Leicester reached the European Challenge Cup quarter-finals as they left Cardiff Blues' hopes of reaching the knockout stages in the balance.
Victory ensures Tigers will win Pool Five but Blues will need to better the result of second-placed Pau next week.
Leicester recovered from 14-10 behind at half-time as tries from Sam Lewis, Jordan Olowofela and Ben White were added to by 15 points from George Ford.
Blues had led twice early on when Josh Adams and Ben Thomas crossed.
Leicester round off their pool matches at second-placed Pau on Saturday, a match Blues will keep a close eye on when they host Calvisano in a must-win game.
Pau are two points ahead of Blues in third, who were unable to collect a losing bonus point from their trip to Welford Road as England fly-half Ford notched two late drop-goals.
Leinster maintained their perfect European Champions Cup record with a 42-14 victory over Lyon in Pool One.
Dave Kearney scored twice and Josh van der Flier crossed in the first-half for the hosts, who had four tries disallowed.
Virgile Bruni and Hendrik Roodt touched down for the visitors, but Max Deegan wrapped up the bonus-point for Leinster.
Late scores from Sean Cronin and Andrew Porter completed the rout.
Leinster thought they had scored after 44 seconds when Luke McGrath got on the end of Kearney's kick through, but after consulting with the television match official (TMO), referee Ben Whitehouse adjudged the scrum-half was in front of the kick.
Two minutes later the hosts had crossed again in similar circumstances, with James Lowe knocking on from Kearney's chip before Garry Ringrose pounced on the loose ball.
Some quick-thinking by Ross Byrne got Leo Cullen's men on the board, with the fly-half's cross-field kick collected by Lowe, who teed up Kearney for the simple job of touching down.
Flanker Van der Flier powered his way over four minutes later after latching on to McGrath's offload, before Virgile Bruni intercepted to grab Lyon's first score, sprinting unchallenged to touch down.
Home captain Scott Fardy thought he had grabbed another try, but for the third time it was chalked off after Whitehouse consulted with TMO Ian Davies.
However, that was soon forgotten as Kearney touched down for his second try after finding space in the corner, with Byrne adding the extras.
The French outfit refused to go away and Roodt scored Lyon's second try to give the Top 14 men hope just before the interval.
Normal service resumed after the restart, with Leinster camped on the visiting line for the opening 10 minutes, which included another disallowed try for Van der Flier, before Felix Lambey was sent to the sin bin after several infringements.
Leinster, who had already qualified for the last eight, finally got their bonus-point score when Deegan crashed over on 53 minutes, before Cronin added a fifth after Xavier Mignot was carded.
Porter burrowed his way over the Lyon line with nine minutes remaining as Leinster cruised to victory, making it five wins from their opening five games in Pool One.
Leinster: Larmour; D Kearney, Ringrose, Henshaw, Lowe; J Byrne, McGrath; Healy, Tracy, Furlong, Toner, Fardy (capt), Ruddock, Van der Flier, Deegan.
Northampton recovered to earn a bonus-point win over Benetton to keep alive their Champions Cup hopes.
Saints failed to make their dominance count in the first half at Franklin's Gardens and trailed at the break after Tommaso Benvenuti's intercept try.
Harry Mallinder, returning from injury after more than a year out, had opened the scoring early on for the hosts.
Second-half tries from Henry Taylor, Francois van Wyk, Fraser Dingwall and Andy Symons ensured the win.
With Leinster taking top spot in Pool 1, Northampton will need to secure one of the three best runner-up places if they are to progress for the first time since 2016.
They enjoyed the perfect start on Sunday when 23-year-old full-back Mallinder, making his first Saints appearance since suffering a knee injury in October 2018, collected Taqele Naiyaravoro's clever offload to power over.
Northampton's dominance looked to have paid off again when Ollie Sleightholme touched down before the half-hour mark, but James Grayson's looping pass was judged to have drifted forward.
With Benetton scrum-half Charly Trussardi in the sin-bin, Saints, who lost five line-outs in the opening 40 minutes, failed to make their numerical advantage count and the Italians capitalised with an intercept try by Benvenuti.
Scrum-half Taylor's score four minutes after the interval looked to have settled the hosts' nerves but hooker Hame Faiva bundled over to edge Benetton back ahead and Tommaso Allan then kicked a penalty to cancel out prop Van Wyk's score.
Centre Dingwall hit a gap to guarantee the bonus point with eight minutes remaining, before Symons added a fifth try late on.
Northampton visit third-placed Lyon in their final pool fixture next Saturday.
'A horrible game, we were terrible'
Northampton's director of rugby Chris Boyd told BT Sport: "I apologise to everyone for that performance, a horrible game and I thought we were terrible. The lure of getting five points at home was too much for us at times.
"A dreadful performance. There is no point reviewing that on Monday, we'll get on and prepare for Lyon."
