VALENCIA, Spain (AP) ― Fernando Alonso of Ferrari won an incident-filled European Grand Prix on Sunday to become the first driver to win two races this season, while Michael Schumacher earned a first podium finish since his comeback by coming third.
Alonso jousted his way up from 11th on the starting grid to claim an emotional victory for the Spaniard in front of his home fans after pole sitter Sebastian Vettel’s Red Bull stalled on the track midway through the race.
Fernando Alonso (right) celebrates his win with engineer Andrea Stella on Sunday. (AP-Yonhap News)
Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus finished second, while Schumacher sneaked onto the podium after Lewis Hamilton and Pastor Maldonado collided on the penultimate lap as they fought for third place. “This race is probably the best victory I have ever felt,” said Alonso, who cried on the podium as the Spanish national anthem was played. “In terms of emotions, nothing compares to this.”
Bowyer bags Sonoma
SONOMA, California (AP) ― Clint Bowyer knew he could get to Victory Lane this season, his first with Michael Waltrip Racing.
He just didn’t think it would be on a road course.
Bowyer picked up his first win with his new team Sunday by holding off Kurt Busch on the winding 3.2 km road course at Sonoma. Although Bowyer finished fourth three previous times on this road course, his background is on dirt tracks and this style of racing isn’t his strong suit.
So the irony of winning Sunday wasn’t lost on Bowyer.
“To have this dirt boy from Kansas at Victory Lane on a road course is big, trust me,” Bowyer said. “I saw Jeff Gordon, he’s sitting there on the wall, he’s won this race many times, he’s a champion of this sport and I just beat him.”
koreaherald@heraldcorp.com
