September 29, 2008	Monday	Ramazan 28, 1429

SINGAPORE, Sept 28: Spain’s Fernando Alonso snapped a year-long win drought to take the Singapore Grand Prix Sunday, winning a drama-filled first-ever night race as a comical error cost Felipe Massa dearly.

It was the Renault driver’s first victory since the Italian Grand Prix last year and capped a remarkable weekend that saw him top two of the free practice sessions but start 15th on the grid after a mechanical problem in qualifying.

He claimed his 20th career triumph by 2.95 seconds over Germany’s Nico Rosberg in a Williams and Britain’s world championship leader Lewis Hamilton in third.

“It is fantastic, I am extremely happy. I can’t believe it right now and it will take a few days to realise what we have done,” said Alonso.

The race was a new experience for every driver on a street circuit under powerful spotlights and it turned out to be one of the most exciting of the season.

Despite dark clouds lurking, Singapore’s notorious tropical downpours stayed away and the whole race was run in dry, but hot and humid conditions.

Ferrari’s Massa started from pole but a disastrous mistake cost him the race and valuable points in his push for the world title.His 13th place finish means he is now seven points behind Hamilton in the championship hunt.

The Brazilian was in the pits on lap 15 when he was given the green light and drove off with the fuel hose still attached to his car, leaving one of the pit crew floored and subsequently carted off in a neck brace.

Massa ended up sitting in his Ferrari at the end of the pit lane as the crew ran after him and managed to pull the hose free, but it ruined his chances. He was given a drive through penalty and rejoined in 18th place.

Massa was leading at the time with Hamilton second but at the restart, Rosberg was in front and Alonso fifth.

The complicated scenario saw Toyota’s Jarno Trulli in the lead on lap 28 but without having pitted with Alonso second, Rosberg third and Hamilton charging in sixth.

With Trulli taking his first pit stop soon after Alonso amazingly found himself in front just after the halfway mark with a 4.9 second lead over Rosberg.

Alonso came in for his second pit stop on lap 41 and came out still ahead, marginally ahead of David Coulthard and Hamilton.

Remarkably, when Coulthard pitted soon after, he too drove off with the fuel pipe attached, knocking over a mechanic who was stretchered off with an injured ankle.

There was more action to come.

Alonso was cruising with a 23 second lead when Adrian Sutil shunted his Force India into the wall, bringing the safety car out again and wiping out the Spaniard’s advantage.

When they restarted with seven laps left it was a sprint to the finish and two-time world champion Alonso made no mistake, writing his name in the record books as the first winner of a Formula One night race.

Results:

1. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Renault) 1hour 57 minutes 16.304 seconds; 2. Nico Rosberg (GER/Williams) at 2.957; 3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/McLaren) at 5.917; 4. Timo Glock (GER/Toyota) at 8.155; 5. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Toro Rosso) at 10.268; 6. Nick Heidfeld (GER/BMW Sauber) at 11.101; 7. David Coulthard (GBR/Red Bull) at 16.387; 8. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN/Williams) at 18.489; 9. Jenson Button (GBR/Honda) at 19.885; 10. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN/McLaren) at 26.902; 11. Robert Kubica (POL/BMW Sauber) at 27.975; 12. Sibastien Bourdais (FRA/Toro Rosso) at 29.432; 13. Felipe Massa (BRA/Ferrari) at 35.107; 14. Giancarlo Fisichella (ITA/Force India) at 43.571; 15. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN/Ferrari) at 4 laps.

Overall standings:

Drivers:

1. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) 84.0 pts, 2. Felipe Massa (BRA) 77.0, 3. Robert Kubica (POL) 64.0, 4. Kimi Raikkonen (FIN) 57.0, 5. Nick Heidfeld (GER) 56.0, 6. Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) 51.0, 7. Fernando Alonso (ESP) 38.0, 8. Sebastian Vettel (GER) 27.0, 9. Jarno Trulli (ITA) 26.0, 10. Timo Glock (GER) 20.0, 11. Mark Webber (AUS) 20.0, 12. Nico Rosberg (GER) 17.0, 13. Nelson Piquet Jr (BRA) 13.0, 14. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) 11.0, 15. Kazuki Nakajima (JPN) 9.0, 16. David Coulthard (GBR) 8.0, 17. Sibastien Bourdais (FRA) 4.0, 18. Jenson Button (GBR) 3.0.—AFP