Friday, March 27, 2009
Force India: 2009 Australian GP Free Practice Report
The Force India Formula One Team's 2009 FIA Formula One World Championship campaign got underway today with two 90 minute free practice sessions at the Albert Park track in Melbourne, Australia. Both Adrian Sutil and Giancarlo Fisichella enjoyed strong starts to the year, with Adrian recording the 9th quickest time in both sessions and Giancarlo the 14th and 13th fastest times in FP1 and FP2 - already on a par with their respective 2008 qualifying laps.
After a very limited winter testing programme, the team's objective today was to cover as many laps as possible and further its understanding of the new car, the VJM02. The programme also included comparing the two Bridgestone Potenza tyre compounds available this weekend, set-up work and, in the afternoon, longer and new tyre runs.
Qualifying for the Australian Grand Prix will take place tomorrow at 17:00hrs local time following a final 60-minute practice session in the morning.
Adrian Sutil (car 20)
'I hope this is representative of where we are, but it is still very early on in the weekend. We had a good session in the afternoon and could do some quite promising runs. I was pleased with the car, we had no real problems. The balance depended on the tyres. In the second session we did some race runs and struggled a lot with the softer tyre, but I think once the track rubbers in the tyres will grip better, but overall it was OK and a good position in the end. I think we can be happy with where we are right now.'
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21)
'It's a bit too early to say how we can perform this weekend. The car is better under high speed but so far I am struggling with the rear locking and I'm not 100% comfortable just yet. We're in better shape than last year for sure though. We will see tomorrow but at least we know there is potential to improve over night.'
Simon Roberts, chief operating officer
'It's been a promising start to the weekend today. I've been really pleased with the team and the overall performance. We managed to get everything we needed to completed and, apart from a couple of niggles in the first session - really just early season teething problems - it was a good team showing.'
Adrian Sutil (car 20, VJM02/03):
FP1: 9th 1:27.993 (20 laps)
FP2: 9th 1:27.040 (29 laps)
Giancarlo Fisichella (car 21, VJM02/01):
FP1: 14th 1:28.603 (16 laps)
FP2: 13th 1:27.282 (32 laps)
Rashid retains Faldo Series Asia title
Rashid Khan returned a card of two-under 70 to emerge on top at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final played at Mission Hills in China. With a three-day total of five-under 211, Rashid became the first back-to-back winner of the title. 
It has been a stellar season for Rashid that has seen him win four titles on the LG Amateur Tour, including the LG Rambagh Open Amateur, just two days prior to his departure to China.
S Chikkarangappa from Bangalore finished third, five behind the leader. It was a good comeback from the young lad after a 78 in the first round had pushed him down the leaderboard. Amanjyot Singh started off well but could not keep up his good showing, shooting a 76 and 81 in the last two rounds to finish outside the top-20.
Rashid got off to a sedate start in the tournament with an even-par 72 but followed it up with a 69 in the second round that put him in the lead. The 18-year-old won with a birdie four on the 18th hole to finish on five-under-par, one ahead of Spain’s Adrian Jauregui who had chipped in for eagle on the same hole playing one group in front.
A delighted Rashid later said, “I am so happy to win. I was nervous at the start, especially with Mr Faldo watching, however I soon settled and stuck to my game plan. Even towards the end when the scores were tight I felt confident that I could do it. I want to come back next year and win again!”
Six-time Major winner Nick Faldo said, “I was really impressed with Rashid today – he hit two great drives down 17 and 18 under a lot of pressure which set him up for the win.”
The field for this year’s tournament included Steven Brown, the winner of the Faldo Series Grand Finals held in Brazil.
Now in its 12th season, past Faldo Series winners include European Tour stars Nick Dougherty, Marc Warren, Oliver Fisher and the current sensation in the golfing world, Rory McIlroy.