Northampton: Mallinder; Sleightholme, Dingwall, Hutchinson, Naiyaravoro; Grayson, Taylor; Van Wyk, Matavesi, Hill, Ratuniyarawa, Ribbans, Lawes, Ludlam, Harrison.
Replacements: Fish, B Franks, O Franks, Coles, Eadie, Reinach, Symons, Moon.
WADI AL DAWASIR, Saudi Arabia – Carlos Sainz padded his Dakar Rally lead with his third stage victory on Sunday amid a tragic day in Saudi Arabia.
Sainz delivered Mini’s sixth stage victory in seven stages thus far. He finished two minutes and 12 seconds ahead of Toyota rival Nasser Al-Attiyah, who was leading the stage at the halfway point before giving up the lead to Sainz.
Al-Attiyah now sits 10 minutes behind Sainz in the overall standings with Stephane Peterhansel, who finished Sunday’s stage in third, a further 19 minutes and and 13 seconds behind in the third position overall.
Kevin Benavides was leading the motorcycle portion of Sunday’s stage when he stopped to help Goncalves following the Portuguese competitor’s crash. He was one of several competitors to stop and help following Goncalves’ crash.
By stopping Benavides cost himself the stage victory, but Dakar Rally organizers later adjusted Benavides’ stage time to make up for the time he spent helping Goncalves. Originally classified more than six minutes behind Honda teammate Joan Barreda, Benavides was scored one minute and 23 seconds ahead of Barreda after time adjustments.
In the overall motorcycle standings, American Ricky Brabec continues to lead the division by more than 24 minutes over Pablo Quintanilla.
Russian Andrey Karginov claimed the truck division stage victory by a scant three seconds over fellow Russian Dmitry Sotnikov. Karginov continues to lead the truck class by more than 20 minutes.
Blade Hildebrand led a one-two sweep for Americans in the SxS class, besting class leader and fellow American Casey Currie to the finish by more than 11 minutes. Currie continues to lead the class by 32 minutes over Francisco Lopez Contardo.
Sunday’s quad stage was won by Simon Vitse by 11 seconds while Ignacio Casale continues to lead the class by more than 36 minutes.
TULSA, Okla. – Mounce Motorsports has announced partnerships with Stout Motorsports and Wilson Racing to form Mounce Stout Wilson Motorsports.
The team, which will field four cars in the Chili Bowl next week for drivers Clint Wilson, Daniel Sanchez, Austin Shores and Trey Gropp, plans to field midgets throughout the upcoming season in USAC and POWRi competition.
“Mounce Motorsports is taking on a new look for 2020. We are happy to welcome back Gavin Stout, with Stout Motorsports, and happy to bring Clint Wilson, of Wilson Racing, onboard,” said team co-owner Jay Mounce. “We’re really looking forward to combining all of our strengths, as we continue to grow. We will continue to provide the best quality cars for our drivers, and to all of our potential renters moving forward into 2020.”
Mounce Stout Wilson Motorsports has purchased several SR-11 midget engines to go along with the their Esslingers that are already in their inventory.
“It all started at the end of the 2018 season, at Creek County Speedway,” Stout explained. “Jay and I got together with the goal of building a competitive team to compete against the best in the business. After our first season together, we ended up in California at the season finale at Ventura. We had Clint [Wilson] in one of our cars, and after the first night, he decided he wanted to be a part of what Jay and I have been building. 2020 is on track to be one of our biggest years yet.”
Wilson, a sprint car driver from Chico, Calif., is the final piece to the puzzle. The father of four, plans to move to Broken Arrow, Oklahoma this spring.
“I’m really looking forward to the 2020 season. MSW is a new conglomerate starting fresh in 2020. We’ll have a host of high caliber cars and drivers,” said Wilson. “We’ll be chasing the circuit as hard as we can.”
The team plans to announce a sprint car program later in the year. The team also confirmed they have one open seat available for a funded driver looking to compete in either USAC or POWRi.
Many of the faces of those leading America’s top racing series have changed in recent years.
With the start of a new season upon us, we at SPEED SPORT believed it was time to get better acquainted with the sport’s head honchos.
IMSA President John Doonan
JOHN DOONAN — IMSA President
John Doonan officially became president of the International Motor Sports Ass’n on Jan. 1, replacing Scott Atherton who retired.
Doonan was previously the director of motorsports for Mazda North America Operations where he developed the overall strategy and managed Mazda’s motorsports programs in North America.
Doonan joined Mazda in 2003 as the regional advertising manager in the Midwest region and was promoted to the director of motorsports position in 2011.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime and dream opportunity after attending IMSA races since I was a young boy,” Doonan said. “I am very humbled and truly honored to have the opportunity to join the IMSA team and I’m really looking forward to making a positive impact for our sport, our partners and our industry.”
