CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUALIFIERS 2009-2010 TUESDAY GAME RESULTS: FC BARCELONA 1 - RUBIN KAZAN 2 & STUTTGART 1 - SEVILLA FC 3 (VIDEO GOALS)

Most Improved Player of the Year

1. Shaquille O'Neal - Shaq has found the fountain of youth and is playing like he did his 1st year with the Heat. Shaq made the All Star team by averaging 18 points, 9 boards, almost 2 blocks a game. Shaq appears more fit and looks quicker this season. Every now and then he throws in some dominant games that remind you of the old Shaq like his 29 point, 8 rebound, 3 block performance against the Wiz.

2. Jameer Nelson - Too small to play in the NBA? I think not. Nelson is flourishing in his 4th NBA season. The Magic point guard is averaging 17 points, 5 assists while shooting 44% from 3 point land. Nelson was rewarded with his stellar play by making his first All Star team.

3. Danny Granger - One of the better players that nobody has ever heard of. He is an unknown star averaging over 25 PPG for a terrible Pacers team.

4. Nene Hilario - Nene has fought off injuries and cancer ! to re-establish himself as a solid player. Nene is averaging 15 points and 8 rebounds while displaying the talent that made him the number 7 pick in the 2002 NBA draft.

5. Devin Harris - Devin has taken the leap from solid NBA player to NBA stardom. He is averaging over 21 PPG and 6.5 assists. That Jason Kidd trade to Dallas looks more and more one sided.

WPSL match abandoned

A Women's Premier Soccer League match, played Saturday afternoon in Chicago, between River Cities and Chicago Breeze was abandoned in the 72nd minute after players from both teams clashed on the field.
The referee immediately abandoned the match. The teams never came back out on the field.
It was not immediately clear whether the result would stand or what WPSL's response was.

Notre Dame vs. North Carolina

The Tar Heels (26-1), a 2-0 winners over UCLA, will play for their 18th national championship Sunday against Notre Dame, a 2-1 winners over Florida State.

US WNT

"We're dominating teams," Greg Ryan said. "All we've got to do is score a goal and we win."
"Our focus is not on the qualifiers, our focus is on getting better,"

WPS salaries

How much will the players get paid? Here are the numbers according to league projections.
WNT - $47,500
WNT pool - $35,000
Top international - $32,500
International - $25,000
Top domestic - $20,000
Domestic - $12,875

MotoGP : 2008 - Dani Pedrosa's girl friend?

Thursday, 01 May 2008

I found it to be interesting because the girl and Dani seems has a significant difference in height :) but as we know Dani is very protective for his private life. He is only willing to talk about the race, not about his private life... :)












The pictures are taken during Jerez Grandprix 2008.

No Lions test for Newlands

Newlands won't be getting a Springbok test against the British and Irish Lions next year.
SA Rugby MD Jonathon Stones says the stadium could not comply with the requirements of the tourists.
Apparently this relates to available tickets on the middle-line and in private suites.
SA Rugby says the stadium configuration is not ideal, partly because of the standing room area at Newlands as well.
WP Rugby Union CEO, Theuns Roodtman, says they were not comfortable with offering up the rights of season ticket holders and private suite owners, as the Lions demanded 8 thousand seats.

Good news for SA womans hockey team

Three stalwarts of the Spar South African women's hockey team, Fiona Butler, Shelly Russell and Jen Wilson make a welcome return to the team announced this week for two four-nations tournaments in Europe next month. Coach Jenny king says it is very good to have them all back. The Olympic Games are just around the corner, and it's time they started consolidating and playing as a settled team. Butler and Russell have both recovered from injury and Wilson was rested for a four-nations tournament and a series against Canada earlier this year. The first tournament, will be played in Dublin from June 11 to 15 pits South Africa against Ireland, Germany and Great Britain, and the second, in Rotterdam from Jun 24 to 28, sees South Africa take on the Netherlands, Great Britain and India.

Diary

Rugby:

12h00 - WP announce the match 22 to face the Blue Bulls in a Currie Cup clash at Newlands on Saturday.

Soccer:

20h45 - The first Euro semi-final between Turkey and Germany. Germany are overwhelming favourites, but Turkey are on form.

Tennis:

14h00 - Wimbledon match of the day: Third seed Novak Djokovic takes on Marat Safin on center court

Cricket:

12h00 - The Proteas arrive in England.

10h00 - England host New Zealand for the fourth one-day match.

Lezak the man!

The US relay team celebrate (Photo credit: Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)

It was one of the great races of the games so far, not because of the expected South African challenge, but rather the pure speed of the American quartet. The United States entered the final leg a full body length behind, but overhauled the French team in the last few millimeters of the finish line to complete a stunning Men's 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay win , smashing the world record by nearly four seconds in the process.

The US team of Michael Phelps, Garret Weber-Gale, Cullen Jones and Jason Lezak proved unstoppable, with Lezak producing a ! superb anchor leg to reel in Alain Bernard of France and give the US a victory by 0.08 seconds in 3min 08.24sec. Team South Africa were 7th, our 'big medal hopes' were never in it, and in fact were the only team on the starting blocks that featured the same 4 swimmers that took gold 4 years earlier.

Bobo Set to Miss Business End of CC

Western Province centre, Gcobani Bobo, will definitely miss this weekend's Currie Cup clash with the Valke at Newlands because of injury but a specialist opinion will today reveal whether or not he'll miss the rest of the season as well.

Bobo has apparently been struggling along with a shoulder injury that's got progressively worse since the start of the Currie Cup campaign. If Bobo needs surgery, he'll dfinitely be out for the rest of the season but should be fit for the Stormers at the start of the Super 14. Flyhalf Peter Grant had a similar problem and was out of action for six weeks post-op.

Meanwhile, Schalk Burger will today know if any further steps will be taken against him for his red card against the Free State Cheetahs at the weekend. He was yellow carded for pulling down a player in the lineout and was then given a straight red for his high tackle on Juan Smith.

Province coach, Allister Coetzee, is confident! Burger won't be on the sidelines for too long. He feels Burger's first yellow card was too harsh and should get away with a one-match ban at the most.

Breakfast Headlines

Die voormalige Springbok voorspelers Balie Swart en Cobus Visagie het hulle kommer uitgespreek oor 'n plan om John Smit op vaste-stut te gebruik. Visagie glo Smit het nog 'n goeie toekoms as hakker, maar kan dalk sukkel in 'n nuwe posisie. Swart sê die kaptein is nog nie gereed om stut te speel nie. Hy glo ook dat Smit steeds Suid-Afrika se beste hakker is.

***
While the Boks have gathered in Cape Town ahead of the UK tour, the Proteas are in Kimberley to prepare for Kenya and Bangladesh. Dolphins all-rounder Johan Louw has been called up. Graeme Smith and Dale Steyn are likely to miss the matches against Kenya. The first one day match takes place on Friday.
***
The Nashua Cape Cobras have been stripped of Proteas Herschelle Gibbs, JP Duminy, Justin Ontong and Monde Zondeki. This is ahead of a crucial Supersport Series match against the Bizub Highveld Lions in Paarl which starts tomorrow. Vernon Philander will play as the Cobras! have appealed his two match suspension. Cobras coach Shukri Conrad says the team still has a good mix of youth and experience...

The Cobras will field up and coming fast bowler Francois Plaatjies. Conrad is also confident in the ability of 21 year old batsman Stiaan Van Zyl...

***
India have won the toss and elected to bat first on day one of the third test against Australia. India have reached 67 for 2. Sehwag and Dravid are back in the pavilion with Gautum Gambhir and Sachin Tendulkar at the crease.
***
Today the Caribbean All-stars play a warm-up match against Middlesex ahead of their 20 million dollar match aga! inst England on Saturday. England beat Trinidad and Tobago by ! one run in the Stanford Twenty20 Super Series yesterday.
***
PSL action returns to Athlone Stadium tonight when Santos play Free State in the hunt for their second win in five league matches. Winger Tyren Arendse a win is vital...

***
Ajax Cape Town are away to Amazulu in Durban. Kick-off is at 15h30 this afternoon. Ajax playmaker Clifford Ngobeni says as the home side, Amazulu will be under pressure to get three points...

***
In the English Premier League, Newcastle United moved out of the bottom three with a 2-1 win over West Brom. Tonight it's the North London derby between Arsenal and Tottenham an! d Man United take on West Ham.

