Massa grabs pole at Singapore GP
SINGAPORE 
Ferrari's Felipe Massa clinched pole position for the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix on Saturday, qualifying quickest under the floodlights for Formula One's first night-time race.
Championship leader Lewis Hamilton, a point ahead of Brazilian Massa in the standings, steered his McLaren to second on the grid with world champion Kimi Raikkonen to start third for Ferrari on Sunday.
BMW-Sauber's Robert Kubica qualified in fourth place while McLaren's Heikki Kovalainen was fifth.
Double world champion Fernando Alonso, who had topped the final two practice sessions and looked set to challenge for pole, suffered a massive disappointment when his engine died and he cruised to a halt midway through the second qualifying session.
File photo of Felipe Massa (2008)
Marina Bay Street Circuit Ferrari driver Felipe Massa won the second session and the pole position for the Sunday FIA 2008 Formula One SingTel Singapore Grand Prix on the street circuit at Marina Bay, Singapore.

This will be the first nightly Formula One event that utilizes artificial lighting and the 800th Formula One World Championship race overall. The previous GP at Singapore held in 1973 was not part of the Formula One.

First to end the qualifying was Italian Giancarlo Fisichella (Force India), burying his car in the wall.

Nelson Piquet Jr. driving for (Renault) was expected to slip into the second session in the 15th place but was bundled out by David Coulthard or the Red Bull team. Piquet's teammate Fernando Alonso, who topped the second free practice session, performed better in the first session but unexpectedly stopped, showing no time in the second.

Lewis Hamilton (McLaren-Mercedes) jumped to 10th place during the last laps of the session; He was lucky to join the battle for pole. Still, Massa was able to beat Hamilton, who will start second tomorrow.

Kimi Räikkönen (Ferrari) won the first session, but showed third time in the third. Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld (BMW Sauber) will be split by Heikki Kovalainen (McLaren) on the starting grid tomorrow.

Previous pole-postion holder and GP winner Sebastian Vettel (Toro Rosso) will start 7th tomorrow.