British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton drives his McLaren Mercedes during the second practice session of the Japanese Formula One Grand Prix at the Fuji Speedway, some 100 km west of Tokyo on Friday.

OYAMA, Japan, Sept. 29--Lewis Hamilton took the pole position in wet conditions for the Japanese Grand Prix by having the fastest time in a weather-affected qualifying session.
Hamilton did 1 minute 25.368 seconds. His teammate, with whom Hamilton has been feuding, was second with 1:25.438, reported AP.
It was the fourth pole position for Hamilton this season, including the disputed one when he was moved from second past Alonso at the Hungarian GP after Alonso was penalized for delaying Hamilton.
The Ferrari and McLaren drivers have won all of the 14 races to date with Alonso and Raikkonen taking four each, including splitting the last two. In the morning, fog canceled the final practice and threatened to throw the qualifying into doubt. It was foggy until a few minutes before the start. The sport’s governing body, FIA, requires that a medical helicopter be able to fly in case of accidents. It went up briefly and the cars hurried to the track, but five minutes later the helicopter was grounded because of the weather and the cars stopped and did not resume practice.
Cars needed the running, not only because of the need to run under wet conditions after Friday’s training was dry, but also because the track is new. The circuit replaced the venue at Suzuka, whose contract ran out last year. Fuji Speedway, near Mount Fuji, last hosted a Formula One race in 1977 and the circuit has been renovated to prepare for the modern version of Formula One. Hamilton nearly failed to make it into the second session., He was buried in 19th place with less than two minutes to go as the cars kept getting faster with the conditions drying. His last lap moved him into second to advance him. The last six drivers are dropped in the first two 15-minute sessions.
Ralf Schumacher of Toyota, the only driver with prior experience on the track before this weekend, crashed at the end of the first session. He had made it to the second session but collided with Spyker’s Sakon Yamamato, the slowest driver in the field.
Schumacher drove on the circuit last year in a demonstration as the Fuji Speedway is owned by Toyota. Two-time defending Formula One world champion Alonso has beaten Hamilton in five of the last six races, and the British driver’s one-time 14-point lead has shrunk to just two, 97-95, with three races left in the season. Hamilton is clinging to the chance to become the first rookie to take the F1 title amid a tumultuous two months that has seen McLaren embroiled in dispute over possession of technical data belonging to rival constructor Ferrari.
After being found guilty by FIA, McLaren was fined $100 million.

TEHRAN, Sept. 29--Esteghlal Manager Nasser Hejazi praised his squad despite that fact it was humbled in a 1-1 draw against Saba Battery on Friday in the 7th week of Iran’s Premiere League at Azadi stadium.
“We had far too many opportunities in the game, but could not take advantage of them all like in previous matches“, he told newsmen, Mehr News Agency reported.
Visibly concerned about injuries to his boys, Hejazi expressed the hope that “our injured players will be back soon.“
The former veteran national team keeper added that“ Mojtaba Jabbari and Mohsen Yussefi are among our best players who could not play. Hamid Shafiei is also not ready. Moreover, we will probably not have Mohsen Bayati Nia for the rest of the season.“
Esteghlal will be able to trounce arch-rival Persepolis if it repeats the performance against Saba, the manager was quoted as saying.
“The (Friday) match was one of the best we played since this season began, but it is unfortunate we could shoot more goals,“ Hejazi complained.
Fereydoun Fazli put Saba Battery ahead in the 49th minute, and
Meysam Soleymani of Esteghlal shot the equalizer 10 minutes later.
Esteghlal now stands eight in Premiere League ranking.

LONDON, Sept. 29--Chelsea striker Didier Drogba admits he could not see the “brutal“ departure of former Blues boss Jose Mourinho coming.
The Ivory Coast hitman, 29, has also hinted he may look for a way out of Stamford Bridge after losing Mourinho.
Drogba, who returned from injury against Fulham on Saturday, said: “I find Jose’s ’eviction’ hard to take. I could not see the blow coming so brutally, reported AP.
“It changes an awful lot of things. At the moment, I am in the sort of nervous state I’ve never dreamed about before.“
Mourinho signed Drogba from Marseille for £24m in July 2004, just seven weeks after he had taken over as Blues boss.
Drogba endured a tough first two seasons at Chelsea but had a magnificent campaign last time around, scoring 33 goals in all competitions.
He admits Mourinho’s sudden departure last week and Avram Grant’s promotion to manager has cast a shadow over the club.
Drogba, who was reportedly in tears when Mourinho told him he was leaving, added in the Daily Mail: “Mourinho’s departure destroys a certain familiarity we had at the club.
“His mentality suited us and it perfectly fitted the image that Chelsea had given off for a number of years.
“It felt strange to return to our training centre at Cobham and no longer see Mourinho. That was when the shock hit home.
“There was a real family spirit in the camp. We could say anything to one another. That was our strength.
“Many of us used to play first and foremost for the manager. Now we need to forget those feelings and find another source of motivation.“
Meanwhile, Chelsea captain John Terry will attempt to set the record straight on Saturday after some reports suggested he was to blame for Mourinho’s exit.
According to the Daily Mirror, Terry will use his program notes for Saturday’s game against Fulham to tell Chelsea fans that although he did row with Mourinho shortly before his exit, he did not want the Portuguese to leave.
“Jose was simply the most successful Chelsea manager ever and the best I’ve worked with,“ said Terry.

