F1’s Kubica quickest in wet Saturday practice in Japan

OMAYA, Japan — Robert Kubica of BMW set the fastest time in a wet practice session Saturday ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s Japanese Formula One Grand Prix.

The Polish driver set a best time of 1 minute 25.087 seconds on a track made wet by morning rain at Fuji Speedway.

Toyota’s Timo Glock was again prominent, setting a time that was just 0.085 seconds behind Kubica. Glock, who topped the time sheets in dry conditions Friday, indicated Toyota could be a threat to the top teams on the track its parent company owns.

The leading times of the session were all set in the closing moments when the track was at its driest in improving conditions.

Prior to the last burst of laps, Ferrari’s Felipe Massa was top of the timesheets, but was quickly relegated to seventh.

Massa trails McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton by seven points in the drivers’ championship with three races remaining.

Hamilton was 11th quickest in morning practice.

Renault’s Nelson Piquet Jr. was third fastest and BMW’s Nick Heidfeld fourth best.

After Saturday’s practice ahead of Sunday’s Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the 4.563-kilometer (2.835-mile) Fuji Speedway in Omaya, Japan(with driver, country, car and lap time):

1. Robert Kubica, Poland, BMW, 1 minute, 25.007 seconds.

2. Timo Glock, Germany, Toyota, 1:25.171

3. Nelson Piquet Jnr., Brazil, Renault, 1:25.415

4. Nick Heidfeld, Germany, BMW, 1:25.474

5. Kazuki Nakajima, Japan, Williams, 1:25.563

6. David Coulthard, Britain, Red Bull, 1:25.614

7. Felipe Massa, Brazil, Ferrari, 1:25.709

8. Mark Webber, Australia, Red Bull, 1:25.785

9. Fernando Alonso, Spain, Renault, 1:25.799

10. Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Toro Rosso, 1:25.880

11. Lewis Hamilton, Britain, McLaren, 1:25.901

12. Sebastien Bourdais, France, Toro Rosso, 1:25.984