Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/413175
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 9 NOVEMBER 2014 Sport 53 FORMULA 1 RUGBY Rosberg claims Brazil pole by narrowest of margins NICO Rosberg has had an answer to championship rival and Mer- cedes team mate Lewis Hamilton all weekend, and the German - who desperately needs a win to keep his title hopes burning fiercely - duly wrapped up his 10th pole position of the year during qualifying in Sao Paulo on Saturday afternoon. In the closest pole fight since Mer- cedes lost out to Williams in Aus- tria, Rosberg lapped in 1m 10.023s which aced Hamilton's 1m 10.056s by just 0.033s. The Williams duo of local favourite Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas were right on their tails even though, unlike the Silver Arrows drivers, they didn't improve on their second Q3 runs. Massa lapped in 1m 10.247s, Bottas in 1m 10.305s. Against initial dismal forecasts the track remained dry all day after the anticipated storm had blown itself out in the early hours, which made things a lot easier for every- one. As Rosberg set the pace from Hamilton in Q1, and Massa and Bottas jumped to third and fourth, Lotus's bubble of optimism burst as Romain Grosjean was 15th and the first faller on 1m 12.037s with team mate Pastor Maldonado 18th on 1m 12.233s. In between them Jean-Eric Vergne was a bitterly dis- appointed 16th in a Toro Rosso he described as 'undriveable' with 1m 12.040s, and Force India's Sergio Perez was 17th on 1m 12.076s. Q2 saw Rosberg again fastest, but late runs by Massa (who ended up only four-hundredths off the Mer- cedes) and Bottas pushed Ham- ilton to fourth. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo also improved right at the end, knocking out Sauber's Esteban Gutierrez who himself had just pushed Force India's Nico Hulkenberg out of the top 10. Guti- errez lapped in 1m 11.591s for 11th, as Hulkenberg posted 1m 11.978s for 12th. After a big grassy moment early on at Turn 12, Juncao, Adrian Sutil was 13th for Sauber on 1m 12.099s, while Daniil Kv yat failed to record a time for Toro Rosso. As Rosberg lapped in 1m 10.166s to pip Hamilton's 1m 10.195s, and then both improved, the Williams drivers had to rely on their first timed runs in Q3, where Jenson Button reversed his Friday misfor- tunes with fifth for McLaren in 1m 10.930s. That just beat Sebastian Vettel's 1m 10.938s for Red Bull as Kevin Magnussen put the second MP4-29 seventh with 1m 10.969s. Fernando Alonso's first effort yielded 1m 10.977s and eighth place for Ferrari, leaving Ricciardo a dis- appointed ninth with 1m 11.075s. Completing the top ten was Kimi Raikkonen, who lost some momen- tum in Q3 and ended up recording 1m 11.099s in the second F14 T. Perez and Kv yat both have seven- place grid penalties; the former's for reckless driving in Austin, the latter's the remainder of a ten-place engine-change penalty carried over from the United States. Thus the provisional grid will line up: Rosberg, Hamilton; Massa, Bottas; Button, Vettel; Magnussen, Alonso; Ricciardo, Raikkonen; Gu- tierrez, Hulkenberg; Sutil, Gros- jean; Vergne, Maldonado; Kv yat, Perez. Kavallieri women show the way Kavallieri men follow on KAVALLIERI Megaman Cisk Excel ..... 7 SHARKS Saddles ........... 0 MIKE TURNER A thrilling high quality match was won by Kavallieri who are clearly focused on regaining their number one spot. Sharks started well with their trademark aggression and for the first few minutes it looked as if Kav- allieri would be knocked out of their rhythm; Chantelle Demanuele is a powerful prospect who needs more fitness and Marion Azzopardi was as physical as usual. Bev Sultana was out of position as a back, and the team missed sister Tessabelle who is now playing for Manchester University. For Kavallieri Charlene Vassallo had her best game for a year, win- ning ball and linking well as Kav- allieri used superior team work to demoralize by support. Esther Azopardi opened the scor- ing with a superb run from inside her own 22, and scored a second try after being gifted the ball by a Shark – 10 – 0 at half time. In the second half the psycho- logical tide was with Kavallieri who were always dangerous with slick passing. Vella made a good break to run in from 40 metres, after poor Sharks tackling, then good wide passing gave Aquilina the chance to run round the defence from 50 metres. Finally Esther Azzopardi ran round under the posts, with Cassar finally converting the try, after missing all the rest. Kavallieri speed, quick thought, team work and use of space were an example for their male counterparts. Ben Bennett Cup first round Ray Elliott Cup KAVALLIERI Megaman Cisk Excel ...... 22 STOMPERS TGI Friday ..... 7 KAVALLIERI took the traditional competition opener in a disap- pointing match at Marsa in front of several hundred spectators, as rugby enjoys games on two pitches at last. Kavallieri started strong favour- ites, but Stompers clearly would not accept that and went off with a bang which had them push Kavalli- eri off their own scrum from which out half Morton sliced through to put Malcolm Attard in for a fine try, who failed to convert. The speedy Stompers backs were running well from deep in their own half and they were enjoying a small territorial advantage. The Kavallieri backs were too laboured and ponderous to be effective by contrast, and Grima does not look comfortable at scrum half. Stompers Debattista made a good blindside break only for his scor- ing inside pass to be dropped over the try line. M. Attard then missed an easy penalty and despite the pressure Kavallieri were let off the hook. Kavallieri Schembri was yellow carded to the sin bin, but Kavallieri clawed back, taking advantage of poor Stompers handling and pass- ing and use their forward power to press into the Stompers half. A silly penalty allowed them to win a lin- eout a few metres out and it was in- evitable that they would drive over for their trademark mauling try by Borda, converted by Micallef for a half time lead of 7-5. Stompers had missed Diaman- tino in the lineout but he joined the team in the second half to make some difference. However having grabbed the lead Kavallieri began to grind away with their hard for- ward style which began to wear down the less fit Stompers. Not pretty to watch but effective. They extended their lead with a Grima try after completely fooling Stomp- ers in the lineout. Kavallieri Borda was sinbinned but despite pressure from Stomp- ers their defence held out as they continued to keep the ball tight, not trusting the pedestrian backs. Stompers handling went through a bad patch, and Rob Bonavia made a powerful break, offloading to support for some 40 metres. Then Stompers speed turned the tables from their own half, won good ball and Morton again just sliced through the defence for another try. Stompers Debattista and Foun- tain combined with another speedy long range attack, but poor han- dling let the support down. Kavallieri ground back and Dou- blesin scored off a ruck with a superb hand-off. Stompers were tiring and mistakes increased. Kav- allieri Borg made a strong 40 me- tre burst, but Stompers burst away with excellent wide passing only to be foiled with a wonderful cover tackle by Mike Bonavia. Fountain nearly turned the game with a high speed chip and follow but Rob Bonavia countered from a lineout with a real power run for 50 metres, offloading to Grima to score. The final score was the best of the match by Stompers as Debattista was put in after some fine high speed running and passing. Attard finally converted this one. However it was too late and Stompers were left regretting the missed scoring chances, while Kav- allieri are off to a winning start. Other Matches Alligators Cisk Lager 12 Qormi Budweiser Sharks 8 Overseas 50 Valletta Lions 0 Valletta Lions performed very well in their first ever competitive match and showed high promise for the future.