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Webber Takes First Pole Of Season In Japan

SUZUKA,
Japan- After witnessing his teammate out qualify him the entire portion of the
season so far, Mark Webber finally found some life and set the fastest lap in
the final qualifying session, recording a 1:32:271 fastest lap to take pole for
Sunday’s Grand Prix of Japan. Sebastian Vettel, Webber’s tough teammate and
opponent was second, while Lewis Hamilton set a last second good lap to place
third.

“It’s a great track and we always enjoy driving
here.” He said. “The laps weren’t too bad today to be honest, but you always
want a little bit more here and there. Sebastian had a problem in qualifying,
so it’s a little bit of a hollow pole position if you like; he still did a
phenomenal lap. But, I’m happy to be on pole; you have to grab the
opportunities when you can and still get the laps in.”

The opening
session found a big shock as Lotus driver Romain Grosjean had his first session
win, with a 1:31:824 fastest lap, while Williams drivers Pastor Maldonado and
Valteri Bottas for the first time in a while, managed to move on to the second
session.

The second
session saw no surprise as Vettel easily won, with a 1:31:290 best time, while
Sergio Perez, Paul di Resta, Maldonado, Bottas, , Estaban Gutierrez and Daniel
Riccardo all failed to qualify for the last round.

Only with a
few minutes to go did Webber set the best time, and while the Australian went
around the track at a slow pace, he waited to see if anyone could best his
time, and to his surprise, realized that he not only beat his teammate Vettel, but took his first pole of the season.

Grosjean
earned a good place all day, and took fourth, while Felipe Massa, who nearly
was eliminated in the last session, took a deserved fifth, while Nico Rosberg
was sixth. Nico Hulkenberg kept his improvements in the Sauber, taking seventh,
while Fernando Alonso was eighth. Kimi Raikkonen was a disappointing ninth,
while Jenson Button finished tenth in his Mclaren.

In what
would be the last time he would be racing here, Webber pointed out that this
circuit was always something he liked to drive on.

“It’s a very, very nice farewell
for me to have pole position on my last attempt here at Suzuka.” He stated. “It’s
a great circuit and I’ll never forget the first sector today, it’s what us guys
strive for and it’s what our profession is all about; driving that is a real
highlight for us.”

His pole broke the record all time front row wins for a
engine manufacturer, in this case, Renault, with 209 pole positions and
counting.

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