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American quartet break world record to win mixed 4x400m gold at the IAAF World Championships

Predictably with a stronger quartet, the USA smashed their world mixed 4x400m record from the heats by over three seconds in the very first major championships to hold the event.

Their time at the IAAF World Championships in Doha was 3:09.34 and they won by over two seconds. For the second time in a day, Britain bettered the old world record but finished fourth!

Wilbert London gave them a good start and Allyson Felix, chasing a record 12th world championships gold and 17th medal, briefly went ahead before predictably Poland (running a different gender mix to the other seven teams) went flying past in the shape of Rafal Omelko.

On the third leg, Iga Baumgart-Witan maintained a lead of around four seconds over USA’s Courtney Okolo.

On the last leg all the pressure was on European champion Justyna Swiety-Ersetic, who had a good lead but was being chased by seven men.

Michael Cherry passed her in the last 200 metres and went clear and there was a good dust up for the other leading places, just as there was in the heat.

Javon Francis of Jamaica got the verdict in 3:11.78 just ahead of Abbas Abbas of Bahrain’s 3:11.82. Chasing hard but unable to close on the leading two, though just easing past the Pole, was Martyn Rooney who gave Briton fourth.

Rabah Yousif had got them off to a good start and there were very good low 50-second legs for both Zoey Clark and Emily Diamond.

Rooney finished less than half a second from the medal and lost around that amount of time with a hesitant final change as he took the baton. The British team resisted the temptation to strengthen their team unlike the USA and surely the inclusion of Matthew Hudson-Smith would have yielded a medal.

Nevertheless, their time was a European record of 3:12.27, improving their heat time of 3:12.80. Poland were just six hundredths back on 3:12.33.

The official split times weren’t available on the evening of the race but the heat splits were 45.9, 50.8, 50.9 and 45.2 and unofficially they were similar, though Diamond and Rooney were probably slightly faster.

Rooney said: “It’s my eighth world championships, I’ve served my time, I’m very proud to represent my country, and I’ll serve it any way I need to – if that means stepping out and letting someone else run and that’s what’s best for the country then I’ll do that.

“I think the team here stepped up to the plate and they ran a European record twice and I think – especially the girls – they outshone us and that’s where we knew the difference would be in the women’s pair, rather than the men’s. They were fantastic.”

Gemili leads 200m qualifiers

In qualifying there was good news for Britain’s 200m runners but less for the 800m runners.

All three Brits impressively eased through to tomorrow’s 200m semi-finals.

Adam Gemili ran the most relaxed and controlled fast 200m he has ever run. His 20.06 heat one win was his fastest for three years and he beat world and European champion Ramil Guliyev (20.27) by two metres. It proved to be the quickest of the seven heats for the 100m semi-finalist.

“This was a bit of redemption for yesterday – for not executing how I should have done,” Gemili said. “Hopefully this gives me a good lane for tomorrow.

“I’m happy with that – I didn’t feel like I was pushing too much off the bend, I was just high stepping. I had a little glance and saw Guliyev was there or thereabouts and I feel like I’ve got plenty in the legs for tomorrow.”

Less than 24 hours after his 100m final, Zharnel Hughes also qualified easily with an eased-back 20.24 second place behind China’s Zhenye Xie’s 20.20. The 100m champion Christian Coleman did not start.

“Tonight was all about qualifying,” said Hughes. “I didn’t really care that much about going super fast. I was held up by anti-doping last night and did not get to sleep until 4am.”

Alex Quinonez of Ecuador won heat three with an impressive finish in 20.08 ahead of Yohan Blake (20.23).

Kyle Greaaux won heat four easily in 20.19 as 19.82 performer Kenny Bednarek was clearly injured and jogged across the line in 21.50.

Miguel Francis kept the good UK results going and would have won if he had not eased back in the last few metres and was caught on the dip by Aaron Brown as both were timed at 20.11.

The 100m bronze medallist Andre De Grasse won heat six, easing back in 20.20, while the big favourite Noah Lyles eased back significantly in heat seven that Jereem Richards (20.23) pipped him and the American ran 20.26.

All three Britons were eliminated in the 800m.

In the first semi, Abubaker Hayder Abdalla set an incredible pace as he went blasting through 200m in 23.11 and 48.72 at 400m. Wesley Vaszquez then took over and was through 600m in 75.81 and though he took a painful 28.2 for his last 200m he won in 1:43.96.

