SPORTS
16
Monday, July 19, 2010
TORONTO: Justin Wilson, driver of the No. 22 Team Z-Line Designs/DRR Dreyer&Reinbold Racing Dallara Honda, drives during the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto. (Insed) Justin Wilson of England smiles after winning the pole award for the IZOD IndyCar Series Honda Indy Toronto.—AFP
Justin Wilson takes Toronto pole TORONTO: Justin Wilson of England won his first IndyCar Series pole to end Team Penske’s streak at eight, turning a series track-record lap of 104.827 mph (168.69 kph) on the Toronto street circuit on Saturday. Wilson, the winner from the pole in the 2006 Champ Car race at the tight and bumpy Exhibition Place track, gave owner Dreyer & Reinbold its first IndyCar pole since Sarah Fisher led the field at Kentucky Speedway in 2002. “We’ve had a couple of tough races, so to come back and get the pole here is just fantastic,” Wilson said. “Everyone at Dreyer & Reinbold has worked so hard. “It’s a good weekend so far. We have to keep it up. We’ll keep pushing for the race. It’s easy in this
stage to sit back and relax, but we have a lot of work to do.” Wilson saved a set of red-lined tires — the softer and less durable of the two Firestone models — for the 10-minute, sixcar qualifying finale. “That was the move of the day,” said Ryan Hunter-Reay of the United States, the fourth-place qualifier. “We couldn’t beat him after that.” Wilson is the first driver to reach the final six-car session — called the Fast Six — without using a set of the red tires in the first two segments since the alternate-tire program was introduced last season. “I was OK with the first round,” the Englishman said. “The second round, I was a little nervous, but the car was that fast that we pulled it off.” The teams are required to
use both the red and harder black-lined tires in the 85-lap race on Sunday. They are limited to three sets of reds and six blacks for the three days of practice, qualifying and racing. Will Power of Australia, the series leader and a three-time winner this season on street and road courses, qualified second. “We definitely got the car better for qualifying, but Justin was very quick and tough to beat,” Power said. “I’m not sure I could have beaten him this time. I know I made a mistake at the end of my lap, but that was a tough qualifying session. I’m exhausted. ... I feel good about tomorrow. I’m not sure what will happen with the weather. Rain always stirs things up, but we will take it as it comes.” His Penske teammate Helio
Castroneves of Brazil qualified third. “We ended up being more safe than taking a chance using our second set of reds on qualifying,” Castroneves said. Scotland’s Dario Franchitti, the winner last year in Toronto en route to the season title, qualified fifth. He also won a Champ Car race in Toronto in 1999. “I normally wouldn’t be happy with my position, but after practice yesterday and today, I’m very happy to be in the position I’m in,” said Franchitti, the Indianapolis 500 winner in late May for Chip Ganassi Racing.-”Unfortunately, when it came to the Fast Six, we had already used our reds.” Meanwhile, IndyCar Series chief executive officer Randy Bernard says they are
closely monitoring the dangerously slow Milka Duno. “I’m going to get myself in trouble on this one, but I’m going to tell you,” Bernard said on Saturday at the Honda Indy Toronto. “It’s very, very important for the credibility of the IndyCar Series that fans know they’re (the drivers) the best in the world. And if someone can’t maintain and compete with that, I really think that’s what we have a ladder system for. “I’m behind our chief steward, Brian Barnhart. He has to make the assessment who is allowed on and who isn’t. I’m sure at the end of this year, Brian and I will sit down and determine what’s in the best interest of the sport.” In practice on Saturday, Duno averaged 91.118 mph (146.63 kph) — 12.145 mph
Pedrosa wins German GP SACHSENRING: Dani Pedrosa won an eventful German MotoGP here yesterday, with reigning world champion Valentino Rossi taking fourth in his first race since breaking his leg six weeks ago. Spaniard Pedrosa on a Honda came in clear of Yamaha’s championship leader Jorge Lorenzo, with Australia’s Casey Stoner pipping comeback king Rossi for third. Pedrosa’s win completed a clean sweep for Spain at the Sachsensring circuit near Dresden, as his fellow countrymen Marc Marquez and Toni Elias won the Moto2 and 125cc races respectively. In the big one, only a late lunge on the final corner by Stoner denied the 98,000 spectators the remarkable sight of Rossi hobbling onto the podium on crutches. The rider known as ‘The Doctor’ has missed four races since his crash in Mugello 42 days ago, but even with one and a half legs in full working order, his brilliance was there for all to see as he battled with Stoner for third. The race was marred by a threebike pile-up on lap ten that resulted in a 30-minute delay and French rider Randy de Puniet suffering a double left leg fracture. Pedrosa, registering his second win of the season, reflected on the interruption, saying: “When they stopped I wasn’t sure about the restart. When you stop and restart it’s never the same thing, but for me it was good.” Lorenzo was satisfied with his runner-up spot. “This race was a bit crazy with the crash and the restart,” he said. “Pedrosa got more pace than me, it was impossible to follow him. He’s done a splendid race, so I’m happy with second place, it’s very positive for the championship.” Stoner reported that he had struggled with the setup on his Ducati. “In qualifying on Saturday we had a
