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NUERBURGRING, Germany -- Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes earned the pole position for Sundays German Grand Prix, edging Red Bulls three-time defending Formula One champion Sebastian Vettel. Hamiltons second consecutive pole and third of the season made up for the disappointment of seeing the second Mercedes driver, Nico Rosberg, knocked down to 11th at the end of the second qualifying session. Hamilton set the fastest qualifying time Saturday of 1 minute, 29.398 seconds. Vettel had dominated the last two practice sessions but ended up .103 seconds behind Hamilton, who gained his 29th career pole after his team overcame problems with the car during the last two practice sessions, which Hamilton called "disasters." "It was even worse this morning. I was a good eight tenths of a second off, and I wasnt comfortable with the car at all," said Hamilton, who has often criticized his car before races. "So we went back into the truck, analyzed everything, put in a lot of hard work ... Its a privilege to drive for this team, theyve great history, so Im proud to be able to get pole for them, but there are no points today. They come tomorrow," Hamilton said. He is still winless since joining Mercedes this season. Mercedes came into the race with fives poles in the previous six GPs but has struggled to maintain the momentum in racing conditions. Hamilton held the pole at the British Grand Prix last week but had an early puncture and finished fourth. Marc Webber in the second Red Bull was third in qualifying, with the Lotus pair of Kimi Raikkonen and Romain Grosjean next. Daniel Ricciardo of Toro Rosso was sixth, Felipe Massa of Ferrari seventh and his teammate Fernando Alonso eighth. Rosberg, who won two of the last three races, was sitting second midway through the second qualifying session and his team left him in the garage, apparently believing his time was good enough to put him into the top 10 for the third and decisive session. But Raikkonen led a charge of late efforts and Rosberg watched from the garage as he was eliminated. "It was quite a shock," Rosberg said. "I didnt see it coming ... I thought I would be easily on the front row today." Many leading drivers had threatened to pull out of Sundays race if tire blowouts that plagued last weeks British GP persisted. Supplier Pirelli made changes and the tires have held, reducing the risk of a pullout. Vettel said Pirelli appeared to have done a good job and did not think there would be any reason to pull out of the race. "I am confident there will be no such problems," Vettel said. Vettel said he was struggling "to get it together" in the first sector of the circuit and that the tail wind had been a factor. "It was quite close, and I tried everything I had. But we are much closer to them here than we were in Silverstone. We have made some progress and are confident for tomorrow. "Weve done our homework and now its up to us. We are on the front row, which wasnt quite enough for pole position, but I am looking forward to tomorrow," said Vettel, who is seeking his first win on home soil. Vettel holds a 21-point lead over Alonso in drivers standings after eight of 19 races.Green Bay Packers Store . -- Peyton Manning will have all of his wide receivers available for the first time in a month when the Denver Broncos begin their playoff run Jan. Custom Green Bay Packers Jerseys . Just as Montreal was settling into the first full working week of a new year, the Impact announced the appointment of their new head coach. https://www.packersjerseysale.com/ . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Green Bay Packers Gear .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Cheap Packers Jerseys . Note: The Calgary Flames announced Tuesday that Sean Monahan would not be made available to Canadas World Junior team.TOKYO -- Tokyos first female governor said Monday she will use her platform to host a cost-efficient and environmentally friendly 2020 Olympics and push a womens rights agenda that she hopes will be a model for Japans central government.Yuriko Koike, elected in a sweeping victory last month, said in an interview that reduce, reuse and recycle of waste and temporary facilities will be her slogan for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games. The estimated cost of hosting the Olympics has spiraled.Because Japan is prone to earthquakes, buildings and even temporary facilities have to be quake-resistant, contributing to the bulging Olympic costs, she said.We should focus more on sustainability and credibility in planning the Olympics, Koike told The Associated Press, adding that she will use her expertise as a former environment minister. The triple-R of reduce, reuse and recycle perfectly fits global sustainability and waste management.She noted there is a Japanese word that expresses the idea -- mottainai, meaning what a waste. For instance, Koike said, the idea is demonstrated in the Japanese Shinto tradition of rebuilding the holiest shrine of Ise every 20 years, in which some old materials are reused.Preparations are under way for the 2020 Olympics, but they have been plagued with problems. An initial main stadium design by an Iraqi-born architect, the late Zaha Hadid, was scrapped because of soaring costs. The official Olympic logo was delayed until this year after an earlier pick was scrapped over plagiarism allegations. Then there was a questionable payment to a Singaporean firm in relation to Tokyos winning bid.Construction of the main stadium based on a new design is finally set to start toward the end of this year in Tokyo, which also hosted the Summer Olympics in 1964.Koike has pledged to examine the swelling costs to avoidd saddling taxpayers with debt.dddddddddddd. She has said the problems resulted from a lack of leadership and transparency.She is also reviewing a planned relocation of Tokyos Tsukiji fish market to a site where soil is allegedly contaminated with chemicals. With the relocation linked to the construction of a main road, a delay could affect the Olympics.A veteran national lawmaker who has held top Cabinet posts including defense minister, Koike said she aims to achieve womens advancement and diversity beyond what the central government has done. She doesnt have a reputation as a feminist activist, however.The 64-year-old conservative faces challenges from the male-dominated ruling party that she defied to run for governor. Koike had been kept out of the loop under Prime Minister Shinzo Abes leadership.The percentage of female employees in the Tokyo metropolitan government is already larger than in the national government, Koike said, adding that she will further push for womens advancement as she encourages diversity overall. She said Japanese tolerance of overtime should also be corrected, so that overtime is considered a lack of efficiency.Koike studied at American University in Cairo and speaks Arabic.Being Tokyos governor ahead of the Olympics, she said she can make good use of her unique background, understanding of Islamic culture and her female point of view.She said she is currently developing a special fabric for female Muslim athletes to use during the Olympics.Ive always wanted to be someone that people would say, `you are the only one, Koike said.---Follow Mari Yamaguchi on Twitter at twitter.com/mariyamaguchiHer work can be found at http://bigstory.ap.org/content/mari-yamaguchi ' ' '