Rea stunning in the rain
GERMANY’S Nico Rosberg celebrated his 200th Formula One race by retaking the championship lead from Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton after a pole to flag win in Singapore on Sunday..
After a chaotic start that brought out a safety car on the opening lap, Rosberg stayed clear of Red Bull’s late-charging Daniel Ricciardo at the floodlit Marina Bay Street Circuit.
Triple world champion Hamilton completed the podium in third place.
The German’s third victory in a row, and 22nd of his career, lifted Rosberg on to 273 points, eight clear of Hamilton, with six rounds remaining and Australia’s Ricciardo a distant third on 179 in the title race.
Rosberg’s win was his eighth of the season and first in Singapore, a Grand Prix that has only been won by world champions until now.
The German had started two points behind Hamilton and, despite leading comfortably halfway though the race, crossed the line just 0.488 seconds ahead of Ricciardo after having to complete the last 28 laps on the same soft tyres.
Red Bull opted for a bold tyre strategy to put pressure on Rosberg late on and Ricciardo was eating into the advantage at roughly three seconds a lap in the closing stages but ran out of road before the chequered flag.
Hamilton had his own private battle with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen behind the leading duo, the Briton losing third place to the Finn after a mistake on lap 34 but reclaiming the position with a timely pit stop to hold on to the finish.
Last year’s race winner Sebastian Vettel drove brilliantly from last on the starting grid to claim fifth place in the other Ferrari, the German coming home ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and Fernando Alonso in a McLaren.
- Reuters AFTER crashing out of Saturday’s race, Jonathan Rea recovered to win heat two and left the German round of the World Superbike series with his championship lead intact.
The reigning champion was in third place in Saturday’s race when he crashed out on lap eight due to an apparent gear selection problem on his Kawasaki. His team-mate Tom Sykes claimed second to close the championship gap to 26 points, behind Ducati’s Chaz Davies who took a commanding 10.5 second victory. Honda’s Nicky Hayden completed the top three.
On Sunday the roles were reversed, with Sykes this time crashing when he lost control of his Kawasaki on the sodden Lausitzring circuit on lap one.
After a delayed start when riders switched to rain tyres when the heavens opened, Rea found redemption by winning the race with a 9.3 second margin ahead of newcomers to the WordSBK podium IodaRacing Team’s Alex De Angelis and Barni Racing Team’s Xavi Fores.
Sykes was able to rejoin and salvage four points with a 12th place finish, but lies 47 points behind his team-mate with three rounds to go. – Motoring Correspondent.