problem with the front end of the bike, with either too much or too little weight,” he said. “I did the best I could this afternoon. I thought Valentino was going to get me but I dragged everything I could out of my bike to get past him.” A spectacular crash in the tenth lap involving de Puniet, Alvaro Bautista and Aleix Esparagaro, forced a temporary halt to this eighth leg of the 2010 season. Honda rider de Puniet fell first, with Bautista’s Suzuki clipping his wheels and Esparagaro (Ducati) hot on their heels unable to take avoiding action. De Puniet’s bike burst into flames. It was the second tumble of the weekend for de Puniet, who also fell in qualifying on Saturday. After marshalls had cleared the track of debris the race restarted half an hour later, with the riders in the positions they were in when the red flag went up. Earlier Elias on a Moriwaki won the Moto2 race, with Italian duo Andrea Iannone (Speed Up) and Roberto Rolfo (Suter) in second and third. This was the third win of the season for Elias after victories at Jerez and Le Mans, and it lifted him 42 points clear of his Swiss team-mate Thomas Luthi in the overall standings. Marquez set the tone for Spain when winning the opening 125cc race with Japan’s Tomoyoshi Koyama (Aprilia) in second and Germany’s Sandro Cortese (Derbi) third. It was the Derbi rider’s fifth successive win, a feat that was last accomplished in 1997 by Rossi in the same category. Marquez leads the riders’ standings by 26 points from Espargaro and 39 from third-placed Aprilia rider Nicolas Terol, an absentee here after suffering an injury when crashing on the final lap in the last race in Barcelona.—AFP
(19.54 kph) behind leader Justin Wilson — on the fastest of her 12 laps. She then skipped qualifying, leaving the Venezuelan’s Dale Coyne Racing entry 25th in the 26-car field yesterday. Duno was ordered off the track last month at Iowa Speedway when she dropped more than 2 seconds off the leader’s pace, double the allowed limit on the short, highspeed oval. She also drew attention two weeks ago at Watkins Glen, hindering Ryan Hunter-Reay’s qualifying effort by running more than 7 seconds off the pace. “If she’s going to drive in this series, she’s going to have to drive with her mirrors,” Hunter-Reay said at Watkins Glen. “There are 15 turns on this course and she’s the 16th.”—AP
World Series of Poker to determine on table
GERMANY: Spain’s Dani Pedrosa of the Repsol Honda team celebrates his victory after the race of the Moto Grand Prix of Germany at Sachsenring Circuit.—AFP
LAS VEGAS: Six eliminations stood between the remaining 15 players and a spot at the final table of the World Series of Poker main event after a chaotic day Saturday. Those remaining were guaranteed at least half-amillion dollars each but were all eyeing off a chance to make the final nine, which will return in November to play the final table and decided the winner of the $8.94 million first prize. Benjamin Statz, a 32-year-old trader from New York, was eliminated in 16th place taking $396,967 prizemoney. He gambled all his chips on an ace-five and was called by Matthew Jarvis with a king-queen. The flop came king, king, queen, giving the 25year-old Jarvis a full house. A king came on the river to give him four of a kind. Filippo Candio, a 29-year-old Italian poker player, knocked out two players and later raked in a huge pot on a bad beat against then-leader Joseph Cheong to take an early lead in the session with 27 million chips. But it lasted less than one level as Jarvis and fellow Canadian Jonathan Duhamel were neck and neck with the top two chip stacks by the dinner break, each with about 29 million chips. Candio built most of his stack calling Cheong’s all-in bet with about a 13 percent chance to win. His two pair, fives and sixes, were behind Cheong’s aces and sixes. But running cards — an eight and a four — saved Candio’s tournament with a straight and sent the Cagliari, Italy-native into a frenzy as he scurried around tableside and kneeled and pointed upward in celebration. Cheong, a 24-year-old pro, was dropped from the chip lead to the middle of the pack. Candio had dropped to 21 million chips two hours later. Jarvis picked up 4.9 million chips by eliminating two-time gold bracelet winner Scott Clements, who moved all-in with ace-queen. Jarvis moved allin over the top of Clements to push out Michael Mizrachi, who had opened the betting with a raise. Mizrachi folded, and Clements didn’t improve. Ronnie Bardah, Johnny Lodden, Matthew Bucaric, Mads Wissing, William Thorson, Robert Pisano, Redmond Lee, Patrick Eskandar and Michiel Sijpkens each were eliminated, winning $317,161. Michael Mizrachi, the biggest name left in the tournament who won a $50,000 buy-in mixed game tournament at the series earlier this summer, chipped up early to 7.2 million chips but was down to less than 4 million chips by the dinner break.—AP