Vettel storms to pole in wet Canada qualifying - MotorSportsTalk

Sebastian Vettel has claimed his third consecutive pole in Canada for this weekend’s race, excelling in the wet conditions which saw the entire session completed on intermediate tires.

However, the big surprise from the session was Valtteri Bottas’ excellent performance to qualify 3rd, marking Williams’ first foray into Q3 this season as the team looks to score for the first time in 2013. He will start between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, with neither driver able to continue Mercedes’ pole position streak. For Vettel, his championship lead looks set to be extended after championship rivals Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen qualifying 6th and 9th respectively, although, as Felipe Massa proved with a crash, mistakes can be costly in Canada.

A short rain shower before Q1 left the teams with a dilemma over which tire to send their drivers out on, and despite the first runners using the dry compounds, they struggled to stay on-track and all returned for intermediate tires. Hamilton and Rosberg were the early pace setters alongside both Red Bull drivers, but many struggled in the damp conditions: Sutil, Massa and even Canada-specialist Hamilton all made mistakes. Massa did manage to improve and went quickest with three minutes to go, only for Webber to top his time. Vettel eventually finished quickest, whilst Alonso and Bottas also ran strongly at the top, but at the bottom it was a battle between Romain Grosjean, Esteban Gutierrez and Paul di Resta to get into Q2. Gutierrez pulled out a great lap to finish P12, yet Grosjean and di Resta could not improve and joined Charles Pic, Jules Bianchi, Max Chilton and Giedo van der Garde in the Q1 dropzone.

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Conditions failed to improve ahead of Q2, and once again it became a battle between Mercedes and Red Bull at the top of the timesheets, joined by Jean-Eric Vergne for Toro Rosso. The trio of Hamilton, Sutil and Massa all made very similar mistakes into turn three, and Massa complained of a lack of grip on the intermediate tire. Perez was informed that the times were not improving, yet Vettel managed to open up a big gap at the top, only joined late on by Webber and Bottas. The session was red flagged after Massa crashed at turn three under braking, with the Brazilian driver being very frustrated to leave him in the dropzone. On the restart, the drivers queued two-by-time at the end of the pit lane, all gunning for one final lap time. Button failed to cross the line in time and was eliminated, and the Briton was joined in the dropzone by Hulkenberg, Perez, Maldonado and Gutierrez. However, Valtteri Bottas made it through to Q3 for the first time in his career, finishing an excellent 4th.

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Bottas was the only driver not to go out immediately in Q3 as the wet weather persisted, meaning that intermediates would be used until the end of qualifying. The first set of runs saw Vettel edge out Hamilton and Rosberg at the top, with Toro Rosso impressing to stand P7 and P8, but Bottas once again stood out to sit P3 when the drivers pitted for fresh tires. However, as the rain intensified in sector three, the times failed to improve, allowing Vettel to remain on pole after Hamilton made an error on his final timed lap. The big story from the session was Bottas’ excellent run to P3, finishing ahead of Rosberg, Webber and Alonso. Vergne was once again impressive to qualify 7th, with Sutil, Raikkonen and Ricciardo completing the top ten.

This result sees Vettel claim his third pole of the season, and his third in a row at the Canadian Grand Prix, but all eyes will surely be on Bottas off the start tomorrow after such an excellent performance. As qualifying was completed on intermediate tires, the teams will have all of their dry compounds available for the start tomorrow.

Media and fan attention focused on a controversial run-in between Haiden Deegan and his Monster Energy Yamaha Star Racing teammate Jordon Smith during Round 10 of the Monster Energy Supercross race at Detroit, after which the 250 East points’ Hunter Lawrence defends the young rider in the postrace news conference.

Deegan took the early lead in Heat 1 of the round, but the mood swiftly changed when he became embroiled in a spirited battle with teammate Smith.

On Lap 3, Smith caught Deegan with a fast pass through the whoops. Smith briefly held the lead heading into a bowl turn but Deegan had the inside line and threw a block pass. In the next few turns, the action heated up until Smith eventually ran into the back of Deegan’s Yamaha and crashed.

One of the highlights of the battle seemed to include a moment when Deegan waited on Smith in order to throw a second block pass, adding fuel to the controversy.

After his initial crash, Smith fell to seventh on the next lap. He would crash twice more during the event, ultimately finishing four laps off the pace in 20th.

The topic was inevitably part of the postrace news conference.

“It was good racing; it was fun,” Deegan said at about the 27-minute mark in the video above. “I just had some fun doing it.”

Smith had more trouble in the Last Chance Qualifier. He stalled his bike in heavy traffic, worked his way into a battle for fourth with the checkers in sight, but crashed a few yards shy of the finish line and was credited with seventh. Smith earned zero points and fell to sixth in the standings.

Lawrence defends Deegan — *Jordon Smith failed to make the Detroit Supercross Main and fell to sixth in the points. – Feld Motor Sports*

“I think he’s like fifth in points,” Deegan said. “He’s a little out of it. Beside that it was good, I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention.”

Deegan jokingly deflected an earlier question with the response that he wasn’t paying attention during the incident.

“He’s my teammate, but he’s a veteran, he’s been in this sport for a while,” Deegan said. “I was up there just battling. I want to win as much as everybody else. It doesn’t matter if it’s a heat race or a main; I just want to win. I was just trying to push that.”

As Deegan and Smith battled, Jeremy Martin took the lead. Deegan finished second in the heat and backed up his performance with a solid third-place showing in the main, which was his second podium finish in a short six-race career. Deegan’s first podium was earned at Daytona, just two rounds ago.

But as Deegan struggled to find something meaningful to say, unsurprisingly for a 17-year-old rider who was not scheduled to run the full 250 schedule this year, it was the championship leader Lawrence who came to his defense.

“I just want to point something out, which kind of amazes me,” Lawrence said during the conference. “So many of the people on social media, where everyone puts their expertise in, are saying the racing back in the ’80s, the early 90s, when me were men. They’re always talking about how gnarly it was and then anytime a block pass or something happens now, everyone cries about it.

“That’s just a little bit interesting. Pick one. You want the gnarly block passes from 10 years ago and then you get it, everyone makes a big song and dance about it.”

Pressed further, Lawrence defended not only the pass but the decision-making process that gets employed lap after lap in a Supercross race.

“It’s easy to point the finger,” Lawrence said. “We’re out there making decisions in a split millisecond. People have all month to pay their phone bill and they still can’t do that on time.

“We’re making decisions at such a fast reaction [time with] adrenaline. … I’m not just saying it for me or Haiden. I speak for all the guys. No one is perfect and we’re under a microscope out there. The media is really quick to point a finger when someone makes a mistake.”

The media is required to hold athletes accountable for their actions. They are also required to tell the complete story.

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