LONDON,
Sept. 29--Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger has finally revealed the reasoning behind Thierry Henry’s departure to Catalan’s favorite, Barcelona.
According to AFP, the 57-year old coach said Henry’s main worries were raised by Arsenal’s up-and-down results on the pitch last season.
“I cannot wait anymore. Will the team be strong next season, in two years? I do not know. But I need to make a decision today,“ Henry told Wenger, before deciding to move to Barca.
Wenger added that a striker who has reached the age of 30 needs a team that is successful on the pitch, as he does not have much time left.
The Emirates Stadium boss has long planned for the London club’s young squad to regain its strength. Today, the Gunners stand in the first place of England’s Premier League.

Tiger Woods

MONTREAL, Sept. 29--Vijay Singh and Stuart Appleby extended the misery for top-ranked Tiger Woods in Presidents Cup four-ball matches, sparking a Friday fight back by the Internationals against the trophy-holding Americans.
Fiji’s Singh and Australia’s Appleby pounded Woods and Jim Furyk 5 and 4 to give the global squad their first victory at Royal Montreal Golf Club, trimming their deficit to 5 1/2-1 1/2 with five matches still on the course, according to AP.
Woods saw his Cup-worst record in the four-ball format plunge to 2-7 with Singh improving to 5-1 in four-ball matches against Woods, whose lone victory was a 2-and-1 victory in 2005 with the same partners for each.
“I thought they beat us last year,“ Singh said. “I get along well with Stu. We’re very similar. It takes the pressure off. It’s a great start.“
Appleby and Singh were 11-under through 14 holes, jumping ahead from the start to lift the Internationals, who had managed to halve only one match while losing five in Thursday’s foursomes matches. “We knew we would probably have to give ourselves a chance on every hole. We played the right shots on every hole. That set the tone,“ Appleby said. “They played really well. We were just ahead the whole time.“
Singh, whose seven four-ball triumphs match the Cup record, opened with a birdie and eagled the par-5 sixth and Appleby followed with a birdie at the par-3 seventh to move the global duo 3-up. Appleby eagled the 570-yard par-5 12th, boosting the margin to 4-up, and Singh dropped a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 13th to go 5-up with five to play.
Woods hit his second birdie of the day at the 14th but Singh topped it from three feet to secure the victory.
This was the fourth time the Americans have led by five points after the first day but the first time they have done so away from US soil. They won the Cup all three prior times they jumped ahead so much and lead the rivalry 4-1-1.

MEXICO CITY,
Sept. 29--Clinton Woods is aiming to put his injury problems behind him when he defends his IBF light heavyweight title against Julio Cesar Gonzalez.
Saturday’s fight will be the first for Woods since his fine split-decision win over former undisputed champion Glen Johnson over a year ago, reported AFP.
The 35-year-old said, “It feels so long since the Johnson fight that I just can’t wait to get back in there.“
Woods beat Mexican Gonzalez on points in 2005 but is expecting a tough test.
Since that victory two years ago, the Yorkshire fighter has been dogged by an elbow injury but is now fully fit again.
“It just feels incredible to train for a fight without any pain because I have been in pain ever since I won the title,“ he said.
Woods was hurt in the course of claiming the vacant title against Rico Hoye in 2005, and suffered with it in three defences including his win over Gonzalez.
“I did the injury soon after I won the world title and had to battle through the pain after that,“ he said.
“During the Johnson fight the tendon completely ripped away from the bone, and afterwards my arm was so swollen it was as big as my leg.
“In the first operation they cut off the dead tendon so it could grow back, but it went again so I needed more surgery.“
Despite his injury, Woods largely controlled his first fight against Gonzalez, who has subsequently rebounded with three straight wins to earn another mandatory crack at the title.
“The last time I fought him I hardly did any sparring because of the elbow problem,“ Woods said.
“But I basically out boxed him and I got on top in the end. I had no doubt that I won, but it was tough.“