Alonso wins Valencia Grand Prix

 MADRID, June 24 (Xinhua) -- Fernando Alonso produced one of the best drives of his career to win the European Grand Prix in Valencia, Spain, on Sunday.

The Ferrari driver timed one hour, 44 minutes and 16.649 seconds to win the race, 6.421 seconds faster than Kimi Raikkonen of Lotus. Michael Schumacher finished third, followed by Red Bull's Mark Webber.

Alonso had a big chunk¹ of good fortune after Sebastian Vettel, who was runaway² leader at the time, was forced to retire with technical problems, while Romain Groasjean, who had started on the second row of the grid³, was forced out of the race after losing his gears.

Nevertheless, credit must be given to Alonso, who had started in 11th place and had said after Saturday's qualifying race that he had no chance of making the podium, for some brave and decisive riding.

He was also helped by his team's strategy and rapid work in the pits, the opposite of what happened to one of his main rivals, Lewis Hamilton, who was hampered⁴ by a slow tyre chance.

Hamilton looked to be heading to a third place finish behind Raikkonen, but was involved in a spectacular collision with Pastor⁵ Maldonado, who rammed⁶ into him in the second from last lap after trying to force his way in from off the circuit.

Hamilton's exit allowed Schumacher to take his first podium finish after coming back from retirement⁷ in 2010.

Elsewhere Webber produced a solid drive to finish fourth after starting 19th, while Force India driver Nico Hulkenberg finished fifth with team-mate Paul di Resta seventh.

The Valencia grand prix has usually been criticized for being dull, but what looks like being the last edition of the race, produced more than its share of excitement.

1 chunk   

n.厚片，大块，相当大的部分（数量）

参考例句：

• They had to be careful of floating chunks of ice.他们必须当心大块浮冰。
• The company owns a chunk of farmland near Gatwick Airport.该公司拥有盖特威克机场周边的大片农田。

2 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

3 grid   

n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅

参考例句：

• In this application,the carrier is used to encapsulate the grid.在这种情况下，要用载体把格栅密封起来。
• Modern gauges consist of metal foil in the form of a grid.现代应变仪则由网格形式的金属片组成。

4 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

5 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

6 rammed   

v.夯实（土等）( ram的过去式和过去分词 )；猛撞；猛压；反复灌输

参考例句：

• Two passengers were injured when their taxi was rammed from behind by a bus. 公共汽车从后面撞来，出租车上的两位乘客受了伤。
• I rammed down the earth around the newly-planted tree. 我将新栽的树周围的土捣硬。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 retirement   

n.退休，退职

参考例句：

• She wanted to enjoy her retirement without being beset by financial worries.她想享受退休生活而不必为金钱担忧。
• I have to put everything away for my retirement.我必须把一切都积蓄起来以便退休后用。