Laid-back Speed lives up to his name by claiming pole position

American Scott Speed continued his domination of the GT Tires Asian Formula Renault Challenge as he grabbed pole position for today's race as expected.

The 21-year-old held off his rivals with another brilliant display in the last qualifying session. He said he should win the race, barring any mishaps.

'It went good,' said the laid-back American, who moved to Salzburg in Austria two years ago to pursue his Formula One dream. 'Obviously, we are in pole position by one second so we're happy with this. The game plan is to stay in front from pole. I don't think it will be too hard,' he said.

Only compatriot Colin Fleming and Shangsai FRD Tires teammate stands in the way of Speed, who is seen as his country's best chance of landing a coveted drive in Formula One.

Speed shook off the effects of a burning mid-afternoon sun to coolly take his place at the top of the grid with Fleming in second place and Denmark's Johnny Laursen, 42, in third spot.

'The track was totally different from the last time we drove it, but that would be the case after two days of Formula One racing. It's no big surprise that conditions were that way,' said Speed, who won this year's Renault Euro Cup and leads the German F2-2000 Championship with one race remaining. 'It will be nice to win in front of the Formula One crowd. But to best honest, there isn't much competition other than from Colin. I'm happy and I will be trying hard to win,' said the Californian, who hopes to be the first American in F1 since Michael Andretti in 1993.