Motor Racing: Senna sees Schumacher on his tail: Brazilian GP

AYRTON SENNA was there on top at the end of the season's opening qualifying session yesterday, but Michael Schumacher was less than two-tenths of a second behind, offering us the sumptuous prospect of a showdown in tomorrow's Brazilian Grand Prix here.

The competition we have hoped for yet feared might be an illusion materialised yesterday at Interlagos, Senna's home circuit, as his Williams-Renault was pushed all the way to provisional pole by Schumacher's Benetton-Ford.

Had Damon Hill not lost virtually the entire morning due to electrical trouble, which first activated his fire extinguisher, then caused the engine of his Williams to cut out, there might have been a three- way struggle at the front. Given a full, uninterrupted practice session this morning, he ought to be equipped to improve on his current seventh place.

Third fastest yesterday was Jean Alesi, in a Ferrari, but he was 1.2sec down on Schumacher and frankly in a different class. Karl Wendlinger and Heinz-Harald Frentzen gave credence to Sauber-Mercedes' optimism with fourth and sixth places, sandwiching the McLaren-Peugeot of Mika Hakkinen. Martin Brundle, in the other McLaren, was 12th.

Senna and Schumacher, the outstanding talents in modern Formula One, had eyes only for pole. The German staked his claim early in the one-hour session; Senna countered and went above him.

Both sat and waited until the closing minutes to go out on their second set of tyres and a thrilling climax was eagerly anticipated. However, the circuit refused to yield and nothing changed.

Senna declared himself content, though, and his team were having to contemplate a fight. Frank Williams said: 'If we have an edge it is a tiny one. It is very tight, a sign perhaps of things to come. But I am not surprised it is as close as it is. Damon did well to make up for the missed laps.'

Hill was far from content. Perspiring profusely, he could not contain his frustration. The 33-year-old Briton said: 'I'm very disappointed. I didn't get enough running in the morning session, so the only time I had to refamiliarise myself with the track was during qualifying.

'It was quite stressful. I don't think I've sweated so much in such a short space of time. It was getting better, but time was against me. I couldn't summon up everything for a qualifying lap. I couldn't get the best out of everything, although I tried my best.

'I've been saying all along that there is no big gap anymore. It is very, very tight.'

The increased number of pit- stops, for refuelling, should also play a part in keeping the racing closer.

Brundle will also hope to climb up the order in today's concluding qualifying session. Endeavouring to justify his inclusion by McLaren, he was hampered by a sticking throttle and took an excursion across a grassy slope during the morning. Gerhard Berger had to park his Ferarri out on the circuit in qualifying and settle for a modest 13th place. He, too, will be anxious to progress this afternoon.

Mark Blundell started the day well in his Tyrrell-Yamaha, producing the fourth-fastest time in the unofficial session. He lost momentum in qualifying and finished 16th.

Eddie Irvine, starting his first full season in Formula One, was 17th in a Jordan-Hart and Johnny Herbert, driving a Lotus-Mugen Honda, was 22nd. Off the provisional grid are Roland Ratzenberger, driving a Simtek-Ford, and Paul Belmondo, unable to post a time for the other new team, Pacific-Ilmor.

BRAZILIAN GRAND PRIX (Interlagos, Sao Paulo) First qualifying times: 1 A Senna (Bra) Williams-Renault 1min 16.386sec (ave speed 203.8kph); 2 M Schumacher (Ger) Benetton-Ford 1:16.575; 3 J Alesi (Fr) Ferrari 1:17.722; 4 K Wendlinger (Aut) Sauber- Mercedes 1:17.982; 5 M Hakkinen (Fin) McLaren- Peugeot 1:18.122; 6 H-H Frentzen (Ger) Sauber- Mercedes 1:18.144; 7 D Hill (GB) Williams-Renault 1:18.270; 8 P Martini (It) Minardi-Ford 1:18.659; 9 C Fittipaldi (Bra) Arrows-Ford 1:18.730; 10 R Barrichello (Bra) Jordan-Hart 1:18.759; 11 J Verstappen (Neth) Benetton-Ford 1:18.787; 12 M Brundle (GB) McLaren-Peugeot 1:18.864; 13 G Berger (Aut) Ferrari 1:18.931; 14 G Morbidelli (It) Arrows-Ford 1:18.970; 15 E Comas (Fr) Larrousse-Ford 1:18.990; 16 M Blundell (GB) Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:19.045; 17 E Irvine (GB) Jordan-Hart 1:19.269; 18 O Panis (Fr) Ligier-Renault 1:19.304; 19 E Bernard (Fr) Ligier-Renault 1:19.396; 20 M Alboreto (It) Minardi-Ford 1:19.517; 21 U Katayama (Japan) Tyrrell-Yamaha 1:19.519; 22 J Herbert (GB) Lotus-Mugen Honda 1:19.798; 23 O Beretta (Fr) Larrousse-Ford 1:19.922; 24 P Lamy (Por) Lotus-Mugen Honda 1:21.029; 25 D Brabham (Aus) Simtek-Ford 1:22.266; 26 B Gachot (Bel) Pacific-Ilmor 1:22.495; 27 R Ratzenberger (Aut) Simtek-Ford 1:22.707. Did not run: P Belmondo (Fr) Pacific-Ilmor.

(Map omitted)