SUZUKA, Japan -- Red Bull driver Mark Webber claimed pole position on Saturday for the Japanese Grand Prix, qualifying ahead of his teammate and runaway championship leader Sebastian Vettel for the first time this season. Webber clocked a time of 1 minute, 30.975 seconds at the Suzuka circuit, with Vettel just under two-tenths of a second behind in second place after struggling with his KERS power-boost system. "Sebastian had a problem so its a bit of a hollow pole but you have to grab the opportunities when you can," said Webber, who is leaving F1 at the end of the season. "Its a very nice farewell for me on my final time here at Suzuka and on a phenomenal circuit. It was a real highlight for me. In general weve got a good car for the race." Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton was third fastest, followed by Lotus Romain Grosjean and Ferraris Felipe Massa. Mercedes Nico Rosberg was sixth ahead of Sauber driver Nico Hulkenberg. Vettel has won three of the past four races in Japan and can clinch his fourth successive world title in Sundays race. The title will be his if he wins and nearest rival Fernando Alonso, who was eighth in qualifying, finishes ninth or worse. Vettel is looking to join Michael Schumacher and Juan-Manuel Fangio as the only men to win four championships in a row. The German, who has a 77-point lead over Alonso, has won the past four races, leading after every lap in each of them. Vettel, who was bidding for his fourth straight pole, was hobbled by a KERS problem on his first lap of the final qualifying session but refused to blame Saturdays finish on his cars technical problems, which initially surfaced in the morning practice. "We had a technical problem this morning but I dont think that made a difference in finding the rhythm," Vettel said. "As a fact, we are on the front row which is a great result for the team." Despite the championship title being on the line, Webber said there was no chance of him intentionally moving aside to help his teammate. "Its not as though its the last race of the year," Webber said. "He has a big lead in the standings so in general well be racing for ourselves tomorrow." Lotus driver Kimi Raikkonen qualified ninth while McLarens Jenson Button, who won here in 2001, round out the top 10. The first session of qualifying was noteworthy for a couple of fires. Flames leapt out of the back of Esteban Gutierrezs Sauber when it was inside the garage, forcing the Mexican to hastily jump out of the cockpit, but they were quickly extinguished and he was soon able to get back on the circuit. Jean-Eric Vergnes Toro Rosso came to a halt with flames coming from both rear brakes, with the resulting smoke resulting in a red flag which temporarily halted the session. The Grand Prix Drivers Association said in a statement the drivers will honour Maria de Villota with a moment of silence before Sundays race after the former F1 test driver was found dead in a hotel room in Seville, Spain, on Friday. Her family said an autopsy showed that lingering injuries from her racing accident a year ago likely caused her death. Tim Hardaway Jersey . Perez, 35, posted a 1-2 record with a 3.69 earned-run average in 19 relief appearances last season. His season ended Aug. 9 due to a torn ligament in his left elbow. Perez joins infielder Andy LaRoche and catcher Mike Nickeas with minor-league agreements for 2014 that include invitations to attend spring training. Klay Thompson Jersey . He also had some help Monday night.Hibbert scored a season-high 29 points to help Indiana beat the Utah Jazz 97-86 Monday night, ending the Pacers six-game losing streak. http://www.cheapwarriorsjerseysstore.com/?tag=authentic-chris-mullin-jersey . The world No. 1 had one of the most dominating performances in a final and was on his way to a possible shutout on Sunday until the third-seeded Berdych broke the super Serbs serve in the 12th game of the match. Cheap Warriors Jerseys Authentic . Mesoraco hurt his hamstring while scoring from second in Friday nights 5-4 loss at Atlanta. Chapman was hit by a line drive during an exhibition game on March 19, breaking his nose and a bone above his left eye. The left-hander looked strong while throwing 43 pitches in batting practice before Saturday nights game against the Braves. Cheap Warriors Jerseys . - The Cleveland Indians will place centerfielder Michael Bourn on the disabled list before their opener at Oakland on March 31.Rob Blake remembers what it was like to get the call from Hockey Canada to play in the world championship the day after his season with the Los Angeles Kings ended. Blake donned the red-and-white Maple Leaf five times at the tournament over his career, winning gold twice. This spring hell be making those calls as Canadas general manager for the world championship that takes place in May in Minsk, Belarus. Because its an Olympic year, Blake and his staff -- Ron Hextall of the Philadelphia Flyers, Brad Treliving of the Phoenix Coyotes and Brad Pascall of Hockey Canada -- might have some different challenges convincing players to commit. But the 44-year-old Kings assistant GM knows what to sell. "I cant stress how important the opportunity to win is," Blake said in a phone interview Wednesday. "I convey to them what the world championships is all about. ... You look at your career and it goes by pretty fast. Theres not a lot of opportunities you have to win something." Blake