17 MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2018 sports Vettel cuts Hamilton’s title lead tally, and the 52nd of his career, Ferrari driver wins surpassing the 51 of four-time • world champion Alain Prost, and in Spa to cut gap in achieved with reasonable ease title race to 17 points as he came home 11.061 seconds More wins than behind Briton ahead of the Briton. Alain? Whoah. I was “More wins than Alain? Who- lucky with the traffic Spectacular ah,” said Vettel. “I was lucky with • the traffic today and I could see today and I could see Alonso crash proves that Lewis eased off for the final that Lewis eased off worth of halo 15 laps. I had a great start and as for the final 15 laps. soon as I was ahead I relaxed. It I had a great start was a very smooth race.” and as soon as I was AFP | Spa-Francorchamps, Vettel cut seven points from ahead I relaxed. It Belgium Hamilton’s lead going into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix. was a very smooth ebastian Vettel trimmed “Congrats to Seb – I did race Lewis Hamilton’s champi- everything I could and we ul- Sonship lead to 17 points on timately did well, but he drove McLaren’s and Sauber’s crash at the first corner Sunday as he steered his Fer- past me like I wasn’t even there protection. rari to a convincing victory in on the straight,” said the British After Saturday’s rain-hit qual- a crash-hit Belgian Grand Prix. driver. “They’ve got some trick Frenchman Esteban Ocon, Pierre Gasly of Toro Rosso fin- None of the drivers were in- ifying session, the race began in Hamilton, who started from things going on in that car and whose future is uncertain fol- ished ninth ahead of Swede Mar- jured, but all were forced out dry conditions with an air tem- a Belgian record fifth pole posi- we have got to just keep work- lowing Canadian billionaire cus Ericsson. of the race, along with Re - perature of 17 degrees Celsius, tion, came home a well-beaten ing.” Lawrence Stroll’s takeover of The race began with a dramat- nault-bound Daniel Ricciardo or 62 degrees Fahrenheit and second for Mercedes, having Local hero Belgian-born Force India, came home sixth ic first-lap collision involving of Red Bull and luckless Finn the track at 29, near perfect for been unable to threaten his Ger- Dutchman Max Verstappen fin- ahead of another French driver German Nico Hulkenberg of Re- Kimi Raikkonen in the second spectators and teams. man rival, who notched his third ished third for Red Bull ahead and his Haas nault and the retiring Spaniard Ferrari, who had also collided. Hamilton made a clean start win at the majestic Ardennes of Valtteri Bottas, who started team-mate Dane Kevin Mag- Fernando Alonso, whose McLar- Hulkenberg missed his brak- and resisted an attack from circuit and Ferrari’s first since from the ninth row of the grid in nussen. en was sent spiralling airborne ing point and rammed into Alon- Vettel at La Source before the 2009. the second Mercedes, and Sergio over the halo-fitted cockpit of so’s car, which flew narrowly opening lap was red-flagged fol- It was Vettel’s fifth win this Perez in the leading ‘new’ Force Dramatic collision Monegasque Charles Leclerc’s over Leclerc’s Sauber, leaving lowing the accident behind them season, equalling Hamilton’s India. Red Bull-bound Frenchman Sauber. black tyre smudges on his halo at the hairpin.

Hussain Ayyad to contest British Moto GP cancelled opening fight at Brave 16 due to ‘unsafe’ conditions Mohoric wins Tour of Germany

Slovenia’s Matej Mohoric (C) from Team Bahrain-Merida competes during the fourth stage of A sweeper vehicle drives on the track as the start of the the Tour of Germany cycling race MotoGP race was delayed due to rain AFP | Stuttgart, Germany end on the four-day BinckBank Tour AFP | London, United Kingdom through Belgium and the Netherlands. lovenia’s Matej Mohoric was Tour de France winner Geraint he British Grand Prix was cancelled after Scrowned the overall Tour of Ger- Thomas finished in the peloton on torrential rain caused “unsafe” track con- many champion on Sunday after fin- Sunday and was given the same time Hussien Ayyad at Reza’s Martial Art Center, Bahrain T ditions at Silverstone, organisers announced ishing second behind home favourite as Mohoric, but was not in contention on Sunday. Nils Politt in Sunday’s fourth and final for the overall title. TDT | Manama Lakay, Philippines in the open- With heavy rain lashing down throughout the stage in Stuttgart. Politt, 24, earned the first stage-race ing fight of the night. weekend, the MotoGP race had been brought This is the second stage-race win in win of his career by covering the 207.4 ussain Ayyad will com- The former IMMAF World forward from its original 1200 GMT start time a fortnight for Mohoric, 23, who won kilometres from Lorsch to Stuttgart Hpete in his second pro - Championship medalist, ex- to 1030 GMT in a bid to beat the weather. Saturday’s stage in Merzig to take the in four hours, 49 minutes, 20 seconds fessional mixed martial arts ceeded expectations in his de- But the rain continued to pour down on Sun- red jersey, following victory last week- with Mohoric, right on his back wheel. bout on 21st September at the but as he ended the undefeated day morning, forcing officials to delay the start Mubadala Arena in Abu Dhabi streak of Jomar Pa-ac from time and then cancel the event for safety rea- during Brave 16. Team Lakay. sons. This marks the first time a Hussain Ayyad is the only After several false starts in which a provi- Bahraini athlete is featured Bahraini presence in the star sional start time for the race was set and then in the opening bout of Brave studded flyweight division scrapped, a meeting between officials and the Combat Federation. which features 10 times IBJJF teams was convened. Trained at KHK MMA Bah- Gold Medalist, Bruno Mal- It was quickly agreed that the track wasn’t rain gym and Reza’s Martial facine, 2016 Combat Sambo fit for competition given the high risk of issues Arts Center, Ayyad has repre- World Champion, Velimurad with the rain-sodden surface. sented the Kingdom of Bahrain Alkhasov and Marcel Adur. “After a meeting between IRTA officials and in multiple amateur events in- Apart from Hussain Ayyad, the MotoGP riders, a decision has been made cluding the 2017 IMMAF World the first ever Bahraini Mixed to cancel the GoPro British Grand Prix due at Seef District too Championships. Martial Artist, Hamza Koo- to track conditions being deemed too unsafe,” Ayyad secured multiple heji will be making his return a statement on the official Moto GP website Um al Hassan +973 17728699 medals in IMMAF events and at Brave 16 which is held two announced. Seef District +973 17364999 will compete in the expand- days away from the second A press conference was scheduled for 1515 ing flyweight division of Brave anniversary of Brave Combat GMT to discuss the situation, with doubts over Combat Federation. Federation which also marks whether the race would be rearranged after Hussain Ayyad will be facing the Birthday of HH Shaikh MotoGP said there was “no option” to hold it Jonathan Corton from Team Khalid bin Hamad Al Khalifa. on Monday.