Breakfast Headlines

In Champions League soccer, Man United top Group E thanks to a 2-all draw with Aalborg. Carlos Tevez scored in the second minute, but Wayne Rooney had to come up with an equaliser early in the second half. Villareal are runners up despite a 2-0 defeat to Celtic. Group F winners Bayern Munich beat runners up Lyon 3-2. Arsenal suffered a 2-0 defeat to Porto to give the Portuguese top spot in Group G. Real Madrid are top of Group H after a 3-0 win over Zenit St Petersburg, while group runners up Juventus played out a goalless draw with BATE.

***
AmaZulu stunned highflyers Golden Arrows 2-0 in a KZN derby and are now only a point behind them on the log.
***
England have won the toss and elected to bat first in the first test against India. The visitors have reached 39 for no loss.
***
New Zealand are 226 for 4 after winning the toss and batting first against the West Indies. Jesse Ryder has passed the fifty mark and Daniel ! Flyn fell short of his maiden test century with 95. Chris Gayle was the pick of the bowlers taking 3 for 42.
***
Die Proteas is vandag in aksie teen Wes-Australie in hulle eerste opwarmings wedstryd voor die eerste toets volgende Woensdag. Graeme Smith, Paul Harris en Dale Steyn is nog op die kantlyn. Suid Afrika het die loot gewen en was 42 vir 2 na 18 boulbeurte. JP Duminy het 16 aangeteken en Neill McKenzie was uit vir 4.
***
Experienced Nashua Cape Cobras fast bowler Charl Langeveldt says the younger players have really stepped up so far this season. The Cobras face the Nashua Dolphins in the first match at Sahara park Newlands this Sunday.
***
Rory Sabbatini is one of the big names that will walk the fairways at the spectacular Leopard Creek this week in the Alfred Dunhill Championship.

Man U smiling, Liverpool draw Chelsea

Manchester United, who are on a quest to win five major trophies this season, have drawn possibly the easiest route to the Champions League final.

The Red Devils will face FC Porto in the quarter-finals and will take on the winner between Villareal and Arsenal in the semi's.

It's also a favourable draw for the Gunners, who sunk the Yellow Submarine in the 2006 semi-finals to setup a final against Barcelona.

Sir Alex Ferguson won't forget their defeat to Porto in the first round knockouts in 2004, but that was the year Porto were crowned champions under Jose Mourinho.

There were a few smiles in the Liverpool camp when they drew Chelsea.

Last year the Blues were unbeaten over two legs in a semi against the Reds and qualified for the final against champions Man United.

In 2007, Liverpool beat Chelsea in a penalty shootout to make it into the final.

There was drama in 2005, when the ! infamous phantom goal in a semi-final second leg saw Liverpool through to the final, where they beat Milan in a penalty shootout.

The winner between Liverpool and Chelsea will face either Barcelona or Bayern Munich in the semi's.

Lots of goals are expected in the Barca / Bayern clash as the teams are leading the scoring charts this season.

Top Ten Formula One Drivers

Here is something simple, everyone over the course of time has put together their top 10 list of drivers. These lists have been vetted and debated about back and forth. I am not going to be any different. So, below are my top 10 F1 drivers ranked in order.

1. Michael Schumacher

Wins: 91

Pole Positions: 68

Fast Laps: 76

Titles: 7

2. Juan Manuel Fangio

Wins: 24

Pole Positions: 29

Fast Laps: 23

Titles: 5

3. Jim Clark

Wins: 25
Pole Positions: 33
Fast Laps: 28
Titles: 2

4. Alain Prost

Wins: 51
Pole Positions: 33
Fast Laps: 41
Titles: 4

5. Ayrton Senna

Wins: 41
Pole Positions: 65
Fast Laps: 19
Titles: 3

6. Jackie Stewart

Wins: 27
Pole Positions: 17
Fast Laps: 15Titles: 3

7. Jack Brabham

Wins: 14
Pole Positions: 13
Fast Laps: 12
Titles: 3

8. Niki Lauda

Wins: 25
Pole Positions: 24
Fast Laps: 24
Titles: 3

9. Graham Hill

Wins: 14
Pole Positions: 13
Fast Laps: 10
Titles: 2

10. Stirling Moss

Wins: 16
Pole Positions: 16
Fast Laps: 19
Titles: 0

Chelsea Defeat Leaves Liverpool Fighting English Soccer History

Less than a quarter of the way through the season, Liverpool has lost more Premier League games than it did in the whole of the last campaign.

The Reds, who last won the league in 1990, went down 2-0 at Chelsea, leaving the 18-time champion six points behind the table-topping Stamford Bridge team through eight of 38 games.

Five-time European champion Liverpool has also been beaten this season by Tottenham and Aston Villa after losing just twice in finishing second to Manchester United in May. No team since United in the 1966-67 campaign has lost three of the opening eight games and gone on to claim the league.

"You will see the top sides losing more points against any team," Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez told reporters after yesterday's game. "We have to keep going. We can't just think about losing three games."

Goals from Nicolas Anelka and Florent Malouda moved Chelsea atop! the standings, two points ahead of Manchester United, which is also seeking a record 19th title after securing the championship for a third straight year last season.

Didier Drogba set up both goals for Chelsea, which rebounded after losing its unbeaten league record at Wigan on Sept. 26.

The Ivorian powered down the left wing before squaring for strike partner Anelka to open the scoring in the 59th minute. Then, in the last minute of regulation time, Drogba set up substitute Malouda from the opposite flank to guarantee the victory.

"Didier provided very good support for Nicolas and Malouda," Chelsea coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "But I think all the players worked very hard. If you want to win against Liverpool and other big teams all the players have to work hard."

Liverpool's approach made it difficult for Chelsea to adopt the open style Ancelotti has tried to impose since joining on July 1, the coach said.

"They had! a very good defensive organization," the former AC Milan coac! h said. "They don't leave space in their midfield."

Xabi Alonso, who was sold to Real Madrid preseason, scored the only goal in Liverpool's win at Stamford Bridge last season. The Oct. 26 result ended Chelsea's 86-game unbeaten home run in the league.

Lucas, Alonso's replacement in midfield, failed to supply striker Fernando Torres with the service he needed to trouble the home team.

Torres, the league's top scorer with eight goals, fluffed a header with 15 minutes remaining and missed from close range when the score was 1-0.

"I can't blame any one of the players because they were working so hard," Benitez said. "Torres was trying to do his job."

It's too early to predict whether the title will return to west London for the first time since 2006, Ancelotti said.

"Now we stay top of the list and we prepare for the next games with concentration and determination," he said. "Our season depends on us."

Life's A Doss For Liverpool's Andrea Dossena

Andrea Dossena is extremely confident that Italian international Alberto Aquilani will make the difficult transition from Serie A to the Premier League.

"He has the quality to adapt because he is very clever. He understands the football here and knows how to make the right decision on the ball quickly," said the Italian international and former Serie A star, who is happy to accept being third-choice full-back at Anfield despite costing £8 million.

Which begs the question: Has a player ever been so open and honest about his own lack of intelligence or quality?

Brazil Call Up Liverpool's Fábio Aurélio And Lucas For Middle East Friendlies

Liverpool's defender Fábio Aurélio was handed the chance of winning a place in Brazil's World Cup squad yesterday when he was named for next month's friendlies against England in Doha and Oman in Muscat.

The coach, Carlos Dunga, has named a 24-man squad made up of Europe-based players in order not to disrupt Brazilian clubs in the run-in to their championship. He also included Liverpool's much maligned midfielder Lucas.

Aurélio, 30, has no senior caps but played for Brazil at the Sydney Olympics in 2000 before a move to V! alencia. "He's a player who knows how to mark; he's accustomed to European football. We spoke to him some time back about a call-up but he was injured and we couldn't pick him. Now we're going to give him that chance," Dunga said.

The strikers Carlos Eduardo, who plays for the German side Hoffenheim, and Porto's Hulk, as well as the full-back Michel Bastos of Lyon have been called up for the first time. "It's an option of ours to bring in players with other characteristics to see how they're going to fit in to the national team," Dunga said.

Manchester City's Robinho, who has not played since suffering an ankle injury during Brazil's 3?1 win over Argentina on 5 September, was included despite having only just returned to fitness. "He has recovered, we've spoken to him. We're going to take him to [the friendlies] to give him the chance to accelerate his return to the pitch," said Dunga.

Brazil and England, who have both qualified for the 2010! World Cup finals in South Africa, meet on 14 November before ! Dunga's men take on Oman in Muscat three days later.

For England the Brazil match will be a good test of their World Cup credentials, after they completed qualification for the finals by winning nine of their 10 group games. The Brazilians have had a successful year, winning the Confederations Cup in South Africa, where they defeated the United States 3?2 in the Johannesburg final after being two goals down, and South America's World Cup qualifying group.

