Kovalainen goes from one extreme to another

By Alan Baldwin

ISTANBUL (Reuters) - McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen showed he had recovered from the worst accident of his Formula One career by producing his best qualifying performance on Saturday.

The 26-year-old Finn secured his first front row start, alongside Ferrari's Brazilian Felipe Massa, with second place in qualifying at the Turkish Grand Prix.

Sunday's race will be just two weeks since Kovalainen was knocked unconscious and taken to hospital after a wheel rim failure sent his McLaren careering off the track and into a tyre wall at the Circuit de Catalunya.

The Finn, who joined McLaren from Renault at the end of last year, said this week that he still could not remember what had happened after the car penetrated the barrier.

"It has been a roller-coaster last couple of weeks," he told a post-qualifying news conference.

"Obviously I had a big accident in Spain, but I was very lucky to survive without any injuries and my recovery has been fantastic.

"Coming here I knew that I would pass the medical because I felt 100 per cent," he added. "This week already yesterday I felt very happy with my car and I have been feeling confident all the time."

Kovalainen has yet to win a race and his previous best qualifying performance was third place in the first two races of the season.