Pole position?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

Pole position?

Reader question:

Pole position? What does pole position mean in this sentence?

Cristiano Ronaldo’s record-breaking group stage campaign put him in pole position, but who will finish the season as UEFA Champions League top scorer?

My comments:

Here, the author uses a racing terminology to describe the achievement of Cristiano Ronaldo, a soccer player. Ronaldo being in pole position means that he’s currently leading the competition.

He has scored more goals than anyone previously did in the group stage of UEFA Champions League and that puts him in an advantageous position to finish the season as its top scorer.

The question is why “pole position” gives him that advantage, or the edge?

All we have to do is understand how “pole position” works originally, i.e. in car racing.

The racing track is so designed, you see, that the lane is only wide enough for two cars to run side by side. At the beginning of the race, therefore, cars are parked neatly behind the starting line, being lined up in rows, two cars in each row.

Obviously, the cars that are in the front row have an advantage, especially if the race is a short one.

Anyways, in the front row, the car that is placed inside of the other has the most advantage, as it runs a smaller circle at the first curve. And this car, on the inside of the front row, is what is known as “in pole position”.