Valencia hosts 2009 FIM MotoGP Awards Ceremony

Sunday, 08 November 2009

The traditional end of season FIM MotoGP Awards were hosted in Valencia and broadcast around the globe on Sunday evening.

Valentino Rossi was the star of the show once again on Sunday evening at the traditional gala ceremony in Valencia which closes the MotoGP season, as he was officially presented with his 2009 FIM MotoGP World Championship trophy, in the Spanish city’s Palacio de Congresos.

At the conclusion of the 2009 FIM MotoGP Awards Ceremony, which was presented by the BBC’s Matthew Roberts and TVE’s Ainhoa Arbizu and broadcast across the globe, Rossi was presented with the trophy by Mr. Francisco Camps, President of the Generalitat Valenciana and Rita Barberá Nolla, the Mayoress of Valencia.

Mr. Vito Ippolito, the President of the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme and Mr. Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, were also in attendance as an array of prizes were awarded over the course of the evening, marking the achievements of those riders who have excelled on-track this year.

Newly crowned 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama - who clinched the title at the Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana earlier on Sunday - and the 2009 125cc World title winner Julián Simón were both also presented with their respective trophies.

Additional prize categories included Rookie of the Year, Tissot Pole of Poles for best qualifier in each class, BMW M Award for best MotoGP qualifier and the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ World Championships.

Stoner and Hayden make strong test starts

Monday, 09 November 2009

It was a productive first day of testing at Valencia for the Ducati Marlboro team, as Casey Stoner recorded the fastest lap and Nicky Hayden rode well in preparation for the 2010 season.

Casey Stoner set the fastest lap of the first day of the Valencia test, taking his Desmosedici round in a best time of 1’32.660, and the Australian was pleased with the response of his machine.

A crash on the warm-up lap of Sunday’s race – the last of the season – due to a cold tyre meant Stoner was unable to take his place on the grid, but a positive day’s work at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit on Monday left him at the top of the timesheet.

“We tried a new engine configuration designed at improving the rideability of the bike and for the moment it is going really well,” said Stoner. “The feedback is smoother and we improved traction with the same set-up we used over the weekend, so that is positive. We also tried some different forks and in general I am satisfied.”

Stoner set his hot lap on his 22nd of 32 turns, and added, “We didn't do many laps today – just tried to make sure we were working in the right direction. I think we are and I can't wait to get back on track tomorrow, when hopefully it won't be as windy.”

Riding the other Ducati factory machine, Nicky Hayden clocked the fifth-fastest lap of the day at 0.698s off his team-mate’s mark.

“I was really looking forward to getting back out on track today and starting work on next season,” said the American. “We have a direction to work in and loads of work to do but we made a lot of progress already today. We don't have a lot of tyres available and just worked with two sets – a hard one and a softer one – with very similar times on both that were not far off my qualifying time from Saturday.”

He added, “We tried some engine updates on one of the bikes, some forks and a couple of different settings but this is just the start and it is early to say which is best because the lap times have been very similar. Generally it's been a good first day and I'm happy.”

Spanish pair enjoy first day with MotoGP teams

Monday, 09 November 2009

Héctor Barberá and Álvaro Bautista both enjoyed their first days of testing on MotoGP machinery with their respective new teams on Monday in Valencia.

First steps for Héctor Barberá and Álvaro Bautista en route to their moves into MotoGP next year were taken with glee on Monday in the end of season test at Valencia with the former trying his satellite Ducati and the latter his new Suzuki in the familiar surroundings of the Ricardo Tormo circuit.

Barberá, who comes from Valencia and won the last ever 250cc GP race at his home track on Sunday, was delighted to get his first feel of the Desmosedici 800cc machine which he will ride for the new Aspar MotoGP team next season. The Spaniard undertook 63 laps and registered a decent best effort of 1’36.204 to end the day 3.5s off pace man Casey Stoner’s fastest time.

“This is like a dream,” said Barberá at the end of Monday’s session. “This is an amazing moment in my career and we are looking to meet the very highest standards possible. I feel very comfortable in the Aspar team box again and the bike is amazing. It is very rigid in terms of drive which is similar to my old 250cc, but the grip is incredible and it feels like the straights are so much shorter. I’m still adapting of course, but you can feel the bike lifting up and it’s still hard for me to open the throttle fully.”

He continued, “The key objective was to make sure I did not crash. I felt pretty good on the bike and we went pretty fast, but I need to go step by step in order to get used to the bike which is at a similar level to the factory machines. It’s my first time on a four stroke bike and I didn’t know the lines to take but I’m learning quickly.”

Bautista, meanwhile, put in 52 turns on his new bike and lapped half a second quicker than Barberá on a productive first day with the Rizla Suzuki team.

He commented, “I had a day of learning how to handle the machine and enjoyed myself out there. The bike is so powerful and it is not easy to ride at first but I think it’s easier than a 250cc machine. The main differences are the traction control and the tyres, which last much longer, so the feeling on cornering is much steadier. I think we actually did better than the laptimes show.”

Spies incorporated into Tech 3 team on Monday

Monday, 09 November 2009

After his wildcard ride in Sterilgarda Yamaha Team colours on Sunday Ben Spies was officially welcomed into the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team in testing at Valencia on Monday.

After his impressive wildcard ride to seventh place on Sunday at Valencia Ben Spies tested for the first time with his new team Monster Yamaha Tech 3 on Monday at the Ricardo Tormo circuit, getting his first sample of life in the pit-box of Herve Poncharal’s successful satellite squad, alongside fellow Texan Colin Edwards.

Indeed, such was Spies’ immediate pace on James Toseland’s 2009 Yamaha M1 the American’s best time was the sixth quickest on Monday. Spies was only 0.8s behind fastest rider Casey Stoner’s test pace and was a massive 0.6s better than his own fastest lap in Sunday’s race.

The 25-year-old completed 50 laps making it a positive and productive first day with Tech 3. He commented afterwards, “I was obviously on a different bike but with the same setting that I raced on and it felt good. I improved on my qualifying time so it was a positive and productive day. I really just focused on doing a couple of things different with my style and in the last two sessions I tried to do some things very different and it worked.”

“I was slowly able to chip away at the lap times, so it is encouraging that I'm getting faster and more comfortable without even making any changes to the set-up of the bike. We'll make some changes to the bike tomorrow, more for me to see what I can feel, than looking for big improvements.”

New World Champion Aoyama tests Honda RC212V

Monday, 09 November 2009

Having been crowned as the last ever 250cc World Champion on Sunday at Valencia, Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama tested with new premier class team Interwetten MotoGP on Monday.

Graduating from the 250cc class as World Champion this winter, in addition to Marco Simoncelli, Álvaro Bautista and Héctor Barberá, Japanese rider Hiroshi Aoyama joined that European trio in making his MotoGP test debut on Monday at Valencia and the 28 year-old thoroughly enjoyed the experience.

Aoyama has been recruited by Daniel Epp to ride a satellite Honda in MotoGP next year in a newly formed premier class outfit - Interwetten MotoGP – and Monday gave the rider and his new crew their first chance to work together.

In his first MotoGP session Aoyama took it steady as he completed 40 laps, registering the slowest time of his fellow 250cc graduates – around five seconds off Casey Stoner’s pace. Nonetheless he enthused, “It was the first time to try the MotoGP bike and it was a great experience for me”.

“Compared to 250cc there was a big difference on the brakes, so I could not get such a good feeling today, but it was ok for a first try. I still have two more days testing this week so the target will be to get the right feeling.”

Aoyama went on to say, “We decided not to put any control on the acceleration, for spinning, engine braking or wheelies, so it was all manual. It meant it was a bit difficult to ride, but it was fun and it was nice to slide on the corners. Tomorrow we might put some control on the bike.”

Updates to 2010 provisional MotoGP calendar

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

The FIM today announced amendments to the provisional calendar for the 2010 MotoGP World Championship.

The FIM have today announced that the 2010 Grand Prix events in France, Italy and Czech Republic will be held a week later than originally scheduled, whilst Great Britain swaps places in the order with Italy. The San Marino event will be held a week earlier.

Date Grand Prix (Circuit)
April 11th* Qatar (Losail)
April 25th Japan (Motegi)
May 2nd Spain (Jerez)
May 23rd France (Le Mans)
June 6th Italy (Mugello)
June 20th Great Britain (Silverstone)
June 26th** Netherlands (Assen)
July 4th Catalunya (Catalunya)
July 18th Germany (Sachsenring)
July 25th*** United States (Laguna Seca)
August 22nd Czech Republic (Brno)
August 29th Indianapolis (Indianapolis)
September 5th San Marino & Riviera di Rimini (Misano)
September 19th Hungary (Balatonring)
October 10th Malaysia (Sepang)
October 17th Australia (Phillip Island)
October 31st Portugal (Estoril)
November 7th Valencia (Ricardo Tormo Valencia)

Reserve Circuit: Motorland Aragon Circuit

* Evening race
** Saturday race
*** Only MotoGP class

Simoncelli fastest of newcomers on first day

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Marco Simoncelli made a successful start to his MotoGP adaptation on Monday as he joined the San Carlo Honda Gresini in Valencia.

