemolo had urged the fans--among the world’s noisiest--to restrain themselves out of respect for the victims of terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.

For the second day, Michael Schumacher drove a Ferrari car without commercial labels and with a black nose.

The one-hour session was suspended in the closing minutes after Mika Hakkinen crashed but was not hurt.

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For years, the San Diego Bayfair unlimited hydroplane race has been Miss Budweiser against the field ... and there were few bets on the field.

Dave Villwock, the lanky former crew chief from Auburn, Wash., who took over driving duties for Bernie Little’s big red boats in 1997, has won the last three races on Mission Bay with little competition. Miss Bud boats have won four of the last five times, the only opposition victory coming when Villwock was out because of a severe hand injury.

Villwock and the red boats are back this year, but for once it appears that today’s race over the 21/2-mile Bill Muncey course may be a shootout. Parity has reached the unlimiteds, thanks to new rules. After winning six races last year and 27 of 32 races before this year, Villwock and Miss Budweiser have won only one this year.

“How can we win when they [Garbrecht] keep making it more difficult for us?” Villwock said Saturday after qualifying second at 156.538 mph. “The rules are not only directed at the boat, but at me.”

When Villwock was accused of whining, he said, “I’m not whining, I’m just pointing out injustices.”

Among the rules changes are restricted fuel flow for the Miss Budweiser under a handicap system devised by Garbrecht. In today’s race, most boats will use 4.3 gallons a minute, Miss Budweiser will run with 3.9.

“He’s going to have to come around because I’m not going to change,” Garbrecht said. “What I don’t understand is that if we don’t get competition back, guys like Villwock won’t have a job.”

Despite having won only one race of the five held this season, Villwock needs to finish only third or better in any of the three heats today to clinch his fifth driver’s championship and Little’s 21st owner’s crown.

Nate Brown, in Miss Elam Plus, was the fastest in time trials, running a 158.131 mph lap