Ayrton Senna, the master of Formula One qualifying, earned another pole position Saturday, taking the top spot for Sunday's U.S. Grand Prix with a record-shattering lap on the downtown street circuit.
The Brazilian speedster outdueled chief antagonist Alain Prost of France to earn his 53rd pole, 20 more than the late Jim Clark, the previous record-holder.Senna's McLaren-Honda began the second and final round of qualifying second to surprising Frenchman Jean Alesi, who sat on the provisional pole in his first start for Ferrari.
But his fast lap of 1 minute, 21.434 seconds - 102.208 mph (164.488 kph) - 11 minutes from the end of qualifying buried Alesi's day-old record of 1:23.519.