Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/176463
54 Sport maltatoday, SUNDAY, 22 SEPTEMBER 2013 FORMULA 1 Vettel eases to Singapore pole WHEN push came to shove, Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull proved equal to the challenge from Mercedes as the German took pole position for the 2013 Formula 1 Singtel Singapore Grand Prix yesterday evening night. Q1 saw Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton fastest on 1m 44.196s, close to Vettel's FP3 best of 1m 44.173s, as, perhaps surprisingly, McLaren's Jenson Button, Ferrari's Fernando Alonso and McLaren's Sergio Perez lined up next. In sixth and seventh, Mark Webber and Vettel harvested tyres on their Red Bulls. A very late improvement put Felipe Massa up from 18th to 13th for Ferrari, thus bumping Paul di Resta's Force India which the Scot could not persuade beneath 1m 46.121s. Pastor Maldonado also failed to get through with 1m 46.619s for Williams. At Caterham, Charles Pic jumped team mate Giedo van der Garde, with 1m 48.111s to 1m 48.320s, and the Marussias were still close behind with Jules Bianchi on 1m 48.830s and Max Chilton on 1m 48.930s. The Mercedes had control of Q2 for a while as Red Bull waited until there were only four minutes remaining before promptly bettering their times by a second as Vettel recorded 1m 42.905s to Rosberg's 1m 43.892s. There were other surprises, as Esteban Gutierrez beat Nico Hulkenberg to put a Sauber seventh, and the German was the first to fail to get through as 1m 44.555s left him 11th ahead of Jean-Eric Vergne's 1m 44.588s for Toro Rosso. Troubled by a trapped nerve in his back, Kimi Raikkonen could only manage 13th for Lotus in 1m 44.658s, as Perez did 1m 44.752s for McLaren. Adrian Sutil put his Force India 15th on 1m 45.185s, as Valtteri Bottas was 16th for Williams on 1m 45.388s. Q3 brought Vettel a few anxious moments as he elected not to do a second run, and Nico Rosberg got close to his 1m 42.841s with a great 1m 42.932s for Mercedes, but Webber's second effort came up short with 1m 43.152s. Hamilton couldn't match that but 1m 43.254s moved him to fourth until Romain Grosjean pulled a blinder with 1m 43.058s to jump by both of them into third place for Lotus. Massa's 1m 43.890s again shaded Ferrari team leader Alonso's 1m 43.938s, leaving the red cars sixth and seventh. Button took his McLaren round in 1m 44.282s for eighth and Daniel Ricciardo's 1m 44.439s left Toro Rosso ninth. Esteban Gutierrez didn't do a Q3 lap, and thus will start 10th for Sauber with a choice of tyre compound. RUGBY Gozo score Independence Day win to open wide Maltese Championship GOZO RL this afternoon registered the upset of the season as they crossed for an 11-try rout of their fancied opponents Malta Origin RL at Pembroke. With Melita FC bathed in sunshine and a warm 27 degrees, the Gozo team arrived late to the venue but with a collection of players including German imports Nick Frick and Mark Zupan together with the Australians and former Birkirkara RL contingent of Tyson Freeman and Dylan Frendo. It was a 14-week break over the summer for the MRL Dove Men+Care Championship and it told, a heap of missed tackles and simple errors showed up, but it wasn't to take away from the challenge posed to both packs. The red and whites of Malta Origin opened the scoring after only four minutes of play when Branton Bonello fended off Gozo's Chris Tabone and crashed over for one of 19 tries over the course of the afternoon. In a time slot usually reserved for the national team - Saturday afternoon Rugby League was the winner as both teams went try for try until 20-18 before Gozo put the pedal down. Malta Origin RL were without a host of their representative players including Attard, George, Paolella and Urry but it was no excuse for some ordinary defence. Malta international Sam Keep stepped up to take the captaincy after Paolella's late withdrawal but he never recovered from an early second half knock while scoring a four-pointer next to the posts. The Rulli brothers played together on the same team for the first time, the elder – Christopher, crossed for three strong efforts and gave the fa- weeks, former Gateshead Thunder prop Gareth Barron, as the local championship goes down to the final match of season. Gozo RL 66 (M.Zupan 5, N.Frick 3, D.Frendo 2, C.Debattista, J.Mizzi tries; D.Frendo 9 from 11, M.Zupan 0 from 1 goals) defeated Malta Origin RL 36 (C.Rulli 3, A.Patamia 2, B.Bonello, S.Keep tries; S.Keep 2 from 4, M.Booth 2 from 3 goals) H-T: Gozo RL 34-26 Ref: Mr A.Micallef Players of the Match: Christopher Rulli (Malta Origin) and Dylan Frendo (Gozo) 2013 MRL Dove Men+Care Championship Standings (after round 4) Sliema RL - 6pts**, 3 wins, +92 Malta Origin RL - 4pts, 2 wins, 2 losses, -50 Birkirkara RL - 2pts*, 1 win, 2 losses, -4 Gozo RL - 2pts, 1 win, 3 losses, -38 * Birkirkara RL withdrawn from MRL Championship ** Qualified for MRL Championship Final Malta international Dylan Frendo scoots away for his second try of the afternoon. Photo by by Matthew Scerri vourites any chance they had. After newcomers Birkirkara RL notified the MRL of their withdrawal from the championship following internal matters at the club, the result sets up a mouthwatering dual between today's same combatants on October 12 for the right to progress to the MRL Championship Final against Sliema RL. Gozo's German stars, Frick and Zupan, combined for an eight-try haul, add to that Dylan Frendo (pictured) who was near perfect with the boot knocking over eight from 10 attempts and crossing for two of his own tries, a 24-point man of the match performance. Gozo skipper Clifford Debattista couldn't wipe the smile from his face as the victory put his team within one win of an appearance in the Maltese Championship Final on October 19. "I'm really proud of the boys for all their hard work in training on the pitch and off the pitch. This score wasn't luck, we got this score because we worked as a team" "To be honest, although we are struggling with numbers at the moment we still managed to get a very good team out there but a big thanks has to go to our two German guest players, Mark and Nick. They gave a big contribution to the team in this game as did also Dylan and Tyson" "Thanks to all the Gozitan players that make the sacrifice week in week out and came to the game and showed what we have been doing" A win for Gozo in the last round of the Championship will be enough while a draw or better for Malta Origin RL will see them through to the Championship Final. Malta Origin RL will also welcome their British prop in the coming 2013 Top Tryscorers (after 4 rounds) D.Farrugia (Malta Origin RL/Gozo RL) – 7 D.Cerketa (Sliema RL) – 5 K.Zammit (Sliema RL) – 5 M.Zupan (Gozo RL) – 5 2013 Top Pointscorers (after 4 rounds) D.Farrugia (Malta Origin RL/Gozo RL) - 44pts, 7 tries, 8 goals D.Frendo (Gozo RL/Birkirkara RL) 30pts, 2 tries, 11 goals O.Jones (Sliema RL) - 30pts, 1 try, 13 goals