Ferguson Rotich got the other automatic spot with a 1;44.20.

Clayton Murphy finished fast for third in 1:44.48 and Adrian Ben’s 1:44.97 got the other fastest losers spot.

Elliot Giles did not chase the leading two but still went through 400m in his fastest split of 50.14 and was starting to struggle as he reached 600m in 77.19 and he took just inside 28 seconds for the last 200m and was fifth in 1:45.15.

It was his fourth fastest time but the quickest he has ever run outside of London.

The second semi-final was much slower with splits of 24.72, 52.17 and 78.59. Donavan Brazier finished strongly to win in 1:44.87 from surprise qualifier Marco Arop (1:45.07). 1:42.05 performer Emmanuel Korir couldn’t catch the Canadian in the last 100 metres and his 1:45.19 meant he was eliminated.

Euopean indoor silver medalist Jamie Webb faded in the last 200m and was eighth in 1:48.44.

In the final heat the pace was even slower and the runners threw away any chance of a fastest loser spot.

200m was passed in 24.76 but 400m was a slow 53.09 and the runners were all boxed though the pace picked up at 600m (79.83).

Amel Tuka blasted the final bend in 12.54 and held on to win easily in 1:45.63 with Bryce Hoppell getting the other automatic spot in 1:45.95.

Defending champion Pierre Ambroise-Bosse was in a qualifying position on the bend but faded in the last 100m and was also baulked and finished seventh in 1:47.60 having taken 14.9 for his last 100m.

Ahead of him and also running into traffic was 2017 fourth-placer Kyle Langford and he was a respectable fifth in 1:46.41.

The final looks open with no Amos, Korir, Adam Kszczot and indeed not one finalist from London 2017 but there will be three Americans.

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.

Christian Taylor puts on triple jump spectacle

Published in Athletics
Sunday, 29 September 2019 15:28

Amid fears of a Diamond League chop, American sends message to IAAF with quality performance at World Champs in Doha

Christian Taylor hopes his victory in a high-class triple jump contest in Doha will help save his event being cut out of Diamond League.

The 29-year-old won his fourth successive world title with a season’s best of 17.92m in an entertaining competition as fellow American Will Claye took silver with 17.74m and Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkina Faso claimed bronze with an African record of 17.66m.

“It’s unfortunate that we’ve been having the discussion,” said Taylor on rumours the triple jump could be cut out of a slimmed down Diamond League programme. “The triple jump is at a phenomenal level right now.

“In the Paris Diamond League this year the energy was amazing. In the end I believe we belong here. There is a strong interest in the triple jump.”

The small number of spectators in the stadium certainly got behind the event. “The crowd was phenomenal,” said Taylor. “It was rocking. Hopefully this gets the IAAF attention and keeps us going.

“We’re familiar with Doha and knew the atmosphere would be perfect. The biggest concern was the climate but it was fine.”

Taylor started with two fouls as Claye took the lead with 17.61m in the first round. But Taylor then got into his stride with 17.42m, 17.86m and 17.92m in successive rounds to stamp his authority on the contest.

Claye improved to 17.72m in round two and 17.74m in both the fourth and fifth rounds but it wasn’t enough to overhaul his team-mate.

Zango, meanwhile, took bronze with his African record, just ahead of Pedro Pablo Pichardo – the Cuban-born athlete who now represents Portugal – who jumped a season’s best of 17.62m.

“I just needed to stay calm and collected and put big jumps out there,” said Taylor. “I’ve been chasing the world record – and chasing it too hard! I need to find the balance between trying hard and staying calm and Will (Claye) was helping me in the last round.”

Claye said: “The runway was really fast and I think that showed. It showed with Christian’s first two fouls and also the big jumps.

“When you make adjustments to that then you can jump far. I don’t know who was in the crowd but whoever it was making a lot of noise and we wanted to make a real show.”

Dina takes huge strides forward with world 100m silver as Jamaican makes her way back to the very top thanks to another golden moment

Dina Asher-Smith’s star has been on a steady rise for some time now but the 23-year-old moved into a new stratosphere altogether by winning 100m silver at the IAAF World Championships in Doha.

She lowered her own British record to 10.83 (0.1 m/sec) behind the remarkable, world-leading 10.71 performance of Jamaican gold medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce to land her nation’s first ever individual women’s 100m medal in world championships history.

Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast took bronze in 10.90, while Olympic champion Elaine Thompson finished out of the medals in fourth place after clocking 10.93.

Two-time world 200m champion Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands was unable to contest the final due to an adductor problem she felt after qualifying in the semi-finals.

Fraser-Pryce, although beaten by Asher-Smith to the Diamond League title earlier this summer, had gone into the final looking like the favourite, having been fastest throughout qualifying and laying down an ominous marker of 10.80 in the opening heat and 10.81 in the semi-final.

She was a convincing winner and the 32-year-old two-time Olympic and now eight-time world champion has returned to the pinnacle of her sport following the birth of her son Zyon in 2017.

Yet Asher-Smith, who had attempted to play down expectations despite consistently attention-grabbing performances throughout the summer, is at the vanguard of the next generation and looked entirely at home as she convincingly took second in what was the first 100m world championships event of her career.

There can be no doubting now that last year’s triple European champion has become a key player on the sprinting stage.

“I’ve worked so hard for this and hopefully I’ll go on to bigger things,” said the Blackheath & Bromley athlete, winner of Britain’s 100th world championships medal.

“I thought ‘this is your time to go’ and I came away with a PB and national record. I’d have loved to win today but Shelly-Ann is an absolute legend and I’m happy. For me it’s always been to stay focused and keep my eye on the prize.

“I’ve not done 100m at a world champs before so it was a new experience for me at this level and I couldn’t have done it without my coaching team.”

There is no time to rest for Asher-Smith as he now turns her attention to the 200m.

“We all have to dare to dream (of 200m gold),” she said. “We all do, it’s a championship.”

Fraser-Pryce celebrated the moment with her son on the track and admitted to taking particular satisfaction in this victory.

“Standing here having done it again at 32, and holding my baby, is a dream come true,” she said. “I had no sleep last night. Last time I was at a major championships was 2016 and I just could not sleep with nerves. But with mental toughness you will get what you want.

“I can’t believe it. I worked so hard to be back. The field was so strong I had to come good here and I’m so excited to come out with victory. I just wanted to nail my start, which I did and in the end I was just making sure to get to the line and not leaving anything to chance.”

On the way to the final, Asher-Smith and Ta Lou both ran 10.87 in winning their semi-finals, the stage at which British duo Daryll Neita and Imani Lansiquot bowed out following runs of 11.18 (0.8) for fourth and 11.35 (-0.4) in their respective races.

Women’s 100m final stats
Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce (JAM)           10.71 WL         0.134
Dina Asher-Smith (GBR)                    10.83 NR         0.129
Marie-Josee Ta Lou (CIV)                   10.90               0.171
Elaine Thompson (JAM)                     10.93               0.143
Murielle Ahoure (CIV)                         11.02 SB          0.142
Jonielle Smith (JAM)                          11.06               0.117
Teahna Daniels (USA)                        11.19               0.156
Dafne Schippers (NED)                       DNS

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.

Russian wins top-quality contest with Sandi Morris while defending champion Katerina Stefanidi takes bronze and Britain’s Holly Bradshaw finishes fourth

Anzhelika Sidorova picked the perfect time to produce a lifetime best as she landed world pole vault gold with the very last leap of the competition.

The Russian, competing as an authorised neutral athlete, cleared a world-leading height of 4.95m to win an almighty tussle with American Sandi Morris (4.90m) and reverse the one-two standings from last year’s world indoor championships.

Defending champion Katerina Stefanidi, also the current Olympic, European and Diamond League champion, unusually had to settle for a lower step on the podium in taking bronze with a best of 4.85m while Britain’s Holly Bradshaw was fourth with 4.80m.

Sidorova and Morris had matched each other vault for vault, both clearing heights of 4.50m, 4.70m, 4.80m, 4.85m and 4.90m at the first time of asking, with neither competitor giving way in an absorbing contest.

They even mirrored each other in both failing with the first two attempts at 4.95m but, when Morris didn’t succeed with her third effort, it left the door open for her opponent to seize the moment and she did so in some style.

“We knew that we would be forced to jump at least 4.90m to get to the podium in Doha, but it turned that we had to go to 4.95m,” said Diamond League runner-up Sidorova, whose previous best had been 4.86m.

“I felt confident at every height. I set two outdoor personal bests of 4.90 and 4.95, but I even didn’t think about that. I was focused to clear every height at my first attempt, because it was the only chance to win.

