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SAKHIR, Bahrain -- Mercedes locked out the front row for the Bahrain Grand Prix as Nico Rosberg claimed pole position on Saturday, qualifying ahead of teammate Lewis Hamilton. Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner. It was Mercedes third straight pole to start the Formula One season but the first for Rosberg, who equaled his father Keke with five career poles. Rosberg leads the championship on 43 points, 18 ahead of Hamilton. "It has just worked well through the weekend, finding my way, making progress and getting through some issues," Rosberg said. "I have good memories of this track, winning the GP2 championship and starting my first race in F1. I enjoy coming here and again today its suited me." Rosberg and Hamilton have a win each from the opening two races of the season and Mercedes also dominated the three practice sessions leading into qualifying, both in day and night conditions, with Sundays race to be held at night for the first time. The only surprise was Rosberg taking pole ahead of Hamilton, who usually thrives in the one-lap format. "I locked up in the last lap but generally I am happy for the team," Hamilton said. "Nico did a great job and naturally Im happy my teammate is there and not someone else." Defending four-time F1 champion Sebastian Vettel did not even make the final session of qualifying and will start from 10th on the grid -- promoted one spot as his Red Bull teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who qualified third, gets a 10-place grid penalty from the previous race in Malaysia. Vettel paid the price for a session-ending spin in pre-qualifying practice which prevented him from getting valuable data on how to set up the car on the soft-tire, low-fuel setting. He also complained of a downshifting problem. "The final run for some reason was a bit more difficult, the rears were locking up," Vettel said. "We had been playing around with it for quite a while, we are still not where we want to be but I dont want to blame it on that. There was a little bit more in the car which I couldnt get to, so I am not happy with today." Williams driver Valtteri Bottas and Force Indias Sergio Perez qualified fourth and fifth respectively and, with the one-place promotion, both equaled their best career starting positions. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen qualified sixth, four places ahead of Fernando Alonso, to take the qualifying honours over his teammate for the first time this season in what is expected to a year-long fight between the two former world champions. Alonso said the car was down on power in the final part of qualifying, though he felt the teams starting grid positions of fifth and ninth were "more or less what we expected to be honest." "Q2 we were down a little bit and Q3 we lost more," Alonso said. "Still, we didnt miss out on the possibility of pole position because we are not in that kind of position. Its just a couple of places that hopefully tomorrow we can recover." McLarens Jenson Button, contesting his 250th grand prix, qualified in seventh and his teammate Kevin Magnussen was ninth, separated by Felipe Massa of Williams. Aside from Vettels early elimination, the main surprise of Q2 was Force Indias Nico Hulkenberg qualifying in 12th, having been fastest of all drivers in Q1 and showing strong pace during the practice sessions. Saubers Adrian Sutil was hit with a five-place grid penalty for impeding Lotus Romain Grosjean in the first session of qualifying, sending him to the very back of the grid. Jaromir Jagr Jersey . -- Kevin Harvick pulled away on a restart with 47 laps to go and ended Chase Elliotts two-race winning streak in NASCARs Nationwide Series with a dominating victory early Saturday at Richmond International Raceway. Custom Philadelphia Flyers Jerseys . Serbia captain Bogdan Obradovic said his team will include 9th-ranked Janko Tipsarevic and 27th-ranked Viktor Troicki as he decided to let the top-ranked Djokovic rest. http://www.hockeyflyersauthentic.com/jakub-voracek-jersey/. Kyle Shanahan was hired as offensive co-ordinator Monday after spending the previous four years in the same role with the Washington Redskins. Nolan Patrick Jersey . Minutes after the previously winless Colts got their first win, 27-13 over Tennessee, team vice chairman Bill Polian said the four-time league MVP will not play this season though he has begun throwing to teammates at the team complex. Dave Schultz Jersey . The win puts Arsenal four points clear of Everton in fourth place with two games to play in the Premier League, a position which would qualify the club for Europes top competition for the 17th straight year.BUCHAREST, Romania -- Third-seeded Gael Monfils opened his Nastase Tiriac Trophy account with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Lithuanian qualifier Ricardas Berankis on Thursday. Following a first-round bye, Monfils broke Berankis four times in their first meeting to reach the quarterfinals after rain delayed the start of play for more than three hours. With Paul-Henri Mathieu or Marius Coppil next, Monfils is looking to regain his early season form, when he won the title in Montpellier and reached the final in Doha.dddddddddddd. Second-seeded Mikhail Youzhny fell in his opening match in Bucharest for a second straight year, and lost to Dutchman Robin Haase for the first time in six matches, 6-3, 6-3. Haase faces Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan on Friday. ' ' '