Sebastian Vettel romps to pole in Hungary as Red Bulls continue qualifying dominance

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By Sportsmail Reporter

Domination: Sebastian Vettelromped to his seventh pole in twelve races


Red Bull destroyed their rivals in qualifying ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix by sweeping to their sixth all-front row of the year spearheaded by pole king Sebastian Vettel.

Vettel claimed his seventh pole of the season and fourth in a row with a crushing lap at the Hungaroring of one minute 18.773secs, just over four tenths of a second quicker than Mark Webber.

It is Red Bull's 11th pole in the 12 races this season, but this was by far their most impressive, with third-on-the-grid Fernando Alonso in his Ferrari a staggering 1.2secs adrift.

Alonso is joined on the second row by team-mate Felipe Massa, who suffered a
near-fatal accident in qualifying on this track just over a year ago.

Championship leader Lewis Hamilton again performed superbly in a below par McLaren to claim fifth ahead of Nico Mercedes' Rosberg, but will have to go some to make it three wins in four visits here.


Battler: Lewis Hamilton will start fifth


For the first time this season Vitaly Petrov finally out-qualified team-mate Robert Kubica, with the duo seventh and eighth.

They are followed by Pedro de la Rosa in his Sauber, equalling his best performance of the season, and Williams' Nico Hulkenberg.

For the second time in the last three races Jenson Button failed to make it into Q1, and the sixth time in the last seven grands prix he has now been out-qualified by Hamilton.

The 30-year-old missed out on a place in the top 10 by 0.017secs, and now faces a fight to gain any respectable points tomorrow to hold on to his second place in the standings.


Under the bridge: Jenson Button will start a disappointing 11trh


It would appear only rain can help Button tomorrow, as in 2006 when he started from 14th before going on to clinch his maiden victory.

Joining Button on the sixth row of the grid is former Honda and Brawn GP team-mate Rubens Barrichello, now with Williams.

It is an all-German seventh row with Force India's Adrian Sutil ahead of Michael Schumacher in his Mercedes who has now failed to make it into Q3 four times in the last races, finishing 0.8secs behind team-mate Rosberg.

The Toro Rossos of Sebastien Buemi and Jaime Alguersuari are 15th and 17th, with Vitantonio Liuzzi in his Force India providing the filling.

The odd man out at the end of the initial 20-minute qualifying run was Sauber's Kamui Kobayashi for the third time in the last five races, with the Japanese starting 18th.


Top of the pile: Fernando Alonso (left) will have his work cut out to keep up with the Red Bulls of Vettel (centre) and Mark Webber


The chasm between the more established teams and those in their rookie seasons was significantly underlined around this track as its tight, twisty nature ensured they struggled.

Virgin Racing's Timo Glock was the best of the newcomers, albeit a yawning 1.8secs adrift of Kobayashi, but at least acquiring some personal satisfaction in finishing ahead of the two Lotuses.

Glock will start 19th, with Heikki Kovalainen and Jarno Trulli 20th and 21st, the duo sandwiching the Virgin boys as Lucas di Grassi is 21st.

Propping up the grid will be the Hispania Racing pair of Bruno Senna and Sakon Yamamoto, a staggering six seconds off Vettel's pace.

source: dailymail
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Greene pips British team-mate Williams to claim gold in the 400m hurdles at the European Championships

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By Sportsmail Reporter

Done it: Britain's David Greene celebrates after winning the Men's 400m Hurdles final


Dai Greene clinched Britain’s fourth gold medal of the European Championships here with a storming run in the 400metres hurdles final last night with fellow Welshman Rhys Williams taking the silver.

The result was never in doubt even before the starting gun was sounded, such was Greene’s dominance in Europe this year, and he did not disappoint, reaching the first hurdle in front and never relinquishing his lead.

By the time the 24-year-old cleared the final hurdle his lead was substantial, and his time, 48.12sec, was the fastest of the season in Europe. Williams managed to pip Stanislav Melnkyov, from the Ukraine, to finish second with a personal best of 48.96.

Mo Farah and Chris Thompson in the 10,000m earlier in the week may beg to differ but this was the most impressive performance by two British athletes in the same race inside the Olympic Stadium.

Greene came to prominence only last year when he broke through on to the senior scene with a seventh place in the world championships final in Berlin.

This year he came to Barcelona as Europe’s No 1-ranked 400m hurdler, having posted the five fastest times of the season.