“A few weeks ago I cried when I lost the Diamond League final. Now I’m glad I was beaten there. It made me angrier, stronger and much more focused on the main season’s goal.”

Stefanidi didn’t quite hit top form, clearing 4.80m at her second attempt – as did Bradshaw. That height also represented a Swedish record for Angelica Bengtsson, who had suffered a rough landing after her pole snapped on what had initially been her final attempt at the height.

Bengtsson would bow out at 4.85m to finish sixth, the same stage as fifth-placed Canadian Alysha Newman.

Stefanidi and Bradshaw were both still in the medal hunt, however. The Greek went over 4.85m at the second time of asking, while the European bronze medallist failed her first two vaults and then passed on her third to set herself the challenge of leaping a British record 4.90m (her current mark is 4.87m indoors) to keep her hopes alive. It wasn’t to be, however.

“It’s the best form I’ve been in all year – I jumped a season’s best – one centimetre off the British record (the outdoor mark is 4.81m), and you know what? It wasn’t perfect there are still so many areas I can improve upon and that gives me hope and confidence moving forward to Tokyo which is less than a year away,” said Bradshaw.

Stefanidi had one failed effort at 4.90m before passing to instead target 4.95m and put pressure on her rivals. However, the battle for gold just came down to two and that memorable finish.

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.

Home double for Eain Yow and Rachel Arnold in Malaysian Open

Published in Squash
Sunday, 29 September 2019 11:52

Malaysian Open champions Ng Eain Yow and Rachel Arnold

Yow masters Mueller to claim biggest title as Rachel rocks Wee Wern
By KNG ZHENG GUAN – Squash Mad Correspondent

KUALA LUMPUR – It is a sensational home double at the Malaysian Open with Ng Eain Yow and Rachel Arnold breaking through for their biggest career wins.

World No. 37 Eain Yow came through in some style as he played some of his best squash to gun down world No. 28 Nicolas Mueller of Switzerland 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 11-5 at the National Squash Centre, Bukit Jalil on Sunday.

The 21-year-old, who reached the final without dropping a single game, had the crowd on the edge of their seats after he broke away from 6-all to take the first game 11-7.

Second seed Mueller, who has battled through his three previous matches, once again dug in to take the second game 14-12.

Eain Yow, however, took the crucial big points to edge in the third and that broke Mueller’s fight as the Malaysian swept home to the win after 55 minutes.

The PSA Challenger 30 title is Eain Yow’s biggest to date and it is sweet achievement for the KL lad who finished as runner-up two years ago.

Eain Yow on the ball against Nic Mueller

Additionally, he also becomes only the third Malaysian but the first since 2010 to lift the title in front of the home crowd.

“I can’t be any more pleased to win the Malaysian Open. It’s a great feeling to start the season on a win and it’s going to motivate me even more as well,” said Eain Yow who now has four PSA titles to his name.

“It’s always tough against Nicolas. He had three tough matches previously and I thought I may have an edge today.

“But he really made it tough in a physical contest. He didn’t give me any chances and I’m happy to have taken my opportunities when it came.

“Of course winning the third was also important. Especially since a player like Nicolas is really hard to stop when he is confident.

“But I’m really pleased to have come through. It played on my mind a bit, knowing that the last home winner was in 2010 and there was a bit of pressure on myself to win. I’m just glad that I had it in myself to take the title,” added Eain Yow who heads to the US Open next.

The champions are all smiles after victory in KL

In the earlier women’s final, world No. 46 Rachel also delivered one of her best performance ever to stun defending champion Low Wee Wee in an all-Malaysian final.

The third seeded Rachel started and finished strongly against second seed Wee Wern in an 11-7, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5 win.

After flying out of the blocks to take the first game, the 23-year-old Rachel was unable to capitalise on her chances as former world No. 5 Wee Wern came back strongly to nick the second and third games.

It looked as though the Penangite was on course for yet another home title a few decisions went against and suddenly Rachel was right back in it.

Wee Wern’s confidence was certainly battered early in the deciding rubber after a collision with Rachel left her wobbling.

Rachel Arnold (right) in action against Low Wee Wern

And it was Rachel who stepped on it as she powered home for her fifth PSA title after 61 minutes. “I’m very pleased to have grabbed this win. It’s not easy at all as I had to push myself through the whole game and fight for every rally,” said Rachel.

“After dropping the third, I knew I just had to fight hard to stay in it. I told myself to stay in the rallies and increase the pace and eventually it worked out in the end.

