Britain's Ralph Firman produced the performance of his rookie season to master the treacherous rain-lashed conditions at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal today.
The 27-year-old racer was quicker than championship leader KimiRaikkonen as he posted the fourth best time for Jordan-Ford in first qualifying for Sunday's race.
Firman's error-free lap in highly tricky conditions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, which he had only seen on television beforehand, will be a massive boost to the racer's confidence.
Only the Ferraris of Rubens Barrichello and five-time world champion Michael Schumacher along with Sauber's Nick Heidfeld were quicker than Firman who is hoping to add to his solitary point haul so far this season.
Barrichello outgunned Ferrari team-mate Schumacher to take top spot by just over one second with Heidfeld 1.8secs adrift and Firman just over 3.8secs slower.
Britain's Jenson Button would have preferred drier conditions for his return to the track for the first time since his massive shunt in practice in Monaco two weeks ago.
Latest positions:
1 Rubens Barrichello (Ferrari) 1:30.925
2 Michael Schumacher (Ferrari) 1:31.969
3 Nick Heidfeld (Sauber) 1:32.778
4 Ralph Firman (Jordan) 1:34.759
5 Fernando Alonso (Renault) 1:35.173
6 Kimi Raikkonen (McLaren) 1:35.373
7 Heinz Harald Frentzen (Sauber) 1:35.776
8 David Coulthard (McLaren) 1:36.463