Hamilton flies past Rosberg for pole

Texas favorite puts up a fight in chase for Formula One title

Lewis Hamilton needs a late-season charge to catch Nico Rosberg for the Formula One championship. He can start Sunday from pole position at the U.S. Grand Prix in Austen, Texas.

Hamilton outgunned his Mercedes rival and teammate on the last lap to grab his first pole position at the Circuit of the Americas, where he’s won three times starting from second.

“I feel amazing,” Hamilton said. “I could hear the crowd cheering.”

Hamilton has been a Texas favorite with his three wins in four years and he returned this year facing a 33-point deficit behind Rosberg in the title chase. His fastest lap of 1 minute, 34.999 seconds pushed Rosberg to No. 2.

“It was a good lap I did. Annoyed when Lewis crossed the line and beat me,” said Rosberg, who also threw a jab at Hamilton’s season-long troubles getting off the starting line. “As we’ve seen this year, qualifying isn’t all important,” Rosberg added. “From P2 I still have a great chance for tomorrow.”

Martin Truex Jr. overcame an issue in inspection to win the pole for the playoff elimination race at Talladega Superspeedway. Truex turned a lap of 193.423 mph to earn the top starting spot Sunday. Before qualifying, NASCAR confiscated bolts from Truex’s Toyota and series officials were unsure what, if any, penalty the Furniture Row Racing team will face.

Grant Enfinger grabbed his first career NASCAR victory by holding off the pack to win the Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama.

Newly crowned world champion Marc Marquez will start in pole position in Sunday’s Australian Moto GP after brilliantly reading rainy conditions during qualifying on the Philip Island circuit. Marquez arrived in Australia after winning last weekend’s Japan round of the series to tie up the title with three rounds remaining. .

Golf

Defending champion Justin Thomas endured a terrible start to the third round of the CIMB Classic after the American faltered with three bogeys and a double bogey to finish with a 1-under 71. Thomas was swiftly overtaken by Anirban Lahiri, who shone at the TPC Kuala Lumpur with nine birdies for a 65 to open up a four-shot lead going into Sunday.

Jessica Korda caught Minjee Lee in the Blue Bay LPGA in China. Ariya Jutanugarn made up even more ground to move into contention for her sixth victory of the season.

Korda shot a 6-under 66 at Jian Lake to make up seven strokes on Lee for a share of the lead, and Jutanugarn had a 65 to cut her deficit from 10 to two shots and get in the final group Sunday.

Miscellany

Simone Schaller, an American hurdler who competed at the 1932 and 1936 Summer Games and was believed to be the oldest living Olympian, has died. She was 104. Schaller tied Babe Didrikson Zaharias for the world record in the first round of the 80-meter hurdles at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. Schaller finished fourth in the final behind Didrikson.

Junko Tabei, the first woman to climb Mount Everest, has died at 77, Japanese media reported.

Basketball

The Dallas Mavericks waived Jaleel Cousins, the younger brother of Sacramento All-Star DeMarcus Cousins, and four others to get their roster to 15. Cousins didn’t appear in a preseason game after signing Monday.

NFL

Robbie Gould has become the second placekicker to join the New York Giants on short notice, with Josh Brown again ineligible to play after admitting to abusing his wife. Randy Bullock kicked in the season opener after Brown was suspended by the league for one game.

Tennis

Svetlana Kuznetsova secured the last spot at the WTA Finals in Singapore after defeating Daria Gavrilova of Australia 6-2, 6-1 in Moscow to retain her Kremlin Cup title.

Skating

Ashley Wagner won the Progressive Skate America women’s title in Illinois, edging California training partner Mariah Bell. Japan’s Shoma Uno topped the men’s short program.