“This is such a big win for and it would certainly help my rankings a fair bit. I’ve been staying around the same rank for quite a while now so this is really the win that I need to give myself a push,” concluded Rachel.
 
Malaysian Open 2019, Bukit Jalil National Squash Centre, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

PSA Challenger Tour 30, Men’s Final:
[4] Eain Yow Ng (MAS) bt [2] Nicolas Müller (SUI) 11-7, 12-14, 11-9, 11-5 

PSA Challenger Tour 20, Women’s Final:
[3] Rachel Arnold (MAS) bt [2] Low Wee Wern (MAS) 11-7, 11-13, 10-12, 11-8, 11-5

Pictures courtesy of KNG ZHENG GUAN

Posted on September 29, 2019

'Scotland either front up or start getting ready to go home'

Published in Rugby
Sunday, 29 September 2019 11:13

For the guts of a week, the Scotland players have tried to move on from the events of Yokohama against Ireland. Not an easy transition, that.

Every day has brought a new inquisition, new questions about their mentality and their ability. It's been uncomfortable and occasionally brutal. In various reports they've been called spineless, clueless and pathetic. One headline ordered them to hang their heads in shame.

At times you felt some players wanted to jump across the table and throttle their interrogators at their hotel in Kobe, but a media conference is not the place for them to vent their fury. All of that should come out against Samoa under the closed roof at the Misaki Stadium on Monday.

After the week they've had then, a response is surely coming. Scotland need to start well at the Misaki, need to work harder, need to defend better. The list of things they must do - and didn't do last time out - stretches the length of Sannomiya, the city's main drag.

The most recent meeting of these sides - a 44-38 Scotland win at Murrayfield in Gregor Townsend's fourth game in charge - showed the extremes of this team, its excellence and its flakiness. Scotland played some class rugby to sail into a big lead in that game. They mauled Samoa off the park, scoring two tries off driven line-outs, both touched down by Stuart McInally.

Then, they fell asleep. Samoa piled through a dozing defence again and again. They scored five tries that day. Scotland scored six. Townsend doesn't need such drama this time. He needs a professional and clinical performance free of mental frailties. Or else.

Blow torches, ripping it up & Bradbury's moment

Townsend has taken a blow torch to the squad that failed so woefully in Yokohama. Some senior men have got it.

Being Scotland captain for two years offered no protection to John Barclay, who has been dumped from the match-day squad. Being captain in Scotland's second last game was no help to Ryan Wilson, who's been demoted to the bench. Being one of the country's highest try-scorers was no use to Tommy Seymour who has also missed out on the 23.

In their place, mostly youth. Darcy Graham - a pocket battleship, a terrific finisher and a player on form - was unlucky not to start against Ireland, but that chance has now come. Graham sounded psyched for the battle when he spoke on Saturday, as did outside centre Chris Harris the day before. If Harris can back up his words with actions, then it won't just be the Samoans who are hitting hard.

There was agony in losing Hamish Watson, but Townsend has ripped it all up in the back-row. Magnus Bradbury has gone from living a parallel universe in Japan - in the country but not in the squad, existing in the margins as injury cover - to being at the heart of the action.

One of the myriad problems against Ireland was the lack of ball-carrying grunt up front. Bradbury can do it - and he can do it well.

His tendency has been to do it in fits and starts in games. An angry Bradbury needs to turn up against Samoa because this kid can play and fight when the mood takes him. If he's ever going to mark himself out as part of Scotland's future then this is his time, this is the moment.

Scotland lacked energy and aggression and work-rate against Ireland. Ireland's dog was a Rottweiler. Scotland's dog was a poodle.

Jamie Ritchie's elevation ups the growl factor. Good on the floor, good in the collisions, decent with ball in hand, Ritchie has the tough job of replacing the injured Watson. He's no Watson in the specifics of ball-carrying and groundhog, but he's got a similar edge as Watson. He's got the same appetite for work, the same kind of hardness.

In between them, there's the great unknown that is Blade Thomson. All that we hear is that Thomson is different to anything Scotland has in that position. He's a ball-carrier with game intelligence and footwork, a clever thinker, a back-row forward with Scottish ancestry but very much of the New Zealand school.

Thomson needs to be as good as his team-mates say he is. The evidence so far is inconclusive. He hasn't played enough Test rugby to settle the argument one way or another, but he deserves his chance.