represented Canada at the world championship in 1998, months after playing in the Nagano Olympics. "Being in that position and having won a couple of those tournaments, you can relate those stories to (potential players)," Blake said. Canada, like many other teams at the world championship, is expected to have a young roster in Minsk because its an Olympic year. Not only does that likely rule out the players who won gold in Sochi (Corey Perry was the only 2010 Olympian to play at the worlds), but Treliving said there are other complications. "Its a little bit unique in the sense not only from an Olympic year and the guys that went over and played, but even from the NHL schedule and the compactness of the NHL schedule, for everybody, including those who didnt go over and play," he said in a phone interview. Four years ago, Canadas group at the world championships included 18-year-old Evander Kane, 19-year-olds Matt Duchene and John Tavares and 20-year-old Steven Stamkos. Expect similar youth this time around. "I think its going to be very similar to the teams in the past," Blake said. "The young guys are the ones that make an easy commitment. They dont have the family commitment, the kids commitment and different things that as you get older you might have involved in this type of decision. I think, typically, younger guys are the ones and then you surround them with the right veterans and you can have some success." One thing Blake, Hextall and Treliving have in common is theyre all general managers of their organizations AHL affiliate, giving them some experience with younger players. Blake is in his first season as Kings assistant GM, replacing Hextall, who took the same job in Philadelphia. Treliving is in his seventh season as the Coyotes assistant GM. "Blakeys been around the game a long time," Hextall said. "Hes a very patient guy, hes methodical and hes very sharp. I know he had a hand in a world championship team in the past, so Im sure that little bit of experience helps him." Along with Pascall, Hockey Canadas vice president of hockey operations and national teams, those men will have conference calls over the next few weeks to discuss putting together a coaching staaff and then a projected roster.dddddddddddd That process has already begun. "I think youve got to look at teams that are not likely to make the playoffs and see whats available and at least get your mind going and start thinking about line combinations and checkers and energy guys and scorers," Hextall said in a phone interview. "Its never too early to start thinking." The immediate next step for the management team is to zero in on coaches. Ralph Krueger, who served as a coaching consultant in Sochi, and Kevin Dineen, who coached the womens team to gold and will be behind the bench for the mens under-18 world championships next month, have been speculated as possible options. Either would fit with what Blake said in general terms hes looking for. "I think part of that staff should have some experience overseas, whether it be coaching over there, coaching an international tournament at some time or being involved on a staff," he said. "Its a different tournament, its not the same as over here. I think some of that experience in scheduling wise, knowing some of the teams and tendencies of those countries and obviously with the setup and that all being different than North America, its nice to have somebody with some experience on that." Part of this tournament is getting experience, for the players, coaches and members of the management staff. Blake, Hextall and Treliving are all legitimate candidates for head GM jobs in the not-too-distant future. Experience already gained in NHL front offices is key now. "I think you learn, its one thing to build a team over a long haul and what you have to do is use everything youve learned over the long haul to try and put a team together for the short term," said Hextall, who played in the 1987 Canada Cup and the 1992 world championship. "I think its more lessons Ive learned from NHL experience that Ill be able to lend a hand in trying to help Blake and Brad build this team." Getting this job also raises the possibility that Blake could be GM of Team Canada at the 2018 Olympics, if NHL players participate. Steve Yzerman has already said its time for someone else to fill that role after winning back-to-back gold medals. "Thats a long ways down the line," Blake said. This tournament is not a long ways down the line, as Canada opens play May 9 against France. Blake already has some preliminary lists of potential players and will go through the process in the next few weeks of scouting and evaluating for those spots. Hell get some help in that regard not only from Hextall, Treliving and Pascall, but former NHL defenceman Steve Staios, who is the teams director of player development. Staios is then expected to assist the coaching staff on and off the ice in Minsk, perhaps similar to what Kruegers job was in the Olympics. Everything worked for Canada there, and even though the worlds in an Olympic year tend to be something of an afterthought, theyre far from that for those in charge of trying to win gold. "Any time you go and compete as Team Canada, the expectation is to win," Treliving said. "Obviously thats the expectation, thats the challenge for us and the goal for us putting this team together." 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