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Grapevine: Rankings: Alonso moves into top five

Fernando Alonso's Singapore Grand Prix victory launched him into the Castrol Rankings top five for the first time

The Ferrari driver qualified on pole position and twice had his lead slashed by the safety car, forcing him to resist the charging Red Bull of Sebastian Vettel over the last few laps.

His fourth win of the season not only launched him back into contention for the Formula 1 World Championship; it also gained him two places in the Castrol Rankings.

In climbing to fifth the Spaniard overhauled Jimmie Johnson - who won the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Dover - and IndyCar Series leader Will Power, both of whom lost a spot.

Vettel's second place in Singapore kept him at the top of the Castrol Rankings for a 27th consecutive week, although his Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber - third in Malaysia - did erode his points advantage slightly.

Webber was central to the most crucial incident of the race as he and his chief title rival Lewis Hamilton came together on lap 35 (right), the McLaren driver retiring with damaged suspension.

Had Hamilton finished in what was fourth place at the time of his elimination, he would have overhauled World Rally Championship leader Sebastien Loeb for third in the Castrol Rankings. Instead he remains fourth but with an increased points deficit to the Frenchman.

Robert Kubica's (11) late spate of passing moves allowed the Renault driver to climb to seventh in Singapore and gained him two spots in the Castrol Rankings.

Ahead of him is Denny Hamlin (10), who moved up a spot with his Sprint Cup result at Dover. Former series leader Kevin Harvick finished back in 15th and dropped two spots to 12th.

Good recovery drives from Nico Rosberg (14) and Felipe Massa (21) in Singapore netted the pair gains of three and four places respectively while Rubens Barrichello sunk to 25th - his lowest position since June 2009 - after failing to match his victory in the corresponding race last year.

Ex-F1 driver Romain Grosjean (74) re-took the lead in Auto GP with a win at Navarra, but still scored less points than at the corresponding F1 race last year, so dropped four places. His title rival Edoardo Piscopo (107) did not win, but a podium promoted him 19 spots.

Paolo Andreucci?s maiden IRC victory on the Sanremo Rally moved the veteran Italian up 289 places to 383rd while Juho Hanninen?s (56) runner-up spot moved the Finn up 15 spots. Jan Kopecky (112) and Kris Meeke (121) both lost ground.

The final round of the British F3 Championship featured wins for James Calado (211), Daniel McKenzie (308) and Oli Webb (203) while Hideki Yamauchi (672) and Rafael Suzuki (302) both continued their charged up the Castrol Rankings with victories in the Japanese Championship at Sugo.

To see the full Castrol Rankings, log on to www.castrolrankings.com

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