SINGAPORE -- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest

SINGAPORE -- Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in practice for the Singapore Grand Prix on Friday, while teammate and title rival Nico Rosberg and defending champion Sebastian Vettel both had setbacks. Hamiltons best time of 1 minute, 47.490 seconds at the Marina Bay circuit was a tenth of a second faster than Ferraris Fernando Alonso, who was fastest in the morning session. Pole here has always been very important, Hamilton said. Being up at the front will be crucial and thats obviously my target for qualifying tomorrow. Nico looks very quick, as do the Ferraris and the Red Bulls, but Im feeling good this weekend and Im focused on the job. Rosbergs hopes of surpassing his teammate were ruined when his lap on fresh super-soft tires had to be aborted due to a red flag caused by Pastor Maldonados heavy collision with a barrier. Rosberg was only 13th fastest. Although I didnt get the second part of that lap, though, in the first part the car felt great, Rosberg said. Its generally a great challenge driving here. This is one of the most difficult tracks out there but to fight through all the curves and bumps ... is a great feeling. Vettel came out for only the last eight minutes of the second session after an engine failure in his Red Bull at the end of the first. The German, who has won the past three Singapore races, still had enough time to vault up to fifth on the timesheets. I was not able to get the best out of the tires straight away, Vettel said. But overall I am pretty happy and I am sure we can improve the car. We should be in a good place tomorrow. While the Renault engine that failed was one that was earmarked for Friday practice sessions rather than in qualifying and the race, it did reduce the teams options to juggle its power-plants over the final races of the season. Having already used up his allowed five race engines this season, Vettels next change will trigger a 10-place grid penalty. His teammate Daniel Ricciardo, who is the only realistic challenger to the Mercedes pair for the drivers championship, was third fastest. The Australian has won two of the past three races and has 166 points compared to 238 for Rosberg and 216 for Hamilton. Ive got a feeling Mercedes probably have a bit more in the bag, Ricciardo said. We do too, but probably not enough to get on par with them yet, but hopefully a good night of homework will pay off tomorrow. Ferraris Kimi Raikkonen was fourth fastest. Neither Ferrari driver has qualified better than fourth this season. While the Italian teams pattern in 2014 has been a decline from Friday practice performance to that in qualifying on Saturday and race on Sunday, the early showing in Singapore indicated they could challenge Red Bull as best of the rest behind Mercedes in Singapore. It was also a boost after a dire performance in their home race at Monza in the previous grand prix, which precipitated the exit of long-time Ferrari company chief Luca di Montezemolo. While Ferrari was surprisingly strong, Williams would be disappointed with its lap times, with Felipe Massa and Valtteri Bottas down in 17th and 18th, as they struggled on the twisty circuit which negates their straight-line speed. McLarens Jenson Button was seventh fastest ahead of the Force India drivers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg while Toro Rossos Daniil Kvyat rounded out the top ten. Jonas Jerebko Jersey .B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan had ideal preparation for the playoffs at the Ford World Curling Championships with a pair of hard-fought wins over tenacious opponents Thursday. Ricky Rubio Jersey .C. - The Carolina Hurricanes hope they now have the leadership tandem in place to turn the franchise around. http://www.cheapjazzjerseys.info/Authen ... zz-Jersey/. James Harden wasnt worried and told his coach as much. "He was fired up but I told him: Its OK. Were going to be all right," Harden said. And they were. Houston scored 17 straight points after that timeout, led by 10 from Harden, to take the lead and roll to an easy 129-106 win. Rudy Gobert Jersey . Her return engagement begins tonight as TSN presents Day 1 coverage of the 2015 event from Melbourne. Watch Eugenie Bouchards opening round match at the Australian Open live tonight on TSN5 at 3am et/Midnight pt. Adrian Dantley Jersey . Subway workers in Rio de Janeiro, meanwhile, were holding an assembly to vote on whether they would strike to demand higher wages, threatening to disrupt transportation. By late Tuesday night there was no announcement of their decision.PITTSBURGH -- Olli Maatta is sticking with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The team announced Thursday the 19-year-old defenceman will remain with the club indefinitely rather than return to his junior team, the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League. The Penguins could have sent Maatta back down and pushed back his rookie status until next year. Instead, Maatta remain in Pittsburgh and enter the first year of his entry-level contract. If he stays more than 40 games, he can become a free agent by age 25. Its heady territory for a kid who in high school a year ago. "Its gone good so far so why change anything?" Maatta said. Maatta, who is from Finland, has one goal and two assists while averaging around 15 minutes of ice time a game for the Penguins. The 22nd overall pick in the 2012 NHL entry draft has wowed coach Dan Bylsma with his skating and impressed teammates with his ability to adapt quickly to the sports highest level. "I think hes played nine games in a row because hes earned the right to play nine games in a row because hes given us the best chance to win hockey games and thats going to happen in the 10th game too," Bylsma said. The odds seemed long during training camp, when Maattas NHL debut figured to be at least a year away.dddddddddddd He made a compelling case for himself during the preseason and was a surprise addition when he survived the final cuts. "I feel like I worked hard for this and they feel like I still need to work hard and get better," he said. "But I feel better about staying here." Maatta isnt a potent offensive player but hasnt hesitated when given the opportunity. His first NHL goal came in a 4-3 shootout win over Vancouver last Saturday when he poked in a rebound with 6:48 remaining in regulation to tie the game. Though Maatta insists the goal wasnt his "welcome to the NHL moment" theres little doubt it gave him a boost thats helped him believe he belonged. "Every game Ive got more confident out there," he said. "Every game I get more confident that I can play at this level." NOTES: The Penguins recalled F Jayson Megna from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL and placed F Beau Bennett on injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 12 ... D Kris Letang, who has not played this season due to a lower body injury, practiced on Thursday and Bylsma said it is "likely" Letang will make be in the lineup on Friday when the Penguins host the New York Islanders. ' ' '