Scotland's back-row against Ireland had 146 caps. Their back-row against Samoa has 23. In his search for energy, Townsend has sacrificed experience. Not too many people will disagree with the calls he has made.

'The biggest day of Townsend's coaching life'

This is monumental stuff for Townsend. The biggest day of his coaching life and one of the biggest days of his rugby life. If it doesn't go well, then Scotland are goosed and this World Cup will go down as the worst in their history.

The fallout would be scary. Townsend and his staff would be pilloried to the point of demands being made for their heads. The players would be subjected to the kind of slating that would make the reaction to Yokohama seem like a warm-up act. In defeat, Scotland would have nowhere to go bar a deep, dark place.

If they have anything about them, then there's a big performance coming against Samoa, a nation all but abandoned by the powerhouses in world rugby. Samoa have little money and little opportunity to improve. You could write a book about their plight, but the bottom, and sadly unchanging, line is that the treatment of the Pacific Island countries is a scar on rugby.

Maybe that sense of isolation gives them an extra anger to feed off. They are still very much alive in this World Cup, having beaten Russia with a bonus point. Another win against Scotland and Pool A will have had a second seismic result following on from Japan's unforgettable victory over Ireland on Saturday.

On Yokohama form, Scotland are vulnerable. What we know about Townsend's team, however, is that they can bounce back quickly from disappointment. They need that resilience now more than ever.

After Wales hammered them in the opening game of the 2018 Six Nations, they then beat France and England in their next two games. When the USA upset them in Houston that summer, they followed up by destroying Argentina in Resistencia. When France took them apart in Nice last month, they found something in adversity and did them in the return game.

Clear signals and signals of intent

Japan's win of the ages has crystallised Scotland's challenge here. Mere victories are not sufficient any more. They need bonus points now, beginning with Samoa, a team that has in the recent past caused Scottish sides to break out in a rash. In the past five meetings, the Scots have won four of them but the points total across those games is 130-126 - in Samoa's favour.

It's true that this vintage doesn't look as good as their recent predecessors, certainly not in the same class as the side that pushed Scotland to the wire in the World Cup four years ago. That was a terrifying afternoon in Newcastle. This version has a lot of the power and attrition of the sides that went before but not quite as much of the game-breaking brilliance.

They are also without some important men. Rey Lee-Lo, the centre, and Motu Matu'u, the hooker, are both banned after their reckless headshots against Russia. Their numner eight, Afa Amosa, is out of the tournament with a knee injury. Scrum-half Dwayne Polataivao, scorer of two tries against Australia in a warm-up game in early September, hasn't recovered from a concussion sustained against the Russians.

Depleted, they'll still bring a rage to proceedings. As their coach, Steve Jackson, has put it: "We're under no illusions about what Scotland are going to bring in that area [physicality] and they should be under no illusions about what we're going to bring."

Samoa are not happy with the Scots. In the wake of those Lee-Lo and Motu'u high tackles against Russia, Greig Laidlaw said they wanted referee Pascal Gauzere to keep an eye on the way Samoa go into contact on Monday. Not unreasonably, Laidlaw said that Lee-Lo and Motu'u should have received red cards on the night instead of yellow.

Jackson was unimpressed by Laidlaw's intervention. "There's obviously been a lot in the press with people making things a little worse than they already were," he said. "Things put in the media by people in the Scottish squad, talking to the referee about our tackling and all that sort of stuff."

There was always going to be a major edge to this game and the chat in the preamble has only added to it. As one Scottish player after another said last week, this is do-or-die now. They either front up or they start getting ready to go home.

Rea Clinches Fifth World Superbike Title In Style

Published in Racing
Sunday, 29 September 2019 07:00

MAGNY-COURS, France – Jonathan Rea clinched his record fifth World Superbike Championship title in style Sunday with a race victory at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours.

Rea’s win was his 12th of the season and completed an incredible points comeback, allowing him to clinch the crown two rounds early after being 61 markers in arrears early on in the season.

Starting from the pole for the first time in WorldSBK, Toprak Razgatlioglu couldn’t make the same lightning start which saw him leap up the order in the two previous races.

Rea edged up the inside into turn one to grab the lead but he wouldn’t stay ahead for long, as Michael van der Mark used the slipstream to hit the front at the Adelaide hairpin.

The moment which ultimately proved decisive in the World Superbike Championship battle came on lap two, as Razgatlioglu lost the rear of his Kawasaki at the exit of turn 13.

