The 2008 Japanese Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 12, 2008, at the Fuji Speedway, Oyama, Japan. It was the 16th race of the 2008 Formula One season. The race, contested over 67 laps, was won by Fernando Alonso for the Renault team from fourth position on the starting grid. Robert Kubica finished second in a BMW Sauber, and Kimi Räikkönen third in a Ferrari. Lewis Hamilton, the eventual Drivers' Champion, led the Championship going into the race, and started from pole position alongside Räikkönen. Hamilton's McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen began from third, next to Alonso. At the first corner Hamilton braked late, forcing Räikkönen wide. Hamilton was later given a penalty, and was criticised by the British racing press for overly aggressive driving. Ferrari driver Felipe Massa, Hamilton's principal Championship rival, was penalised after an incident on lap two in which he touched Hamilton's car and spun it around. The incident dropped Hamilton to the back of the field, from where he was unable to regain a pointscoring position. Massa later collided with Sébastien Bourdais of Toro Rosso. Bourdais was penalised after the race, and demoted from sixth to tenth position. The penalty prompted widespread criticism from the racing media and ex-drivers. The victory was Alonso's second consecutive win, after he started from 15th on the grid to win the Singapore Grand Prix.

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_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

3114 BC:

The epoch of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, a non-repeating, vigesimal calendar used by the Maya civilization and several other Mesoamerican cultures, occurred. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesoamerican_Long_Count_calendar

1492:

The first papal conclave held in the Sistine Chapel elected Roderic Borja as Pope Alexander VI to succeed Pope Innocent VIII. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_conclave%2C_1492

1828:

William Corder was hanged at Bury St Edmunds, England, for murdering Maria Marten at the Red Barn. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Barn_Murder

1942:

Actress Hedy Lamarr and composer George Antheil received a patent for their "Secret Communications System", an early technique of frequency-hopping spread spectrum that later became the basis for many forms of today's wireless communication systems. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hedy_Lamarr

1965:

Violent race rioting began in the Watts district of Los Angeles, lasting for six days and leaving 34 people dead and 1,032 others injured. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watts_Riots

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

jauntily (adv): 1. In an airy, showy, or affected manner. 2. In a dapper or stylish manner. 3. In an ostentatiously self-confident manner http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/jauntily

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

If the world ever advances beyond what it is today, it must be led by men who express their real opinions. --Robert G. Ingersoll http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_G._Ingersoll