Monday saw the 2008 250cc World Champion Marco Simoncelli taking the first steps in getting over the Sunday disappointment of relinquishing his World title to Hiroshi Aoyama, as he lapped quicker than any of his fellow quarter litre class graduates on his MotoGP test debut.

Slotting into the San Carlo Honda Gresini team at Valencia in the traditional end of season post-race test, Simoncelli gathered confidence on board the Honda RC212V, lapping just a second slower than his experienced compatriot and experienced MotoGP campaigner Loris Capirossi.

Putting in 52 laps, Simoncelli produced a best time of 1’35.229, half a second quicker than Álvaro Bautista, a second faster than Héctor Barberá and nearly three seconds quicker than Aoyama, as they too made their premier class test debuts.

Reviewing the first day on his new 800cc machine, Simoncelli commented, “We started out with a setting designed for a rider with completely different physical dimensions to me and quickly made progress with the changes we made to adapt it. We need to keep working like this and not try to get ahead of ourselves in this test. I just have to get an understanding of the bike and find a direction with the set-up. ”

“My first impression is that these bikes are not as easy as people say and like with anything new you have to work hard at it. I have given my thoughts to the engineers and I'm sure I'll be faster on Tuesday.”

Monday also marked a welcome return to the Gresini team for Marco Melandri, who was reunited with former Crew Chief Antonio Jimenez and quickly got back onto the pace with a best lap of 1’33” 839.

“It was a nice surprise to see how much the 800cc Honda has changed since 2007,” stated Melandri. “It is a very different bike to the one I rode that year. I like it and we quickly got to work on the geometry, finding a good base to work from. On Tuesday we’ll turn our attention to the suspension and a couple of other little things but for now I am happy.”

Interwetten confirm 2010 MotoGP plans

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama will ride for the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team in 2010.

After successful partnership projects in the 125cc and 250cc classes, Interwetten will be present on the MotoGP grid for the 2010 season as the main sponsor of the Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team.

In Spring, Austrian sports betting odds provider Interwetten relaunched its website www.interwetten.com which has fast become one of the most innovative sites in the betting sector. Now Interwetten will make its presence in MotoGP felt for the commencement of the 2010 season.

“Interwetten is one of the most modern betting providers in Europe. Our dynamic innovation should also be reflected in our commitment to motorsports,” said CEO Wolfgang Fabian.

For Interwetten’s entry into the premier class, which will be managed by Daniel M. Epp, 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama has been acquired.

“We want to support Hiroshi in gaining experience in MotoGP and to establish ourselves together in the premier class,” explained Epp.

Fabian also explained Interwetten’s desire to extend its activities into the MotoGP World Championship, adding “Just like Interwetten, MotoGP stands for spectacular action, first-class sports and excitement until the last corner. Interwetten markets itself in countries such as Spain and Greece, and also in Germany and Switzerland and therefore MotoGP is the ideal platform to increase the popularity of our brand in these countries.”

Interwetten will also partner up with Thomas Luthi next year, who will ride for the Interwetten Moto2 team.

Fabian commented, “With Tom Luthi, Interwetten made its first steps in the motorsports World Championship and was very successful. Especially in Switzerland, we are profiting enormously from Tom’s popularity and image

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Jorge Lorenzo was the leading rider by over half a second on the timesheet by 1pm on the second day’s testing at Valencia.

Fiat Yamaha rider Jorge Lorenzo’s best lap of 1’32.480 saw the Spaniard rank as the fastest participant in the early part of the second day of testing at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit by some distance, with the 2009 World Championship runner-up well over half a second better than next quickest Mika Kallio.

Shaving 0.205s off his best time from the previous day’s work, Lorenzo was an impressive 0.645s faster on his M1 prototype than 2009 Rookie of the Year Kallio. Lorenzo was also the only rider to break the 1’33” barrier as lunchtime arrived.

The 22 year-old led a field which did not see his team-mate Valentino Rossi emerge for the first half of the session, while Monster Yamaha Tech 3 rider Colin Edwards was also absent. The Texan’s three-day stint at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit looks to have ended prematurely due to illness.

Kallio’s 1’33.125 time was a vast improvement on his best effort from Monday – by a distance of 0.601s – as he took his Ducati Desmosedici machine around the track 51 times, the highest number of turns completed by 1pm.

Casey Stoner was third quickest as he lapped 0.555s slower than the 1’32.660 that had placed him at the head of the sheet at the end of Monday’s session, while Dani Pedrosa – fourth quickest on day one – was next up, completing just 12 laps as he continues to test both Showa and Ohlins suspensions and a Honda RC212V 2010 prototype. Sunday’s race winner was just over a second off Lorenzo’s pace.

Pedrosa’s Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso, also testing new Ohlins suspension, came inside the top five times as he made a slight improvement on the time he registered on day one, whilst Ben Spies’ first official test for the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team continues as the focus for the American remains on tyres and wheels.

Marco Melandri’s return on a Honda for the San Carlo Honda Gresini team saw him make a marginal improvement on his previous day’s effort – by 0.122s – as the Italian reacquaints himself with the RC212V. Aleix Espargaró’s test on the Ducati of Pramac continues with another sub-1’34” best lap from the Spaniard.

Randy de Puniet, remaining on the 2009 version of his RC212V, tested an Ohlins suspension system and some electronics updates as the LCR team aim to improve the rear end of the bike’s set-up which caused them problems in Sunday’s race.

Of the upcoming 250cc riders, Marco Simoncelli was again the fastest on his Gresini Honda, improving by well over half a second on his own first-day time as he rode 30 laps and came in faster than De Puniet, whilst Héctor Barberá (Aspar Team), Álvaro Bautista (Rizla Suzuki) and 250cc World Champion Hiroshi Aoyama (Interwetten Honda MotoGP Team) all recorded better times than their first outings on Monday.

Of the Moto2 bikes, Toni Elías was also out on the track, testing with the Gresini Moto2 team, and there was a crash for Héctor Faubel who was taken to the Clinica Mobile. An update on his condition is due shortly.

Valencia Official MotoGP Test - best lap times as of 1pm:
1 J. Lorenzo - Fiat Yamaha Team (1’32.480)
2 M. Kallio - Pramac Racing (1’33.125)
3 C. Stoner - Ducati Marlboro (1’33.215)
4 D. Pedrosa - Repsol Honda (1’33.493)
5 A. Dovizioso - Repsol Honda (1’33.546)
6 B. Spies - Monster Yamaha Tech 3 (1’33.696)
7 M. Melandri - San Carlo Honda Gresini (1’33.717)
8 A. Espargaro - Pramac Racing (1’33.887)
9 N. Hayden - Ducati Marlboro (1’34.015)
10 L. Capirossi - Rizla Suzuki (1’34.018)
11 M. Simoncelli - San Carlo Honda Gresini (1’34.458)
12 R. De Puniet - LCR Honda (1’34.586)
13 H. Barbera - Aspar Team (1’34.919)
14 A. Bautista - Rizla Suzuki (1’35.502)
15 H. Aoyama - Interwetten Honda MotoGP (1’36.695)

Repsol Honda testing 2010 machine

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso are both testing the evolving 2010 version of their Honda RC212V prototypes at Valencia.

With the post-season Valencia test now well underway, the Repsol Honda team has wasted no time in rolling out the 2010 version of their RC212V prototype with both Dani Pedrosa and Andrea Dovizioso enjoying their first outings on the evolving machines.

For Pedrosa, an introduction to Ohlins suspension has also been made as the Spaniard tests the Swedish manufacturer’s shock absorbers.

“We are testing with the new 2010 bike and are also using Ohlins suspension,” explained Pedrosa. “The key thing is to begin getting used to the new suspension because the feelings are quite different and we need some time to find the set-up for the new chassis.”

Pedrosa continued, “The feeling from the chassis is quite similar - it’s the suspension that really feels different, and I think this is normal when you make a change like this. The initial feeling is positive and we’ll continue to work (on it).”

Also being tested on the Honda machine by both riders are new Bridgestone tyres, whilst Dovizioso has shifted the position of his engine to improve stability.

