Kubica: Pole position

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Robert Kubica reckons BMW have the pace to win the Bahrain GP after beating their more illustrious rivals to pole position on Saturday afternoon.

On an extremely windy circuit, Kubica edged Felipe Massa by just 0.027 seconds to grab his and BMW's first Formula One pole position.

It was a moment to remember for the 23-year-old as he narrowly missed out on the coveted grid slot in the season-opening Australian GP and thought he would suffer the same fate again in Bahrain.

"After missing out on the chance in Australia, I am happy I've not had to wait too long for this," he said.

"Q1 and Q3 were so so, and then in Q1 the first run was good, but I made a mistake in the last corner.

"Then on my second run I flat spotted a tyre through Turn Nine, and after that small mistake I didn't expect to be on pole, but you can imagine I am very happy."

Kubica, who is the first Polish driver to race in F1, was quick to downplay suggestions that BMW may not have the pace to hold off their rivals in Sunday's 57-lap race.

"I am confident about the race," he said. "Yesterday we did some long runs and they were pretty okay.

"I think Ferrari were a bit faster, but in the race I am happy. We will try and analyse now the data and prepare as much as possible for tomorrow's race."