NASCAR President Steve Phelps (right) with Kyle Busch. (NASCAR Photo)
STEVE PHELPS — NASCAR President
Steve Phelps was promoted to president in September 2018, becoming the fifth person to hold the position in NASCAR history.
Phelps oversees day-to-day operations of the sanctioning body, including competition, racing operations, commercial business, marketing, communications, broadcasting, productions, content, digital and international.
Phelps joined NASCAR as vice president of corporate marketing in July 2005. He was named chief marketing officer in February 2006 and promoted to senior vice president in January 2010, executive vice president in December 2013 and COO in April 2018.
Prior to joining NASCAR, Phelps was executive vice president of sales and marketing for Wasserman Media Group. In 1990, Phelps began a 14-year tenure at the National Football League where he served as vice president, corporate marketing.
INDYCAR President Jay Frye
JAY FRYE — IndyCar President
Jay Frye was named the president of IndyCar in December 2018 after serving as the sanctioning body’s president of competition and operations for three years.
As president, Frye leads all operations, competition and technical matters, as well as marketing and communications for the NTT IndyCar Series.
Frye originally joined the company in 2013 as chief revenue officer of Hulman Motorsports and led the combined team of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway sponsorship sales, licensing and account services.
Prior to joining Hulman & Co., Frye was the vice president and general manager for Red Bull Racing’s NASCAR team.
Frye was also chief executive officer and general manager of MB2 Motorsports from 1996-2007.
Prior to his executive role on the NASCAR team side, Frye worked at Valvoline Racing and his extensive sales and marketing experience began with a variety of roles at Anheuser-Busch Inc.
NHRA President Glen Cromwell
GLEN CROMWELL — NHRA President
Named the fifth president of the NHRA on Jan. 1, 2018, Glen Cromwell heads NHRA’s leadership team.
Cromwell joined NHRA in 1997 and has risen through the ranks from his first position as a division director to most recently serving as senior vice president of media and marketing. Cromwell has been a key player in leading NHRA’s marketing efforts over the past 20 years. In his role as president, he is responsible for advancing the NHRA to pursue continued growth, success and exposure.
Cromwell has also served as director of national event marketing for NHRA and Division 7 director in NHRA’s National Field Office.
Prior to joining NHRA in 1997, Cromwell served in a variety of capacities with Lombard, Ill.-based Feld Motorsports, producer of AMA Supercross and Monster Truck events.
SCCA President Michael Cobb
MICHAEL COBB — SCCA President
Michael Cobb became president and chief executive officer of the Sports Car Club of America in 2017.
Cobb is an SCCA member with more than 25 years of diverse experience transforming brands, companies and cultures.
He was tasked with structuring, building, managing and leading effective staff and operational efforts while functioning as a leader and the “face of the SCCA.”
Cobb established his competition career at an early age by winning a Texas Soap Box Derby event and competed in the Nationals in Akron, Ohio.
In 2007, he began participating in SCCA autocross with the Texas Region and claimed the Novice of the Year award in his first full season. He has also competed in the Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nationals.
USAC President Kevin Miller
KEVIN MILLER — USAC President
Former automotive executive Kevin Miller was named president of the United States Auto Club in 2007.
During his tenure with USAC, Miller has overseen the growth of the sanctioning body into non-traditional areas, including off-road racing and quarter-midget competition.
He’s also been responsible for the expansion of the NOS Energy Drink Midget Series and the USAC AMSOIL National Sprint Car Series.
USAC’s reach on social media and in the streaming video world have also expanded in recent years.
Miller spent 23 years at Chrysler, with his last role with the company as senior manager of brand strategy for performance parts and motorsports.
In 2002, Miller led an initiative to relaunch the Mopar brand, which included building strong brand ties to Tony Stewart Racing, Don Schumacher Racing and Oakley.
World Racing Group CEO Brian Carter. (Chris Owens Photo)
BRIAN CARTER — World Racing Group CEO
Brian Carter became chief financial officer for World Racing Group, which operates the NOS Energy Drink World of Outlaws Sprint Car Series, Morton Buildings World of Outlaws Late Model Series and DIRTcar and sanctions more than 700 races annually, in 2005.
He was promoted to the role of chief executive officer in 2008.
Carter has overseen drastic growth in the number of events promoted by World Racing Group and the expansion of the business to include DIRTVision, the company’s streaming video service that provides live racing coverage from events around the globe.
Carter, who also races various types of dirt-track cars in his spare time, guided the public company known as Boundless Motorsports as it went private and became known as World Racing Group.
Carter previously worked as chief financial officer of Prescient Applied Intelligence Inc.