“It’s very early days of course, but the first impression is positive and the feeling is that we are moving in a good direction,” said the Italian. “The weight distribution is different in order to improve the stability of the machine under braking and to better suit the Bridgestone tyres. We will continue evaluating the new machine.”

Day two of test sees Lorenzo top timesheet

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Aboard his Yamaha M1 prototype, Jorge Lorenzo set the fastest lap on the second day at Valencia, in his final session of the three-day test.

Post-GP Valencia Test Highlights - Day 2

Jorge Lorenzo was the only rider to break the 1’32” barrier on Tuesday at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit, as he set the quickest lap of the second day of the post-season test on his M1 prototype with a 1’31.939.

Taking his factory bike round for 62 laps as he and Fiat Yamaha team-mate Valentino Rossi tested a new chassis – a new engine is expected to be available to work with in the new year – the Spaniard was 0.256s faster than Monday’s quickest rider Casey Stoner.

On his Ducati Desmosedici meanwhile, Stoner was second fastest on the timesheet as he made 44 laps on the circuit, 12 more than he completed on Monday as the Australian continues to fine tune his 800cc race machinery.

World Champion Rossi emerged only in the afternoon, coming out onto the track just before 2pm to take his M1 out for the final time for this test, as he lapped at just over half a second slower than Lorenzo.

The focus of the Valencia test for Ben Spies remains acquainting himself with his Monster Yamaha Tech 3 bike as he tries various tyre and wheel options, but the experimental nature did not stop the Texan from posting the fourth-fastest time of the day at just under half a second behind Rossi. His team-mate Colin Edwards’ test appears to have come to a premature end however, as he failed to take part on Tuesday due to illness.

Nicky Hayden, who finished the season on a high with his fifth place in Sunday’s race, matched that placement on the timesheet as he recorded 84 laps on his factory Ducati. The 2006 World Champion was trying out the new rear spec Bridgestone tyres for 2010, along with several other riders.

Ohlins suspension was again tested by Dani Pedrosa, as both he and Repsol Honda team-mate Andrea Dovizioso took their 2010 RC212V prototypes out for the second day. Sunday’s race winner Pedrosa was sixth fastest on Tuesday, with Dovizioso 12th as he continued to adjust to the weight distribution caused by the realignment of his engine. The Italian crashed shortly after 1pm, but was back out on the track shortly afterwards.

Randy de Puniet took his RC212V out as the LCR Honda team tested suspension and electronics updates on the Frenchman’s 2009 machine, in a bid to improve the rear set-up of the bike.

Mika Kallio (Pramac Racing), testing a new aluminium swing arm and Loris Capirossi (Rizla Suzuki) both came inside the top-ten lap times, as did Marco Melandri whose return to the San Carlo Honda Gresini team sees him riding the RC212V after a two-year absence. New Pramac arrival Aleix Espargaró’s familiarisation with the Ducati continued as he builds on his 13th-placed race finish from Sunday.

The four riders making the graduation from the 250cc class were also gaining more track time, as Héctor Barberá recorded the quickest time of the quartet. The Valencian rider was using the Desmosedici GP9 as he becomes accustomed to the power delivery offered by the 800cc machines. The Aspar rider has also been assigned three new crew members by Ducati Corse, and he completed 100 laps, the most of any rider on Tuesday.

Marco Simoncelli’s (79 laps) education on the Gresini Honda, Álvaro Bautista’s (74) on the Rizla Suzuki and Hiroshi Aoyama’s (88) on the Interwetten Honda all carried on as well.

Test a success for pleased Fiat Yamaha team

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi were both very happy with their results in the post-season test at Valencia, as the Fiat Yamaha team finished a day early.

It was another productive day for Jorge Lorenzo and Valentino Rossi on their prototype M1 machines at the Valencia test on Tuesday, with the 22 year-old Spaniard topping the timesheet.

Both riders wrapped up their participation in the three-day test a day early with their Tuesday sessions, as they tested new evolutions of their bikes as well completing some laps on their 2009 machines to compare updates.

Recording a best lap of 1’31.939, and coming in 0.256s quicker than the rest of the field – which was led by Monday’s fastest rider Casey Stoner – Lorenzo was thrilled to have topped the timesheet.

“I am happy that we are so competitive here with this new version of the bike,” enthused Lorenzo. “I was able to do some very fast laps and it feels good to be the fastest on the last day of the season. There is a long time now until the next test and it is good for me mentally to know that I was fast today.”

Lorenzo continued, “We have worked on some electronics and the suspension, and we have compared the new chassis to the old one and taken a lot of important information for our engineers. I am so happy about my season; I've won three races, taken many podiums and finished second in the championship. I think this is a great achievement.”

World Champion Rossi, who recorded the third-fastest time of the day with a lap of 1’32.528, was also very satisfied with the progress in development that had been achieved.

“I am happy about what we have so far with the new evolution of the bike, because it's already faster and already feels better than the old one,” he said. “The throttle is easier to open and I think that Yamaha has done a good job so far. We were quite fast today and I'm happy with the work we have done over these two days. I think that we have given our engineers plenty to work on over the winter and I am looking forward to the next updates in February.”

Stoner and Hayden continue their progress for Ducati

Tuesday, 10 November 2009

Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden were again amongst the fastest riders at the Valencia test, as they continued the fine tuning of their Desmosedici machines.

Early preparations for the 2010 season continued to go well for the Ducati Marlboro team, with Casey Stoner and Nicky Hayden both testing further set-up variations at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit on Tuesday.

Stoner was again working with new forks and a revised engine configuration on his Desmosedici prototype, and clocked the second-fastest lap of the day with a best time of 1’32.195.

“We weren’t able to make much use of the day yesterday because of the high winds but today the conditions were much better,” said Stoner of Tuesday’s session. “The new engine setting – which I prefer so far – changes the performance of the bike in different ways, for example in corner exit, so we have to modify the set-up in order to get the most out of it. I also have to get used to it and adapt my riding style accordingly.”

Stoner continued, “This probably means I can’t get on the gas as hard and fast out of the corners but can keep it open for further in the corners. We also tried out the new Bridgestone which seem to work well. In general I’m very pleased with how things are going.”

The rear Bridgestone tyre which Stoner referred to was also tested by team-mate Hayden, as well as a number of other MotoGP riders, and the American completed 84 laps as he continued with a variety of set-up options.

“Today we worked mainly on confirming our impressions from yesterday, running some more tests on the new forks and a bunch of other things on the bike set-up and with the new tyres,” said Hayden, who registered the fifth-fastest lap of the day.

“We have improved a few tenths here and there. The gap to the really fast group is still there but it has been a positive day, we have done a lot of laps and gathered a lot of data. We’ll do some more tests tomorrow on the engine settings and other set-up alterations. We also need to push hard to get the lap times down and close that gap to the lead group,” he concluded.

Tech 3 wrap up season with Spies well settled

Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Ben Spies’ initiation with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team concluded at the Valencia test with the American extremely satisfied with his continued adaptation to the YZR-M1.

The transition to MotoGP continues to run a smooth course for Ben Spies, as the Texan rider’s first official test with the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team ended with him fourth fastest on day two at the Ricardo Tormo Circuit.

Concentrating on familiarising himself further with the M1 machine, Spies continued to spend time adapting his riding style to suit the bike, rather than test different settings. That led to a best lap time which placed him just 0.414s off World Champion Valentino Rossi’s time.

“I'm really happy with this test. My performance in the race surpassed my expectations and so did the test,” explained Spies. “I didn't touch the set-up of the bike again and continued mainly working on adapting my style. I feel like I made a lot of progress. My data guy could see on the computer that I was riding with more of a MotoGP style and each day I've made steps and gained confidence with the tyres. At the end I put on some tyres that had half race distance on them, but I was still able to lap half-a-second faster than Monday. And where I was running regular 1’34.1s in the race I could get into low 1’33s consistently.”

Spies concluded, “I've been making small steps but I'm a lot closer to the front than the back, so that is a good sign. I've enjoyed working with my new guys at Monster Yamaha Tech 3.”

Less fortunate was Spies’ team-mate Colin Edwards, whose test was cut short by a virus which meant he was unable to test on Tuesday.

“I woke up at 5am and felt horrendous. I felt completely drained of all my energy. I thought I'd got food poisoning and I knew then I wasn't going to be able to ride. But the Clinica Mobile guys said I'd got a virus and I've just been lying in bed all day,” said Edwards. “It obviously wasn't the way I wanted to end the year but I'm looking forward to a long break now and coming back strong for 2010.”

Edwards also praised his new colleague’s impressive display, adding, “Looking at the times today, Ben has done a great job. He's not only showed what a fast learner he is, but how talented he is. There should be a good bit of friendly Texan rivalry in 2010 and I can't wait.”

