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Massa was in dominant form in snatching pole position in Turkey

Ferrari's Felipe Massa secured pole position at the Turkish GP for the third year running with a stunning lap at the very end of qualifying.

The Brazilian, who has claimed victory at Istanbul Park for the last two years, clocked a time of one minute, 27.617 seconds with his final lap.

McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen will join him on the front row, with British team-mate Lewis Hamilton in third.

Championship leader Kimi Raikkonen of Ferrari qualified in fourth.

And that will at least please Hamilton, who was left to ponder whether his decision to use harder tyres in the third qualifying session had been the correct one.

"I think we did make the right decision and it was the best tyre I could have used, although at the time I didn't think that," he said, having earlier stated he regretted choosing the tyres.

"I've just looked at the data and it was the right decision. My engineer told me my decision was right."

Assessing his race prospects, he added: "It's better than we've been for the last few races. It's not all doom and gloom.

"We're in a good position to be able to attack on the first lap, and challenge for the win, but it's going to be tough.

Heikki and I have shown we are up there with the Ferraris, and I think we can match them in the race Lewis Hamilton

Massa, on the other hand, was understandably thrilled, saying: "It was a great qualifying as I put together a very good lap at the end.

"I just love this track. I get a lot of pleasure from driving on it, and now I will try to have the best race possible and try to do everything right. It won't be easy, though, because our competitors are strong."

Kovalainen, who sustained mild concussion in Barcelona last time out in a high-speed accident, said: "It's been a bit of a rollercoaster, surviving without any injuries. I was very lucky.

"Yesterday I felt happy with the car. I've been feeling confident and it's a pleasure to start from the front row. Hopefully now I can have a good race."

606: DEBATE Massa seriously does OWN this circuit. High speed and Massa comes to life. MartinJols

Red Bull's Mark Webber impressed in finishing qualifying in sixth - he will be hoping to get among the points on Sunday - with his team-mate David Coulthard 10th.

Fernando Alonso will start from seventh come race time, with Jarno Trulli eighth in his Toyota.

Brazilian Rubens Barrichello will start his record-breaking 257th grand prix in 12th place on the grid for Honda Racing.

Others who also missed out on the top 10 shoot-out along with Barrichello were team-mate Jenson Button, Nico Rosberg of Williams, Toro Rosso's Sebastian Vettel and Toyota's Timo Glock.

The qualifying rules were tweaked following the demise of Super Aguri which reduced the field to 20, meaning five instead of six drivers dropped out at the end of each of the first two qualifying sessions.

Qualifying result from the Turkish Grand Prix:

1. Felipe Massa (Bra) Ferrari one minute, 27.617 secs
2. Heikki Kovalainen (Fin) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.808
3. Lewis Hamilton (GB) McLaren-Mercedes 1:27.923
4. Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:27.936
5. Robert Kubica (Pol) BMW Sauber 1:28.390
6. Mark Webber (Aus) Red Bull-Renault 1:28.417
7. Fernando Alonso (Spa) Renault 1:28.422
8. Jarno Trulli (Ita) Toyota 1:28.836
9. Nick Heidfeld (Ger) BMW Sauber 1:28.882
10. David Coulthard (GB) Red Bull-Renault 1:29.959
11. Nico Rosberg (Ger) Williams-Toyota 1:27.012
12. Rubens Barrichello (Brz) Honda 1:27.219
13. Jenson Button (GB) Honda 1:27.298
14. Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.412
15. Timo Glock (Ger) Toyota 1:27.806
16. Kazuki Nakajima (Jpn) Williams-Toyota 1:27.547
17. Nelson Piquet Jr (Brz) Renault 1:27.568
18. Sebastien Bourdais (Fra) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1:27.621
19. Giancarlo Fisichella* (Ita) Force India-Ferrari 1:27.807
20. Adrian Sutil (Ger) Force India-Ferrari 1:28.325

* = Fisichella penalised three grid places for running red light at end of pit lane