Grosjean survives scare after drain cover causes tyre burst
SEPANG: Formula One officials launched an inspection of every drain cover at the Sepang circuit after Romain Grosjean suffered a frightening tyre explosion during Malaysian Grand Prix practice.
A drain grille, which should have been welded down securely, popped up at a kerb on turn nine after Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari drove over it. A few seconds later Grosjean hit the same spot with disastrous effect. The impact instantly ripped his right rear tyre from its rim. Meanwhile, Sebastian Vettel smashed the alltime Sepang lap record. Vettel clocked 1min 31.261sec on his qualifying simulation run to smash the old record of 1:32.50 set by Fernando Alonso in 2005.
ANAND WINS
DOUGLAS (ISLE OF MAN): Five-time champion Viswanathan Anand, Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Swapnil S Dhopade emerged vic- tories in the sixth round of the Isle of Man International chess tournament. Gujrathi was the bestplaced Indian at the second position after he defeated compatriot Harsha Bharathakoti. After the sixth round, Anand and Swapnil S Dhopade were joint third with 4.5 points.
PUNERI PALTAN BEAT TAMIL THALAIVAS
CHENNAI: Puneri Paltan produced a composed performance in the last 10 minutes to outclass Tamil Thalaivas 33-20 in Inter-zone Challenge Week of PKL. It was an evenly fought match for 30 minutes but Deepak Hooda helped Pune inflict two all outs to record a comfortable victory.