Elías tests Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 bike

Spaniard Toni Elías is still yet to announce his 2010 World Championship plans but this week he has been testing a Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 bike in Valencia.

This week’s post-Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana test in Valencia has seen a number of riders trying new material and new machines, with Toni Elías joining in the practice sessions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit courtesy of Fausto Gresini, who has given him the chance to try a new Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 prototype.

Despite finishing seventh this year in the final MotoGP standings Elías has been unable to hold on to his San Carlo Honda Gresini ride in the premier class, due to the arrival of Marco Simoncelli and the return of Marco Melandri to the satellite team, but there is a possibility that Elías could rider for Gresini in the new Moto2 class in 2010.

In collaboration with Japanese firm Moriwaki, Gresini have been testing their Moto2 prototype with test rider Xavier Simeon this week at Valencia and on Tuesday afternoon Elías also tried out the machine.

After his first session with the bike, Elías said of his future, “It is not clear yet, we are negotiating, but I have a contract with the Gresini team until the end of November.” Referring to the test in general, he continued, “Fausto has given me the opportunity to try the Moto2 bike on Tuesday and Wednesday just for my information and for the information of Moriwaki. I really enjoyed it, the bike is slower than MotoGP but it is fun and it has been a good experience.”

Team boss Gresini said on Tuesday, “In Moto2 we did some more tests this morning with Simeon to allow him more time on the bike and to see how good the kid is, and then in the afternoon we let Elías out on it, having signed a pre-contract agreement with him until the end of November. He was pleased to ride the bike and his lap time was good. Obviously it is not a MotoGP bike, but I have to say that he is approaching the project with enthusiasm.”

TAGS

Elías tests Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 bike

Spaniard Toni Elías is still yet to announce his 2010 World Championship plans but this week he has been testing a Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 bike in Valencia.

This week’s post-Gran Premio Generali de la Comunitat Valenciana test in Valencia has seen a number of riders trying new material and new machines, with Toni Elías joining in the practice sessions at the Ricardo Tormo circuit courtesy of Fausto Gresini, who has given him the chance to try a new Gresini Moriwaki Moto2 prototype.

Despite finishing seventh this year in the final MotoGP standings Elías has been unable to hold on to his San Carlo Honda Gresini ride in the premier class, due to the arrival of Marco Simoncelli and the return of Marco Melandri to the satellite team, but there is a possibility that Elías could rider for Gresini in the new Moto2 class in 2010.

In collaboration with Japanese firm Moriwaki, Gresini have been testing their Moto2 prototype with test rider Xavier Simeon this week at Valencia and on Tuesday afternoon Elías also tried out the machine.

After his first session with the bike, Elías said of his future, “It is not clear yet, we are negotiating, but I have a contract with the Gresini team until the end of November.” Referring to the test in general, he continued, “Fausto has given me the opportunity to try the Moto2 bike on Tuesday and Wednesday just for my information and for the information of Moriwaki. I really enjoyed it, the bike is slower than MotoGP but it is fun and it has been a good experience.”

Team boss Gresini said on Tuesday, “In Moto2 we did some more tests this morning with Simeon to allow him more time on the bike and to see how good the kid is, and then in the afternoon we let Elías out on it, having signed a pre-contract agreement with him until the end of November. He was pleased to ride the bike and his lap time was good. Obviously it is not a MotoGP bike, but I have to say that he is approaching the project with enthusiasm.”

TAGS

Sexy Humorous with Love Earring

Cute from Japan. With spoiled style of she poses for. Nimble, merrymaker and smiling. Comes up is healthy is every opportunity is its life principle.

Larissa Sexy bikini

Larrisa wearing bikinis are very sexy and tempt

Rough night for Canucks

By John Hopkins

Canadian racers had a tough go of it in last night's AMA Ford Quality Checked Flat Track Championship at Daytona's Municipal Stadium.

Steve Beattie of Petrolia, ON was the only Canadian to qualify for the evening program, but he was unable to advance to the 16-rider main event, finishing ninth in his heat aboard the Lancaster H-D / Saddlemen ATK and ninth again in his semi.

Neither Chris Evans nor Doug Lawrence were able to move beyond preliminary qualifying earlier in the day. Evans just missed a spot in the night program when he finished fourth in his Qualifier (the top three advanced). The St. Catharines, ON racer then placed fourth in his Second Chance Qualifier on the American H-D Inc. / KK Motorcycle Supply Rotax.

Lawrence was gridded in the first Qualifier of the day and placed fifth aboard the CVC Communications / American H-D Honda. The native of Mississauga, ON th! en finished sixth in his Second Chance race and was done for the day.

Jake Johnson won the evening's main event aboard a Suzuki. Chris Carr was second riding a KTM and Henry Wiles completed the podium on a Honda.

Inside Motorcycles // www.insidemotorcycles.com

Unique AJS at Classic show

From the Classic & Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet

VANCOUVER, BC -- It's the only one in the world. A unique attraction debuts at this year's Annual Classic & Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet and Show n' Shine: a 1936 500cc AJS V-4 motorcycle re-created by Vancouver's Dan Smith.

With over 30,000 sq. ft. of display space filling three separate arenas, it's the biggest motorcycle swap meet in the Northwest. The Annual Classic & Vintage Motorcycle Swap Meet and Show n' Shine in Tsawwassen, BC takes place on Sunday, Apr. 23 at the South Delta Recreation Centre. Doors open at 10:00 a.m.

Now marking 21 years in existence, the Swap Meet will feature parts for classic and vintage British, American, European and Japanese bikes. Also featured are club displays, memorabilia and complete bikes for sale.

Said organizer Todd Copan, "Each show we've grown bigger than the previous year, and 2006 looks li! ke we'll continue that trend. Many new vendors have booked booths, and we're expecting visitors from all over North America, Europe and beyond."

This year's AJS-Matchless themed display features Smith's unique 1936 AJS V-4, built from the ground up using only photocopies of period pictures. Dan's re-creation is the only example of this model in existence. All AJS and Matchless owners are invited to display their bikes in the Show 'N Shine, and all other classic and vintage motorcycles are welcome too.

South Delta Recreation Center is at the junction of 56th Street and Highway 17 in Delta, BC close to the Tsawwassen ferry terminal and Highway 99. Admission is $6 for adults. Children 12 and under are free. More information is available at www.classicbikeswapmeet.com .

Inside Motorcycles // www.insidemotorcycles.com

Cincinnati Cyclones Take Another Tough Loss

The Wheeling Nailers have come into US Bank arena in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs and have opened a 2-0 lead on the Cincinnati Cyclones. After taking the first game 4-1, Wheeling got past the 'Clones on Friday night 3-1. The goalie for the Nailers, Curtis Darling, was phenomenal tonight against the Cyclones only giving up one goal and stopping 34 shots. Cyclones missed a lot of opportunities to score throughout the game including a penalty shot by Barret Ehgoetz in the first period. The Cyclones were sniffing at making a run in the third period until Bryan Ewing netted a goal 13:50 into the third. The series will now return to Wheeling for three games where Wheeling could eliminate the Cyclones from their 2009 Kelly Cup defense.

Last Night's Scoreboard Stumper

Since 1970, there have been five Cincinnati Reds players who have made the All-Star game with the last name starting with the letter "C." Who are they?

(Answer is in the comments section, we got 4-5)

Chad Ochocinco Not like any Other

The more I have paid attention to Chad Ochocinco this season the more that I like him. Chad is really a fun loving person who loves playing football, loves entertaining, and loves his fans. I realized this from following his Twitter page. Sunday night he sent out a tweet telling all fans he was going to J. Alexanders in Rookwood and if anyone wanted to join him to show up there and dinner was on him. Over 20 people showed up and Chad picked up the tab. What other NFL player does something like this? Chad is like no other. Check out the picture from Chad's twitter page.

Keefe's Picks on the Record

Here are my picks for the tourney so you can follow along. Scroll down to see Besse's picks as well. Keepin it simple like Bess and going just with winners. Enjoy, and goodluck with your bracket.