Final Scores-:
211: Rashid KHAN IND (72, 69, 70)
212: Adrian JAUREGUI ESP (70, 73, 69)
216: S CHIKKARANGAPPA IND (78, 69, 69)
217: HUNG Chien Yao TPE (71, 72, 74)
219: Gregory FOO SIN (70, 72, 77)
221: Steven BROWN ENG (73, 75, 73)
221: LIU Lok Tin HKG (72, 75, 74)
222: HSIEH Yu Ling (69, 77, 76)
223: Nicholas FUNG (81, 73, 69)
223: HSIEH Chi Hsien TPE (75, 72, 76)
Indian Scores-:
211: Rashid KHAN IND (72, 69, 70)
216: S Chikkarangappa IND (78, 69, 69)
229: Amanjyot Singh IND (72, 76, 81)
233: Ankur Chadha IND (80, 78, 75)
244: Gauri Monga IND (81, 84, 79)
257: Bhanupratap Singh IND (93, 82, 82)
India v NZ 2nd Test (at Napier), Day Two Scoreboard
New Zealand (1st innings):
T. McIntosh c D. Karthik b I. Sharma 12, M. Guptill c V. Sehwag b Z. Khan 8, J. How b Z. Khan 1, R. Taylor c Y. Singh b H. Singh 151, J. Ryder b Z. Khan 201, J. Franklin (run out) 52, B. McCullum c S. Tendulkar b I. Sharma 115, D. Vettori b I. Sharma 55, J. Patel c I. Sharma b H. Singh 1, I. O'Brien (not out) 1, Extras (b-7, lb-8, nb-7) 22; Total (for 9 wickets in 154.4 overs) 619 decl.
FoWs: 1-21 2-22 3-23 4-294 5-415 6-477 7-605 8-618 9-619.
Bowling: Z. Khan 34-6-129-3, I. Sharma 27-5-95-3, M. Patel 28-3-128-0, H. Singh 41.4-7-120-2, V. Sehwag 12-0-73-0, Y. Singh 12-0-59-0.
India (1st innings):
G. Gambhir c D. Vettori b J. Patel 16, V. Sehwag c B. McCullum b D. Vettori 34, R. Dravid (batting) 21, I. Sharma lbw b D. Vettori 0, S. Tendulkar (batting) 0, Extras:(lb-7, nb-1) 8; Total:(for three wickets in 23 overs) 79.
FoWs: 1-48, 2-73, 3-78.
Bowling: C. Martin 6-1-26-0, J. Franklin 5-1-15-0, D. Vettori 5-1-16-2, I. O'Brien 3-2-9-0, J. Patel 4-1-6-1.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Cheerleading Championship on ESPN
The most prestigious cheerleading championship of the United States of America --the National High School Cheerleading Championship -- will be broadcast on ESPN from March 30 to April 9.
Wenger signs for Castrol
Castrol, the official sponsor of 2010 FIFA World Cup, today announced a new global partnership with world-renowned football manager Arsène Wenger. The partnership between one of the best managers in world football and the industry-leading lubricants company runs until the end of 2010.
In his new global role with Castrol, Arsène will be promoting a number of Castrol football initiatives that provide new and innovative insights into what goes into winning performances on the pitch. The combination of Castrol’s insights and his football expertise will be seen globally from print advertising to engaging online content.
India v NZ 2nd Test (at Napier), Day One Scoreboard
New Zealand (1st innings):
M. Guptill c Sehwag b Z. Khan 8, T. McIntosh c D. Karthik b I. Sharma 12, J. How b Z. Khan 1, R. Taylor c Y. Singh b H. Singh 151, J. Ryder (batting) 137, J. Franklin (batting) 26, Extras (b-6, lb-3, nb-7) 16; Total (for 4 wickets in 90 overs) 351
FoWs: 1-21, 2-22, 3-23, 4-294
Bowling: Z. Khan 23-4-94-2, I. Sharma 17-4-61-1, M. Patel 18-2-78-0, H. Singh 26-6-61-1, V. Sehwag 5-0-34-0, Y. Singh 1-0-14-0.
Azlan Shah Cup fixture
Following is the fixture of the Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament to be held in Malaysia. India plays Egypt in its first outing.
April 5: India v Egypt; Pakistan v Malaysia
April 6: New Zealand v Pakistan; Malaysia v Egypt
April 7: Rest Day
April 8: New Zealand v Egypt; India v Malaysia
April 9: India v New Zealand; Pakistan v Egypt
April 10: Rest Day
April 11: India v Pakistan; Malaysia v New Zealand
April 12: 3-4 Placing; Final.
