Skip to main content

Barrichello wins pole position in Brazilian Grand Prix

Sunday, October 18, 2009 SAO PAULO: Rubens Barrichello here Sunday won his home Brazilian Grand Prix to keep alive his challenge for the drivers world championship.The 37-year-old Brazilian claimed pole position Saturday for the 71-laps race after an extraordinary storm-hit three hours qualifying session that played havoc with worldwide television schedules. The local hero's last-gasp fastest lap for the Brawn GP team not only enabled him to outpace nearest rival Mark Webber of Red Bull, but also set up his first triumph in his home event at his 17th attempt.Backed by not only the crowd, aware that Barrichello grew up at Interlagos and began his career in the shadow of the great Ayrton Senna, but also his father, his family and many friends in the paddock, he has been followed by cheers and goodwill all weekend. A victory would not only be universally well received, but also enhance his prospects of staying in the title fight with Brawn GP team-mate and championship leader Briton Jenson Button starting down in 14th place on the grid, just ahead of the third man in the scrap for glory, German Sebastian Vettel of Red Bull.Button needs to make the podium to wrap up the title and after a struggle in the treacherous and madcap conditions on Saturday he was left with a major challenge if he is just to score points.Barrichello, on 71 points in the title race, is 14 behind his team-mate and needs to make up at least five if he is to keep his challenge alive ahead of the season-closing race in Abu Dhabi on November 1.Given that Webber has been fuelled for an opening stint two laps longer than Barrichello's, it is quite possible that the Australian could win the race for Red Bull.If that happened, and Barrichello was second, scoring eight points, then Button would need at least to finish fifth to take the title. If Barrichello manages to beat off Webber's challenge and win, then Button must rise from 14th to third.In either scenario, it is a difficult job for Button who may well be hoping that the forecast for more stormy weather and torrential rain proves to be accurate. If that happens, and the race is reduced to a lottery, one, or all three, of the title contenders, could finish pointless - and the championship would be settled by the Brazilian climate.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

India's swine flu death rate is increasing

Friday, August 14, 2009 MUMBAI: A 26-year-old woman died Thursday of H1N1 swine flu in the southern city of Bangalore, raising India's death toll from the virus to 20, authorities said.The death was the first reported in India's information technology capital, the Press Trust of India reported.Meanwhile in Pune, the worst-affected in India, two more victims of the virus died Thursday, raising the death toll in that western city near Mumbai to 12, the report said. The victims were an 11-month-old boy and a 75-year-old old woman.US media reported movie halls, schools and colleges were ordered closed Thursday for three days to a week in Mumbai, the commercial and financial capital of the country, as fear of the pandemic spread.Prajakata Lavangare, a spokeswoman for the government of Maharashtra state of which Mumbai is the capital, said similar orders were issued in Pune, which is also located in the state.The woman who died in Bangalore was identified only as Roopa, a teacher in...

Snake bite deaths

Monday, July 06, 2009 COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government recorded some 33,000 snake bites in 2008, with most of the victims coming from remote villages.The Department of Government Information said in a statement that most of the snake bite cases could be fatal if neglected.The statement said snake bites are often neglected in Sri Lanka as victims do not seek treatment at hospitals where advanced medication is available. Instead, the victims rush to traditional type of treatment which could be a risk, reports Xinhua.Snake bites death at domestic level, outside hospitals, go unrecorded, said the statement.Most victims of snake bite are from the rural and remote villages where there is no electricity after dusk.Statistics show that Sri Lanka has over 90 species of snake with around 10 species possessing venom capable of killing a human being.In Sri Lanka the annual death rate due to snake bite envenoming is one of the highest in the world being 6 in 100,000 population.