East

North Carolina over Mt. St. Mary's
Indiana over Arkansas
Notre Dame over George Mason
Washington State over Winthrop
Saint Joseph's over Oklahoma
Louisville over Boise State
Butler over South Alabama
Tennessee over American

North Carolina over Indiana
Notre Dame over Washington State
Louisville over Saint Joseph's
Tennessee over Butler

North Carolina over Notre Dame
Tennessee over Louisville

Midwest

Kansas over Portland State
Kent State over UNLV
Villanova over Clemson
Vanderbilt over Siena
USC over Kansas State
Wisconsin over Cal St. Fullerton
Davidson over ! Gonzaga
Georgetown over UMBC

Kansas over Kent State
Vanderbilt over Villanova
USC over Wisconsin
Georgetown over Davidson

Vanderbilt over Kansas
USC over Georgetown

South

Memphis over Texas-Arlington
Oregon over Mississippi State
Temple over Michigan State
Pittsburgh over Oral Roberts
Marquette over Kentucky
Stanford over Cornell
St. Mary's over Miami
Texas over Austin Peay

Memphis over Oregon
Pittsburgh over Temple
Marquette over Stanford
Texas over St. Mary's

Memphis over Pittsburgh
Texas over Marquette

West

UCLA over Mississippi Valley State
Texas A&M ove BYU
Drake over Western Kentucky
UConn over San Diego
Purdue over Baylor
Xavier over Georgia
West Virginia over Arizona
Duke over Belmont

UCLA over A&M
UConn over ! Drake
Xavier over Purdue
West Virginia over Duke

UCLA over UConn
West Virginia over Xavier

Elite 8

Tennessee over North Carolina
USC over Vanderbilt
Memphis over Texas
UCLA over West Virginia

Final 4

Tennessee over USC
UCLA over Memphis

Championship

Tennessee over UCLA 77-71

UFC 94 Results

Georges St. Pierre def. B.J. Penn by fourth-round TKO*

Lyoto Machida def. Thiago Silva by first-round knockout**

Jon Jones def. Stephan Bonnar by unanimous decision

Karo Parisyan def. Dong Hyun Kim by split decision

Clay Guida def. Nate Diaz by split decision

Undercard:
Jon Fitch def. Akihiro Gono by unanimous decision
Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo by split decision
Jake O'Brien def. Christian Wellisch by split decision
John Howard def. Chris Wilson by split decision
Thiago Tavares def. Manny Gamburyan by unanimous decision

*GSP and Penn fought a pretty even 1st round, with the advantage to St. Pierre, but the next 3 rounds were all GSP. The welterweight champ took B.J. down and did some serious ground and pound. Penn has probably never been in the position his entire career. Give him credit for surviving 3 rounds of beating by St. Pierre. At the end of the 4th round the doctors looked a! t Penn and the Hawaiin's corner said enough is enough.

When the fight was over Thiago Alves went in the ring. Therefore those who wanted another super fight of GSP vs. Anderson Silva will have to wait at least as long as a St. Pierre vs. Alves fight.

**This was as close to a buzzer beater as you could get. Of course if Machinda didn't make the Knockout Shot he just would have gone to round 2, but just a tick before the clock sounded Lyoto landed a damaging blow to Silva. The ref went in to say the 1st round was over, but alas so was Thiago's night.

UFC 94 will be remembered for the super fight and the super performance of St. Pierre against Penn. But look at all those decisions and split decisions at that. Certainly Karo Parisyan and Clay Guida should both be thankful for their results. They could have easily been losers. Pretty good card overall though, February will provide some free fights, with a Fight Night and UFC 95. Nothing jumps out! at me. Diego for Stevenson I guess.

Keep reading t! he Brief , and spread the word. Send us an e-mail as well. Besse and I would like to get a "mail-bag" type thing going as well.

Twitter Update

It's official. Besse and Keefe are both on twitter. You have seen Besse's "Sweet Tweets" for awhile now on the upper right hand portion of the Brief. Now, I, Rich Keefe have made the move. Continue to check out Besse; @tbesse29 and feel free to to follow @Keefe21

I promise not to bore you with what I ate for lunch or how many hours I slept, but rather some quick hit observations I make, that aren't worth writing out here on the Brief. ! We will both continue to write here on the blog, look for Besse's, er, Jimmy the Greek's Weekly NFL Picks, and my new weekly segment, "Keefe's Pick 3." Only going with 3 NFL games, but I guarantee

a winning record... or that I will try to give you a winning record.

So keep checking back here on The Sports Brief and tell a friend and check us out on twitter now.

-Keefe

Hearts 2 Dunfermline 1

A controversial penalty helped Hearts into the Co-operative Insurance Cup quarter-finals as Michael Stewart completed their comeback against Dunfermline.

Hearts manager Csaba Laszlo had warned against a repeat of last season's home defeat by Dunfermline's Irn-Bru First Division rivals Airdrie, but they trailed to Graham Bayne's goal at half-time.

However, Suso Santana headed an equaliser despite the visitors' appeals over an earlier infringement, and Hearts moved in front in the 74th minute after Brian Winter adjudged Neil McGregor to have fouled David Obua.

McGregor claimed his challenge was a fair shoulder charge but Stewart sent Hearts through.

Hearts had struggled to penetrate the Pars defence after losing Andrew Driver to injury before the game, with Gary Glen coming in to support defender Ismael Bouzid up front.

Dunfermline had lost their last three league matches without scoring a goal but t! hey started confidently and Hearts centre-back Jose Goncalves got away with a strong penalty-box barge on Nicky Phinn.

Greg Ross ran on to Scott Muirhead's long throw but he failed to get enough purchase on his volley and Janos Balogh saved.

But Hearts were behind in the 15th minute when Bayne ran on to Ross' reverse pass and fired a shot that Balogh let slip through his body.

Hearts continued to struggle with Glen seeing little of the ball and Bouzid unable to hold it up.

Dunfermline manager Jim McIntyre's 4-2-3-1 formation was getting the better of Laszlo's tactics, while central midfielders Graeme Holmes and Alex Burke were impressing with and without the ball. However Hearts did create some first-half chances from set-pieces.

Match details

Hearts: Balogh, Zaliukas, Bouzid, Goncalves, Craig Thomson, Santana, Michael Stewart, Palazuelos, W! allace (Black 45), Glen (Smith 74), Obua.
Subs No! t Used:< /strong> MacDonald, Kucharski, Jason Thomson.

Booked: Santana. Goals: Glen 56, Michael Stewart 73 pen.

Dunfermline: Fleming, Woods (Cardle 57), McGregor, Dowie, Muirhead, Holmes, Ross (McCann 82), Phinn (Kirk 75), Burke, Gibson, Bayne.
Subs Not Used: Higgins, Paterson.

Booked: Gibson. Goal: Bayne 15.

Att: 6,126

Referee: B Winter (Scotland).

Super Lig Sunday Review

Galatasaray's perfect start to the Super Lig season was ended after they were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Eskisehirspor.

Shabani Nonda opened the scoring after 38 minutes but Mehmet Yilmaz equalised 11 minutes after half-time to deny Gala a seventh consecutive league win and leave them two points adrift of leaders Fenerbahce.

An 83rd-minute Darryl Roberts penalty secured Denizlispor a 1-1 draw with Manisaspor, who had opened the scoring through Josh Simpson after! 69 minutes.

Denizlispor had Adem Calik sent off in injury time.

In another game, Kasimpasa earned their first point of the season with a goalless draw away to Kayserispor.

Daniel Keatings claims historic medal at the World Gymnastics Championships

A year after he watched from the wings as his Huntingdon club-mate, Louis Smith, became the first British man in a century to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal, Daniel Keatings wrote his own name in the history books in London's O2 Arena on Thursday night.

The 19 year-old from Corby became the first British gymnast, male or female, to win an all-around medal at a World Championship with a brilliant display of strength and gravity-defying dexterity to take the silver behind Japan's Kohei Uchimura.

"It's crazy and it's diff! icult to come to terms with," he said. "It was a dream when I came here and now it's a reality." With three years to go until the Olympic gymnastics competition takes place in the same venue, Britain is already establishing itself as a genuine world force. Even the country's second string, Kristian Thomas, produced the performance of his life to finish sixth overall. Exciting times lie ahead.

Keatings, a precocious talent and one of the Telegraph's Ten to Watch for 2012, has long been marked out as the best all-round gymnast the country has ever produced, an elegant and technically accomplished performer who, with several more years of experience under his belt, could be one of the stars of the London Games.

The only doubt has been about his temperament under pressure — a flaw in his make-up that appeared to get the better of him in qualification on Tuesday when his hopes of making it to the p! ommel horse final were ended by a botched dismount.

It wa s a repeat of his failure to qualify for the pommel horse final at the Beijing Olympics, where he was forced to watch the action as a first reserve, all dressed up with nowhere to compete.

His qualification for the all-around final in Beijing underlined his versatility, though his 20th-place finish also suggested that he still had some way to go to compete with the best.

But a year of rapid improvement that included winning a silver medal at the European Championships in April has confirmed his arrival as a truly world-class gymnast.