As the Turkish rider fought to control the slide, Alvaro Bautista was powerless to avoid the Saturday race winner and both riders were eliminated on the spot.

With the words ‘Bautista out’ displayed on his pit-board next time around, Rea now knew that a race victory would see him make history.

Michael van der Mark was keen to ensure that Rea didn’t have an unchallenged run to a fifth WorldSBK crown, keeping the Ulsterman at bay until the Imola chicane on lap six.

The Dutchman didn’t trail for long, however, with the Yamaha proving a formidable motorcycle down the backstretch toward turn five, an advantage van der Mark utilized to power past on lap eight.

As the race ticked over half distance, Rea mounted another attack on the leader with van der Mark going defensive into Adelaide. The championship leader was wise to this tactic though and drew alongside into the following Nurburgring chicane, making the move stick on lap 13.

With van der Mark no longer close enough to make use of the slipstream next time around, Rea had the margin he needed to ease clear.

Despite a valiant effort from van der Mark, the advantage grew to more than one second, allowing Rea to close out the final laps and claim his 83rd career WorldSBK victory.

Van Der Mark hung on for second ahead of teammate Alex Lowes, marking the first double podium of the season for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team, with Ducati’s Chaz Davies and Ten Kate Racing’s Loriz Baz finishing fourth and fifth, respectively.

Marco Melandri, Leon Haslam, Tom Sykes, Leon Camier and Jordi Torres filled out the top 10.

Ferrari Collapse Hands Hamilton A Russian Victory

Published in Racing
Sunday, 29 September 2019 08:00

SOCHI, Russia – Lewis Hamilton led a shocking one-two finish for Mercedes AMG Petronas Motorsport during Sunday’s VTB Russian Grand Prix, after a dominant first half by Scuderia Ferrari unraveled itself in one fell swoop.

Ferrari had appeared to have the advantage over the Silver Arrows all weekend long, and that pace continued for the early stages of the 16th race of the Formula One season.

Sebastian Vettel led the first 25 laps of the race off a monstrous start at Sochi Autodrom, which saw him leapfrog both Hamilton and polesitter Charles Leclerc before the field ever reached turn one.

Despite the Scuderia having a plan to get Leclerc back out front, however, Vettel put his foot to the floor and opened up as much as a four-second lead over his teammate in order to maintain his place as the faster of the two team drivers.

Leclerc pitted for fresh tires on lap 23 and ripped off a sequence of fastest laps that was enough to allow him to leapfrog Vettel when the latter made his pit stop four circuits later, but Vettel lost power on his Ferrari barely a lap after exiting the pit lane.

As the German pulled to a heart-wrenching stop in the turn-15 runoff area, the victim of an MGU-K problem, a virtual safety car period on the 28th lap allowed both Mercedes drivers – Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas – to steal a free pit stop for fresh medium compound tires.

Hamilton rejoined with a lead he wouldn’t relinquish, while Bottas came out behind Leclerc in third, just before a full safety car was called for the stricken Williams of George Russell, which lost brakes and ended up stuck in the tire barriers.

At that point, Leclerc pitted for a fresh set of soft-compound tires, dropping back behind Bottas but hopeful of being able to re-pass him and mount a charge at Hamilton.

From there, racing resumed for good with 21 laps left in the 53-lap affair, but try as he might Leclerc could never get close enough to Bottas to be able to get back to second.

Lewis Hamilton (44) leads Valtteri Bottas during Sunday’s Russian Grand Prix. (Steve Etherington photo)

That left Hamilton unchallenged out front, cruising to his ninth win of the season and the 82nd of his Formula One career, just nine behind Michael Schumacher’s all-time record.

It was also the sixth win in six runnings of the Russian Grand Prix for Mercedes, extending their unbeaten streak at Sochi Autodrom since the course was added to the F-1 schedule in 2014.

“This win feels like it has been a long time coming. It was just an incredible job from the whole team: never giving up, pushing forward, always trying to be innovative,” said Hamilton. “It’s incredibly inspiring to be part of that and amazing to have this result today, considering how quick the Ferraris were in that opening stint. It was a really hard task to keep up with them, especially on the offset tire (compound), but we kept pushing and the car felt really good today.