Other Motorsports Leaders
Formula One — CEO, Chase Carey
POWRi — Owner, Kenny Brown
All Star Circuit of Champions — Owner, Tony Stewart
Lucas Oil Late Models — Series Director, Rick Schwallie
The AT&T Bryon Nelson's stint at Trinity Forest Golf Club will be short-lived.
According to a Dallas Morning News report, PGA Tour officials have made the decision to move the tournament following this year's event, meaning that the unconventional layout will last only three years as host of a Tour event. The report cites "weather setbacks, disappointing attendance and declining financial results" as primary reasons for the decision.
Built in 2014 on the site of a former landfill by noted architects Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw, Trinity Forest is a sprawling, links-like layout that offers visuals rarely seen at other Tour stops. Its membership includes the likes of Jordan Spieth and former NFL quarterback Tony Romo and it's the current instruction home of Cameron McCormick, Spieth's coach. Spieth has played each of the last two years and has been a supporter of the Tour's decision to bring a tournament to Trinity Forest.
But the layout's debut was plagued by poor weather as Aaron Wise won in near-darkness in 2018, and Sung Kang's victory last year was also water-logged and didn't attract many fans to the southern Dallas course.
"We are disappointed to hear the AT&T Byron Nelson will no longer be held at the Trinity Forest Golf Course after this year, but the tournament's departure opens up other potential opportunities to offer more recreational activities to our city's residents and visitors," said Dallas mayor Eric Johnson.
According to the report, a venue for 2021 and beyond has not yet been determined. But a leading contender will likely be TPC Four Seasons Resort, which hosted the event from 2008-2016.
The final edition at Trinity Forest will be held May 9-12, with the tournament held the week before the PGA Championship for the second straight year.
Branden Grace's red-hot putter netted him both a comeback victory at his national Open and a spot in the final major of 2020.
Grace started the day three shots behind countryman Louis Oosthuizen at the South African Open, but he torched Rand Park on the final day for a 9-under 62 that earned the South African a three-shot win and his first worldwide victory since 2017.
"That was remarkable. I'm at a loss for words," Grace said. "I can't remember the last time the putter was that hot. You know I told my caddie on 16, said I've made six one-putts leading up to this hole on the back nine. So I'm good, this is the one I really wanted."
Once a fixture inside the top 50 in the world, Grace had struggled in recent months and started the week ranked No. 129. His win also earned him a spot in The Open as part of the Open Qualifying Series, with three spots available to players in Johannesburg not otherwise qualified.
Grace is now assured of making his ninth straight Open appearance. That stretch includes a T-6 finish in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he became the first player to shoot 62 in a major.
Joining Grace at Royal St. George's this summer will be England's Marcus Armitage, who holed a 20-foot birdie putt on the final green to secure solo third place and his first Open invite. The third qualifying spot went to South Africa's Jaco Ahlers, who tied for fourth with Jack Senior but was barely ahead of Senior in the world rankings when the week began. Ahlers missed the cut in 2009 in his lone Open appearance.
The Open Qualifying Series will continue next week at the SMBC Singapore Open, with four spots available to players not otherwise qualified who finish inside the top 12 and ties.
The Chile international was back on the bench for both of Inter's two matches so far this year.
And, asked after Inter's 1-1 home draw with Atalanta why Sanchez didn't come on, Conte told reporters: "To play players, they need to be in shape, otherwise it's insane. Either I'd be an idiot or I'd want to hurt myself."
Pushed further on the matter, he added: "If you add one plus one, you get two, if then you want to get to five. If I don't bring a player on, it's not because I'm demented."
Sanchez, who earned a move to Barcelona in 2011 following an impressive three-year spell in Italy with Udinese, returned to Serie A in the summer and scored on his first start for Inter.
However, he was later sent off and has not featured in the league since following his injury.
Inter's draw with Atalanta saw them move a point clear of Juventus at the top of Serie A, but the reigning champions will re-claim first place with victory over Roma on Sunday.
Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez has decided to turn down the opportunity to immediately replace Ernesto Valverde as the club's head coach, sources have told ESPN.
After two days of phone calls and meetings, the Al Sadd manager told Barca sporting director Eric Abidal and CEO Oscar Grau that he was open to the possibility of joining the club next season.
Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu will be busy Monday, with a long-overdue meeting with the club's board in the afternoon, when he will discuss everything that took place over the past few days.
Sources told ESPN that Valverde's job was not in immediate danger after the SuperCopa exit at the hands of Atletico Madrid, but Barca changed their minds and sent Abidal and Grau to Qatar, where they met with Xavi on three occasions and held a meeting with the injured Ousmane Dembele.
Xavi, who has been linked with the Barca job ever since he stopped playing for the club, prefers to start the new project from scratch and not go behind Valverde's back, sources said. On Saturday, Xavi said he respected Valverde a lot.
Valverde is expected to take training Monday morning with his squad in preparation for the team's La Liga match against Granada at Camp Nou next weekend.
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