It is a measure of how much he has advanced that Uchimura, the only gymnast to get the better of him on Thursday, won the Olympic silver in Beijing.

Keatings had already confirmed his medal credentials by qualifying for Thursday's final in fourth place, though the old doubts about his mental toughness surfaced in his opening piece when he twice stepped out of bounds on the flo! or exercise, earning a modest score of 14.250.

But any nerves were soon dispelled on the pommel horse, his favourite apparatus, as a faultless routine put him back on course with 15.500 points — a score that elevated him into third place overall.

"A soon as I did that the nerves just dropped and I started enjoying it," he said.

A solid 14.200 on the rings, his least favourite piece, was followed by an excellent vault that netted him 15.450 points and nudged him into second place, and two more alarm-free routines on the parallel bars and high bar cemented his silver medal ahead of third-placed Russian Yury Ryazanov.

Fulham 1 Roma 1

The Uefa Europa League game between Fulham and Roma at Craven Cottage on Thursday Oct 22 2009.

This was so nearly a famous victory for Fulham and their inspirational manager Roy Hodgson. This was so nearly a humiliating defeat for Roma until Marco Andreolli's injury-time equaliser.

But this was definitely an embarrassing defeat for Michel Platini's plan for officials behind the goal.

Leading through Brede Hangeland's first-half header, Fulham conceded a penalty 12 minutes from time when Stephen Kelly tripped John Arne R! iise. The Belgian officials ludicrously dismissed Hangeland until the Fulham players, even Kelly himself, all pointed out that it was the dark-haired full-back not the tall, fair-haired centre-half, forcing them to change their minds.

Mark Schwarzer guessed Jeremy Menez's mind and saved the penalty but had no chance deep into stoppage time when Andreolli's shot deflected in off John Pantsil, ruining an otherwise wonderful night for Fulham and Hodgson.

Even before Hangeland's majestic header midway through the first half brought due reward for Fulham's purposeful football, it was inexplicable to think that the club could risk losing their inspirational manager. Sweden and Norway would love to employ Hodgson, whose contract at Craven Cottage expires next summer.

Fulham insist that a deal will be sorted, that they hav! e not intention of allowing the catalyst behind their upsur! ge in fo rtunes to take his widely-regarded skills elsewhere. There is no great secret to Hodgson's success. He buys hungry players like Hangeland, imperious against Roma's attack in the first period, and makes them better.

He revives the careers of those like Aaron Hughes, who made some important tackles on the few occasions Roma showed a first-half threat, with sound advice and words of encouragement. Hodgson brought in Jonathan Greening from West Brom and the midfielder could easily have scored twice in the opening exchanges, the first strike bringing a magnificent save from Doni, Roma's keeper.

Hodgson conducts deep research into the opposition, also drawing on his own experience. This was the sixth occasion the former Inter Milan and Udinese coach had faced Roma and he had lost only one of the previous five.

Hodgson saw Roma's defensive vulnerability, the way their full-backs, Nicolas Burdisso and John Arne Riise, pu! shed slightly forward and targeted the space behind them.

There is a quiet dignity to Hodgson that players and supporters also respond to. It was little surprise to hear the Hammersmith End chanting his name as Greening went close and Riise's brother, Bjorn Helge, stormed down the right, even muscling his sibling off the ball to Craven Cottage's delight.

Roma's Riise is not popular down by the Thames, having spurned the club's advances a decade ago on maternal advice. The Roma left-back was duly assailed with chants of "mummy's boy''. Fans never forget. Riise almost silenced them with a trademark drive but Mark Shwarzer, the rock of ages, diverted the danger. As the second half began, Riise was again treated to more chants of "mummy's boy'' and he had the good grace to laugh and applaud the Johnny Haynes stand.

Both sets of supporters contributed to a crackling atmosphere, the visiting tifosi setting the tone wi! th a caustic serenade of Mohammed Fayed as Fulham's benefac! tor walk ed around the pitch before kick-off. It is to be hoped that Fayed's knowledge of Italian is minimal.

They kept singing, kept waving their flags saying "nothing is impossible'' but their team were given a lesson in intelligent use of possession by Hodgson's side until Ranieri shook things up at the break, particularly by introducing David Pizarro.

As nimble and well-drilled as ever, Fulham had kept building from the back, kept the tempo high with Paul Konchesky's left boot briefly resembling a conductor's baton before a knee problem flared up and he did not reappear for the second half.

Until then, Konchesky and Greening looked to work the ball down the channels to Bobby Zamora. Under Hodgson's uplifting guidance, Zamora looks a threatening target-man again. Fabio Capello's presence might have whetted Zamora's appetite.

Muscular, pacey and full of ambition, Zamora gave the Roma centre-half, Marco Andreol! li, a torrid first half. Receiving one ball from Konchesky, Zamora turned and darted towards goal. He might have escaped Andreolli's clutches if the stitching in his shirt had been weaker.

Andreolli held and held, almost ripping Zamora's top off. Fulham fans understandably fumed, shouting at the sleepy additional assistant referee stationed to one side of the goal at the Putney End. The Belgian did not move, did not react to the obvious shirt-pulling offence. Michel Platini's master-plan for more officials to keep an eye on offences in the Uefa Europa League is all very laudable but not if they doze off. Zamora still got a shot in, although it deflected off Andreolli, who was still clinging on to the Fulham No 25.

No matter. Fulham refused to yield to any frustration, remaining brim full of good ideas and energy. The anticipated Roma backlash had still to arrive so Fulham were able to attack almost at will.

Afte! r 24 minutes, they had the breakthrough. Riise's corner swirle! d across in front of the Putney End and there was Hangeland, having lost Andreolli, exploiting Doni's poor attempted punch to head home.

Roma revived after the break, particularly when Pizarro was on the ball, but Fulham were almost the next to score. Zamora's cross appeared destined for the unmarked Diomansy Kamara until Philippe Mexes slid in to clear. Zamora then released Kamara but Doni dashed out to grab the ball.

Wasim's Akram wife Huma buried

Former Pakistan captain Wasim Akram's wife Huma, who passed away at a Chennai hospital, was laid to rest.

Body of Huma, 42, who breathed her last at the Apollo Hospital in India, was flown back to Pakistan, where Akram's former team-mates Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Ijaz Ahmed, Moin Khan and Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt joined the mourning.

Huma was hospitalised on October 20 after her condition deteriorated, when an air ambulance flying her to Singapore from Lahore halted at ! the Chennai airport for a scheduled refuelling.

She was put on ventilator support after multiple organ failure and her condition had remained critical since her admission.

Besides Akram, Huma is also survived by two sons - Akbar and Taimur.

Russian Premier Liga Review

Spartak Moscow kept up the pressure on Russian Premier Liga leaders Rubin Kazan with a 5-1 thrashing of Rostov.

Spartak closed the gap to one point in the battle for the title as Pavel Yakovlev, Zhano Ananidze and Welliton also got on the scoresheet.

Alexandru Gatcan was the scorer of Rostov's consolation.

Spartak Nalchik beat fellow strugglers Kuban Krasnodar 4-0, with three of the goals coming in the second half.

Shamil Asildarov opened the scoring ! with a penalty on 32 minutes - and Alexander Amisulashvili (64), Vladimir Kisenkov (76) and Leandro (90) completed the rout.

Lokomotiv Moscow remain in the hunt for a European place following a 3-1 away win against Tomsk, where both sides had a man sent off with half-an-hour remaining.

Dmitri Sychev (11) opened the scoring, and Goran Maznov equalised for Tomsk nine minutes later.

Sychev restored the visitors' lead, and Peter Odemwingie completed the scoring - before Artem Dzjuba and Ruslan Kambolov were both dismissed.

AFF Suzuki Cup 2008 Thailand and Indonesia Table

Group A : Playing in Indonesia

1. Singapore 9pts (9)

2. Indonesia 6pts (5)

3. Myanmar 3pts (-4)

4. Cambodia 0pts (-10)

Group B: PLaying In Thailand

1. Thai Land 9pts (11)

2. Viet Nam 6pts (3)

3. Malaysia 3pts (-1)

4. Laos 0pts (-13)

Galliani su Beckham: "Ci sono buone possibilità che ritorni"

di Giorgio Mosconi
Fonte: Milannews.it

Da Montecarlo, dove si trova in rappresentanza della Lega Calcio allo Sportel, l'Amministratore Delegato del Milan, Adriano Galliani si sbilancia sul riapprodo di David Beckham a Gennaio in maglia rossonera: "Ci sono molte probabilità che Beckham arrivi al Milan in prestito fino al 30 giugno ma non do per fatto nulla finchè non c'è la firma".