“We thought that their soft tires would drop off during that opening stint, but they had such good pace that I was struggling to keep up with them – and that’s probably a little warning for us, because it looked like they got their calculations right in that regard,” Hamilton continued. “I managed to stay within shouting distance, though, and started closing down the gap as their tires started to drop. Charles pitted, then I started catching Seb, and we were in a good position to offset and go long – even had the safety car not come out. … Then everything fell our way, and after that it was a question of building the gap, saving the tires and getting to the finish as smoothly as possible.”

Bottas fended off every advance Leclerc made to finish second, giving Mercedes their fourth top-two sweep in six tries in Sochi, with Leclerc crossing third.

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was a distant fourth, while his teammate Alexander Albon rallied from a pit-lane start due to power unit penalties to complete the top five finishers.

McLaren’s Carlos Sainz, Racing Point’s Sergio Perez, the sister McLaren of Lando Norris, Haas F1’s Kevin Magnussen and Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg filled out the points scorers.

Though Ferrari appears to have found an edge against the Mercedes duo, Hamilton is relishing the challenge as the stretch run continues to wind down the F-1 season.

“When you have a battle like this, you’re working flat out, turning over every stone and questioning every little thing you can do better,” he noted. “We love that challenge and I’m really excited for the next few races.”

The finish:

Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, Alexander Albon, Carlos Sainz, Sergio Perez, Lando Norris, Kevin Magnussen, Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll, Daniil Kvyat, Kimi Räikkönen, Pierre Gasly, Antonio Giovinazzi, Robert Kubica, George Russell, Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, Romain Grosjean.

PHOTOS: James Dean Classic

Published in Racing
Sunday, 29 September 2019 09:00

Mario Andretti Returns To The Charlotte ROVAL

Published in Racing
Sunday, 29 September 2019 11:00

CONCORD, N.C. – Any time Mario Andretti walks in a room, his mere presence commands attention.

Undeniably one of the greatest race car drivers to ever put on a helmet, Andretti was on hand Sunday afternoon at Charlotte Motor Speedway to serve as the ceremonial pace car driver during the Bank of America ROVAL 400.

The 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner and 1967 Daytona 500 champion previously got to check out the ROVAL in 2017, when he took a Porsche 918 for a spin around the 2.28-mile circuit as speedway officials were working to develop the course ahead of the inaugural ROVAL race in 2018.

“I was reminded that by the dealer that the car is over $1 million, which I knew. He said to take it easy and I said yeah, right,” Andretti said, which was followed by laughter from most of the media in attendance. “I don’t think the dealer was all that pleased because at the end, the brakes were smoking pretty good.”

The course that Andretti drove on that day is different than what was eventually utilized for the inaugural event, but he admits he can’t take credit for most of the course.

One thing he did suggest was the addition of chicanes to the track to help slow the cars down and create passing zones.

“I can’t take too much credit for the course itself,” Andretti said. “The only thing I suggested at the time … they didn’t have any of the chicanes. I thought that they created more action and they needed to slow the cars down before turn three (on the oval).

“As you can see they put a chicane there last year, but it was too fast. Obviously they need more of a hard braking (zone). I like the way that they reacted for this year, which they put in a proper corner. That’s going to be interesting.”

By his own admission, Andretti has never been a fan of road courses inside of ovals, like Charlotte’s ROVAL or the course utilized by Daytona Int’l Speedway for the Rolex 24.

However, Andretti said the ROVAL is different.

“It’s always a challenge to create a road course that has good technical and flow when you’re somewhat limited with the geography,” Andretti said. “I’ve never been too much of a fan of road courses inside an oval. I’m a fan of this one. They did the best job that you could have expected.

“I think they definitely needed something to slow the cars down before turn four, because they have that symmetrical road racing setup. So for all the reasons they obviously did the right thing.”

On the heels of Josef Newgarden’s successful exhibition run with his Indy car around the ROVAL on Friday, the 1978 Formula One champion was asked about the potential of the NTT IndyCar Series partnering with NASCAR for a doubleheader event at the ROVAL or another circuit.

Andretti was quick to respond with a resounding yes.

“Our sport has loyal fans for different disciplines, but there is also a lot of crossover,” Andretti said. “If a doubleheader with IndyCar puts six more butts in the seats, then that is six more seats that you’ve gained. The crossover would be healthy for everyone.

“I would encourage it, of course. Probably IndyCar would benefit more than stock cars because the audience is much greater for NASCAR. But at the same time, you’ve got to look at the big picture – motorsports. Create the interest and the fans are the most important part.”

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