He had chosen a career in track and field ahead of football, having been on Swansea City’s books right up until the age of 17 when he decided to switch sports.

Ironically, for a man born in rugby-mad Llanelli, and who played on the wing for his school team, his idol was neither Welsh rugby icon Ieuan Evans nor Welsh athletic star Iwan Thomas but the Wales and Manchester United footballer, Ryan Giggs.

On his only visit to Spain as a footballer, aged 14, he managed to score a penalty in a shoot-out against Real Madrid and believes to this day that if he had put his mind to it he would now be playing at the Liberty Stadium on the left wing for the Swans.


Delight: Greene also recorded a personal best

‘I kept getting injured and being shouted at by the coach, and back then I wasn’t as strong mentally as I am now,’ he said.

‘I wasn’t enjoying myself so I walked out. The lessons I’ve learned from the experience have made me hungrier to succeed in athletics. Now I like being shouted at and I have a very strong work ethic.’

Football’s loss was athletics’ gain, which is why he found himself at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona last night and in the company of his good friend Williams, who followed up a bronze at the 2006 European Championships at Gothenburg by finishing second behind his practice partner.

It turned into a local training session for the two boys from west Wales. Williams is best-known for being the son of the legendary Welsh and Lions rugby winger JJ Williams, although many more performances like last night and soon JJ will become simply, ‘Rhys’s Dad’.

Not that Williams Jnr minds. ‘He deserves all the accolades he has received for what he achieved in sport,’ he said. ‘If it wasn’t for his help I probably wouldn’t have achieved half the things I have, nor the attention I’ve received.’


Heads down: Great britain's Michael Rimmer takes silver in 800m

Thirty minutes earlier Michael Rimmer took Britain’s 12th medal of these Championships with silver in the 800m, following a rich vein of success in this event at these championships that included wins for Sebastian Coe in 1986, in a British 1-2-3, and for Tom McKean in 1990.

Throw in Steve Ovett, Steve Cram, Peter Elliott and David Sharpe and for many years Britain dominated this event at all championships.

Rimmer, who qualified fastest for last night’s final, and second fastest in terms of personal bests, was disappointed immediately afterwards, despite his first major medal.


The 24-year-old, sporting his lucky T-shirt under his vest, felt forced to take the lead with a full 300m remaining because Spain’s Luis Marco, who finished seventh, was setting too slow a pace.

It was a brave move by Rimmer who still led as the field turned the final corner but in the home straight Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski overtook him to win in a slow 1.47.07. Rimmer finished in 1.47.17.

‘I’m gutted,’ he admitted. ‘The Pole put me under pressure but I still thought I had enough. Maybe I tightened up a little. He was just a bit stronger than me on the day. I don’t know what more I could have done.

‘I’m going to hate standing on that podium hearing someone else’s national anthem. I wanted to win it for Britain as it’s been 20 years since we last did it. I want to apologise to everyone who was watching.’

For the former disc jockey from Liverpool this was still the crowning moment of a career that had promised much but, until last night, delivered little, certainly when it came to major championship medals. This morning he may realise life is not quite so bad after all.



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Mo Farah continues Great Britain's gold rush by adding 5,000m title to 10,000m crown

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By Sportsmail Reporter

Double act: Mo Farah added the 5,000m European crown to the 10,000m title he won on Tuesday


Mo Farah completed an historic long-distance double on a night of triple gold for Britain at the European Championships in Barcelona.

Farah, who won the 10,000 metres title on the opening night of competition, added the 5,000m tonight to become the first British athlete to do the double, and the first since Italy's Salvatore Antibo in 1990.

The Somalia-born 27-year-old took up the running with three laps to go and powered away from the field to win by almost two seconds from Spain's Jesus Espana, the man who denied him the title by just 0.09secs four years ago.

It took Britain's medal tally to 16 and completed a brilliant night which also saw Jessica Ennis and Dai Greene claim gold.


Too good: After leading for much of the race, Mo Farah notched his second gold of the European championships with a trademark sprint finish


Ennis added the European heptathlon crown to the world title she won last year with a hard-fought victory over Olympic champion Nataliya Dobrynska of Ukraine, winning by just 45 points.

And Dai Greene led Britain's second one-two of the championships, claiming victory in the 400 metres hurdles ahead of team-mate Rhys Williams.



source: dailymail
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