Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/494410
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 12 APRIL 2015 35 Sport FORMULA 1 SUPERBIKE Lewis Hamilton on pole in China Lewis Hamilton's love of the Shanghai International Circuit continues as the reigning Formula 1 champion again claimed pole position for the Chinese Grand Prix THE 30-year-old Briton ultimate- ly finished just 0.042secs ahead of his Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg to give the team another front-row lock out. Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel, a surprise winner last time out in Malaysia, will start third, albeit down by nine tenths of a second on Hamilton. Hamilton finished two tenths of a second quicker than Rosberg in Q1, in which both drivers managed to save a spare set of the quicker soft tyres for the race, and three tenths in Q2. Come Q3, Hamilton's first f lying lap was a stormer at one minute 35.782secs, with more expected come his second run. However, the Briton failed to im- prove, and with Rosberg behind him the German came close to snatching top spot. After being informed of the gap to Hamilton over the team radio, a clearly frustrated Rosberg said: "Oh come on guys!" Vettel did all he could to fin- ish as next best as it is clear with cooler track and air temperatures the race is now Mercedes to lose as Ferrari are unlikely to come close in the race. The four-times champion starts ahead of Williams pair Felipe Mas- sa and Valtteri Bottas, with Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen down in sixth place as he struggled in Q3, with his best lap in Q2. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was seventh quickest ahead of the Lo- tus of Romain Grosjean, with Sau- ber pair Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson performing superbly to claim ninth and 10th. Pastor Maldonado lines up 11th, missing out on a place in the top 10 by seven thousandths of a sec- ond, with Daniil Kv yat a surpris- ingly lowly and disappointing 12th in his Red Bull. Toro Rosso rookies Max Verstap- pen and Carlos Sainz Jr start 13th and 14th, with Sergio Perez 15th in a Force India that is off the pace as the team's financial issues means they will not have their new car on the grid until June. From the initial 18-minute ses- sion, Force India's Nico Hulken- berg led the list of departees, fin- ishing three tenths of a second behind team -mate Perez. Behind the German occupy- ing the ninth row come McLaren pair Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, split by four thousandths of a second. Ahead of qualif ying Button had suggested Q2 was a realistic goal, only to fall two tenths of a second shy, albeit ahead of Alonso for the second consecutive race. A naturally disappointed But- ton said: "The car didn't feel bad so it's interesting when you find a good balance but the lap time is not there. "We've made good improvements this weekend, but qualif ying just wasn't for us. "Hopefully we'll be racing the cars in front tomorrow, but we hoped to be competing with them in qualif ying as well." For the first time this season Manor had both cars taking part in qualif ying, with both also com- fortably finishing within the 107 per cent rule. Will Stevens, forced to sit out qualif ying and the races in Aus- tralia and Malaysia due to issues, finally enjoyed a one-lap session. The 23-year-old Briton will start 19th, eight tenths of a second ahead of Roberto Merhi, albeit three seconds behind Alonso, un- derlining that whilst Manor are fighting, they still have a lot of work to do. Asked as to why he has such an affinity with the circuit, Hamilton said: "People keep asking me that and I don't really know. "Have you seen the banners and support? It's unreal. But I just like the track as it naturally suits my driving style, one I generally enjoy driving. "Overall, it's a tough circuit with a great combination of corners, and the race is a good challenge. "We've still a tough race ahead because the Ferraris are good on long-run pace, so it's not over by any means." Rosberg's disappointment in coming so close to toppling Ham- ilton was obvious as he said: "To finish just four hundredths behind makes it even more annoying and disappointing. "That's just a blink of an eye." Lewis Hamilton waves to the fans after securing pole position First European pole position of 2015 secured by Aprilia rider Leon Haslam (Aprilia Racing Team – Red Devils) will start today's opening race of the 3rd round of the Eni FIM Superbike World Championship from Pole Position A lap time of 1.49.664s, the fast- est of the weekend so far and the fastest ever for a superbike on the new MotorLand Aragon configuration, left the English- man 0.033s ahead of his near- est rivals Chaz Davies (Aruba.it Ducati World Superbike Team) and Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Rac- ing Team) who will join him on the front row (+0.199s). For Haslam it is his first pole position since Phillip Island and yesterday's 15-minute battle to decide the top 12 places on the starting grid for today's races was electrif ying with the final grid line-up only decided in the final minute of Superpole 2, as the outright circuit best lap was bettered. Row two will see champion- ship leader Jonathan Rea aboard his Kawasaki (+0.389), Xavi Fores (+0.785) who continues his impressive debut weekend on the second of the Aruba. it Ducati Superbike Team) and Ayrton Badovini (+1.006s). The third row was decided in the final seconds of the session, with Jordi Torres (Aprilia Rac- ing Team – Red Devils) taking 7th. He will start alongside Alex Lowes and Nico Terol (Al- thea Racing). Leandro Mercado (Barni Rac- ing), Michael van der Mark (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and David Salom (Team Pedercini) complete the top 12 in a grid that sees five manufac- turers inside a top ten. Earlier, Ayrton Badovini (BMW Motorrad Italia) and Alex Lowes (Voltcom Crescent Suzuki) were the two riders to progress from Superpole 1 into the final 15 minute shoot-out, as reigning Champion Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Honda World Superbike Team) and Randy de Puniet (Voltcom Crescent Su- zuki) missed out on one of the top two places available, the pair qualif ying 14th and 19th respectively. Leon Haslam, Aprilia Racing Team