NURBURG, Germany, June 22 (UPI) -- Juan Montoya of Colombia edged Williams BMW teammate Ralf Schumacher Saturday at the Formula One European Grand Prix qualifying to start from his third consecutive pole.
Montoya averaged 127.498 miles per hour and took the pole position by just nine thousandths of a second ahead of Schumacher, who held the position briefly during the one-hour qualifying session at the Nurburgring circuit.
Ralf's older brother Michael Schumacher settled for third place on the grid, ahead of Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello of Brazil.
The winner here the last two years and four times overall, Michael Schumacher had to use a spare Ferrari after a gear selection problem forced him to the garage with just one lap run on the revised 3.1-mile track.
The four-time world champion made the front row when he returned to the course, but it did not last as Montoya powered on for his fourth pole position of the year.
Montoya has not taken advantage of his top starting the last two races, failing to finish at Monaco and Canada.
Michael Schumacher has virtually secured his record-tying fifth championship with six victories in the first eight grand prixs -- with other two podium finishes. He owns a 43-point lead over Montoya and brother Ralf in the World Drivers' Championship standings.
The McLaren Mercedes duo of Scotsman David Coulthard and Kimi Raikkonen of Finland qualified in the third row. Renault drivers Jarno Trulli and Jenson Button made up row four.
