The Star Online: Sports

Mazoil Faito replace struggling riders with experienced ones
Kogure turns formbooks upside down to grab Super GT pole
McIlroy carries 8-stroke lead into Sunday

Mazoil Faito replace struggling riders with experienced ones

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 06:22 PM PDT

PETALING JAYA: AAP Mazoil Faito Racing team have taken drastic measures to change their fortunes in next weekend's Round 5 of the Petronas AAM Malaysian Cub Prix Championship after failing to earn a single point in the first four rounds.

The team from Sungai Petani, Kedah, have replaced all three struggling riders – Mohd Rafiuddin Rosle, Mohd Afif Mustaffa and Mohd Hafizul Hamid (CP115) – with Mohd Ridwan Bakri and Mohd Syafiq Rosli.

The 24-year-old Ridwan, who had a stint with the Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline team, will ride in the CP115 category while 14-year-old Syafiq will compete in the Wira category.

Team mananger Rozaimi Rizal Mohd Razali said that the changes were necessary if they were to start picking up points.

"Our main concern now is to start picking up points and we need good riders to achieve that. So we took in Ridwan and Shafiq, who already have racing experience," said Rozaimi.

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Kogure turns formbooks upside down to grab Super GT pole

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 05:59 PM PDT

SEPANG: Unheralded Weider Honda Racing team driver Takashi Kogure turned the formbooks upside down when they got it right in the vital Superlap qualifying session to grab pole position for Round 3 of the Japan Super GT series at Sepang International Circuit yesterday.

Takashi, the team's first driver, blazed his way to the top of the timesheets in 1:55.984. Both Takashi and Loic Duval had taken turns to put the car through the paces in the practice earlier in the morning and indicated their intentions by coming in second.

Takashi again came in second in the first qualifying session with the top 10 fastest cars advancing to the Superlap session.

And the 31-year-old then timed it to perfection to hand his team an unexpected boost after a slow start to the season.

Weider Honda Racing Team are currently in 12th overall position with eight points after the first two rounds.

They are 24 points adrift of leaders Nismo, made up of drivers Satoshi Motoyama and Benoit Treluyer.

"The season has not been too good for us and the car was giving us some problems. But today the car's balance was great and the tyres also were performing well, so we are very happy to start from pole. The entire team did an excellent job," said Kogure, who showed his delight by pumping his fists in the direction of his team's pitbox upon stepping out of the car.

After setting the fastest lap in the first qualifying session, Team Mola settled for second spot on the grid with a lap time of 1:56.371 set by Ronnie Quintarelli.

Keihin Real Racing driver Koudai Tsukakoshi clocked 1:56.710 to put his team third on the grid for the 46-lap race today.

Andre Lotterer and Treluyer, who were team-mates in the winning Audi Team Sport at the prestigious 24 Hours Le Mans race last weekend, failed to shine for their respective teams here.

Lotterer, who drove for Lexus Team Petronas Tom with Kazuki Nakajima, suffered disappointment in what is considered their home race as their best lap of 1:58.472 could only put them 11th on the grid.

"I needed one more lap to get the most out of the tyres but we will fight tomorrow," said Lotterer.

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McIlroy carries 8-stroke lead into Sunday

Posted: 18 Jun 2011 05:55 PM PDT

BETHESDA, Maryland (AP) - Rory McIlroy kept punishing the golf course and the record book Saturday, setting himself up with an eight-shot lead at the U.S. Open with 18 holes left between him and his first major championship.

In a third round that felt more like a regular day on tour than the toughest test in golf, McIlroy shot 3-under-par 68 to finish at 14-under 199, breaking Jim Furyk's record for the best 54-hole score by one stroke.

McIlroy leads Y.E. Yang (70) by eight and Lee Westwood (65), Jason Day (65) and Robert Garrigus (68) by nine.

The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland will sleep on the lead heading into the final day of a major for the second straight time. But this lead is double the size of the one he held at the Masters two months ago, when he blew up on the back nine, shot 80 and finished 15th. "Overall, I'm very happy with the way I played today," McIlroy said. "Now, I just have to do that for 18 more holes." Knowing their chances were slim to catch the leader, the rest of the field took its frustration out on Congressional, a soft course thanks to forgiving rough and rain-soaked greens.

There were 26 rounds under par, a record for the third round of the U.S. Open, and the 72 players carded a total of 224 birdies. It could have been a scary scene for McIlroy, who saw the mid-60s on the board before he ever reached the first tee box, but he didn't waver.

He played scrambling golf over the first few holes, while he was having trouble finding the fairway, then made birdies on No. 5, 9, 11 and 14 to get to 14-under, a number never seen before on a U.S. Open scoreboard. Of course, that's old news by now. On Friday, McIlroy reached 13 under for the first time in U.S. Open history and took a record-tying six-stroke cushion into the weekend. His eight-shot advantage is two short of the lead Tiger Woods took to Sunday at Pebble Beach in 2000, when he routed the field by 15 shots. Though McIlroy is drawing comparisons to Woods, he wants no part of it.

"I'm still looking for my first one," McIlroy said. "That's all I can say. I'm looking for my first one. I put myself in good position to do it tomorrow and we'll see what happens."

The way he's playing, and with a cushion as soft as the golf course he's overrunning, it would take something of epic proportions to prevent it. The rest of the players realize that.

"When you go in 12 behind somebody, you can play as well as you'd like to play but it's still going to be a matter of the leader coming back to you," Westwood said. "No use thinking about what Rory's doing. But I've played with big leads in the past. It's not easy. We'll see what happens." McIlroy did, in fact, make a bogey on No. 10 after hitting his tee shot on the par-3 into a back bunker. But he came back on No. 11, hitting an approach shot from the rough to 18 feet, then sinking the putt and fist pumping as he walked to grab the ball from the hole. That put him back at 13-under par. On 14, he hit his approach to 6 feet and made that.

On the front side, McIlroy wasn't nearly as locked in early Saturday as he was during the first two rounds, when he set the 36-hole U.S. Open scoring record at 11-under 131. He missed fairways on 1, 3, 8 and 9 on the front side and pushed his approach into a greenside bunker on No. 4. But he made par or better on all those holes and his lead - six shots at the beginning of the day - never shrank. The tone was set early, when Webb Simpson shot 5-under 66 to move to 1 under.

"The golf course is pretty soft. The greens are soft," said Simpson, who made seven birdies. "I got a couple good lies in the rough today that I probably didn't deserve. I think you'll see some pretty good scores like mine, and some pretty high scores, too."

The USGA prides itself on setting up the toughest courses on the planet. But Congressional hasn't lived up to that reputation. All the players knew it, even the ones who weren't taking advantage.

"The rough isn't quite as gnarly as at some other U.S. Opens," world No. 1 Luke Donald said after shooting 3-over 74. "It has a different feel. It almost feels like the Firestone or something. But it's still tough out there. Some tough pins and you've got to play well to shoot a good score."

Day was among those with the good scores. The 23-year-old, who finished second at the Masters, didn't make a bogey and finished the day with a birdie on No. 18.

He scoffed at the idea that everyone but McIlroy was playing for second. But as the day wore on and McIlroy's play kept getting better, the inevitable was starting to set in.

"He's playing awesome," said Sergio Garcia, whose 2-under par would be in contention during most years at the U.S. Open. "I would expect him to play the same way tomorrow and probably win."

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Sabtu, 18 Jun 2011

The Star Online: Sports

The Star Online: Sports

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