As in 2005, Felipe Massa will once again start from pole at the 2006 Granja Viana 500 Mile.

The Ferrari ace clocked an unrivalled time of 56.784 during the Top Qualifying session at Kartodromo Internacional Granja Viana in Cotia (Brazil) and will lead a strong 74-kart field. The race is scheduled to start on Sunday.

The 10th edition of the most outstanding karting race of the country has also attracted other Formula 1 stars. Fresh from their busy week at Barcelona winter testing, six-times champion Rubens Barrichello will start on 13th, along with his Indy Racing League pals Tony Kanaan, Dan Wheldon and Felipe Giaffone. Nelson Piquet Jr, who also attended the action in Spain, will start from 16th position alongside.

Massa seemed to be on cloud nine after parking his kart on parc fermée. "It's quite a moment, for sure. Everything is falling into place since the mid-season. Now, we must concentrate to keep the focus and not to forget that a pole doesn't matter that much in an endurance race supposed to last up to 12 hours. We are ready to sustain a steady pace. I intend to open a certain gap in the first stint, so we can manage the race a little afterwards. That's exactly what we were doing last year, when a shunt prevented us from being the first to get the checkered flag."

Top 10 grid positions:

1: Felipe Massa, João Paulo Bertuccelli, Ruben Carrapatoso and Rafael Daniel, 56.784
2: Otavio Bonder, Antonio Francesco Ventre, José Eduardo Ventre, Bruno Pacetti and Lucas Rodrigues, 57.029
3: Roberto Gomes, Pedro Gomes, Oswaldo Negri, Fernando Wortmman, Rodrigo Miguel and César Ramos, 57.081
4: Hugo Sola, Daniel Aller, Saul Leite, Felipe Leite and Henrique Carla, 57.137
5: Christian Fittipaldi, Vitor Meira and Mario Haberfeld, 57.236
6: Roberto Gomes, Pedro Gomes, Oswaldo Negri, Fernando Wortmman, Rodrigo Miguel and César Ramos, 57.443
7: Otavio Bonder, Antonio Francesco Ventre, José Eduardo Ventre, Bruno Pacetti and Lucas Rodrigues, 57.449
8: Michael Burrew, Kyle Krueger, Brendon Langlois and Jordan Taylor, 57.453
9: Glauco Alex, Eduardo Leite, Leonardo Cordeiro, Alexandre Ruiz Filho and Marcelo Oliveira, 57.485
10: Felipe Polehtto, Marcelo Medeiros, Marcos Regadas and Galid Osman Didi Jr., 57.618

Other notable entries:

12: Luciano Burti 57.618
14: Rubans Barrichello 57.808
16: Felipe Giaffone 57.923
17: Nelson Piquet Jr. 58.135
20: Ricardo Zonta 58.788