The Star Online: Sports
The Star Online: Sports |
- Vettel sees off the challenges from chasing pack
- Hafizh is youngest rider to win a SuperSports 600cc race
- Lin Dan crushes Chen Long to nail Masters Finals crown
| Vettel sees off the challenges from chasing pack Posted: 18 Dec 2011 04:19 PM PST PARIS: Sebastian Vettel proved he was no one hit wonder in 2011, the German in the rampant Red Bull cruising to a runaway defence of his title well before the season rounded its final bend. Vettel, who clinched the 2010 crown in a nail-biting finale in Abu Dhabi, rewrote Formula One history with an ease that evoked memories of Michael Schumacher in his pomp. As one previous holder of the coveted championship, McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, struggled with problems both on and off the circuit, Vettel could barely do no wrong from flagfall on the streets of Melbourne in March. He led his rivals a merry dance on the Albert Park circuit, and continued to out manoeuvre the chasing pack for the remainder of the year. The carpenter's son went on to win in Malaysia, Turkey, Spain, a debut success at Monaco, Valencia, Belgium, Italy and under the floodlights of Singapore. That last success, his ninth of the season, left him one point shy of the title. A fortnight later, on Oct 9, he comfortably crossed the line in Japan, finishing third to Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, to become, at just 24 years and 98 days, the youngest back-to-back world champion. He was joining a select club of nine including Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna and Schumacher of drivers to successfully defend the title. He also established a new world record for most pole positions in a season, his 15 (from 19 races) surpassing Nigel Mansell's previous mark set in 1992. Vettel celebrated his title by belting out a karaoke version of the Sinatra hit 'My Way' in a local Irish bar, arguably the only false note he struck all year, a mid-season blip aside. If Button and Co thought he might take his foot off the gas with the championship wrapped up they couldn't have been more mistaken, as Vettel went on to win in South Korea – handing Red Bull their second successive constructors' title – and the inaugural race in India. For Hamilton, 2011 proved a largely frustrating season. He produced a brace of brilliant drives to win in China and Abu Dhabi but those peaks were far outnumbered by the troughs. The 2008 champion cut an unhappy figure for much of the campaign, the split with his manager, father Anthony, and fiancee, pop singer Nicole Scherzinger, appearing to weigh on his mind. And he became embroiled in a distracting feud with Felipe Massa, the friends colliding six times in Keystone cop-style over the course of the season. Hamilton's roller-coaster year was summed up when he was forced to retire with gearbox trouble in Sao Paulo. The 26-year-old Englishman, who finished fifth in the standings, promised to emulate the example set by his team-mate, 2009 champion Button, for success in 2012 "He's got his dad there, who is there at every single race. He's got his management there; he's got his friends; he's got his girlfriend there all the time. "He's in a really, really happy place ... he's got a great bubble around him which he's very happy with and, with that, he's able to just go out and perform without any worries on his mind. "I did have that at one point, but I lost that bubble and I don't have that around me at the moment, but I'm working on having that for the future." Button outperformed Hamilton to win in Canada, Hungary and Japan to take second in the title race on 270 points, albeit a yawning 122 points adrift of Vettel. Vettel's team-mate, the popular Australian Mark Webber, pipped two time former champion Fernando Alonso for third on the strength of his sole win in the season-closer in Brazil. The year got off to a shaky start with uncertainty over the Bahrain Grand Prix, which fell victim to the civil unrest in the Gulf kingdom. Bahrain is back in 2012 as part of what promises to be a taxing 20-race campaign, with Austin's Circuit of the Americas in Texas making its debut as the penultimate leg. Next year will see the number of world champions on the grid swelling to six with the return after his rallying timeout of 2007 titleholder Kimi Raikkonen, the Finn signing a two year deal with Lotus Renault. — AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Hafizh is youngest rider to win a SuperSports 600cc race Posted: 18 Dec 2011 04:22 PM PST LOSAIL (Qatar): Teenager Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah pumped his fists in joy as he crossed the finish line to become the youngest winner of a SuperSports 600cc race in the Petronas Asia Road Racing Championships at the Losail International Circuit yesterday. Japanese rider Katsuaki Fujiwara, who clinched the overall title at the previous stop in Zhuhai, China, in October, won Race 1 but it was Hafizh, 17, who stole the limelight by bagging Race 2 hours later. Hafizh, second on the grid behind Fujiwara, overtook the Japanese at the start and never surrendered the lead on a cold and windy day. A confident Hafizh ended the 15-lap race in 32:02.780 to claim a stunning win in only his second year of competing in the class. Another Malaysian, Mohd Zamri Baba, finished second in 32:03.929 ahead of Fujiwara on 32:05.205. Hafizh, the only Malaysian winner this season, was pleased that his fifth podium success turned out to be the sweetest. "I'm so happy to score my first win. It was something I always dreamt of and to achieve it is awesome. Much thanks to the team, Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline, the sponsors and everyone who supported me. "I had a great outing today. I faced some difficulties in Race 1 because the gap between the frontrunners was very close and my rear suspension got soft towards the end. As a result, I lost my lead with three more laps to go. "Race 2 was much better. I was able to lead again and this time stayed ahead until the finish despite the tyres sliding a lot midway," said Hafizh. Fujiwara had to work hard for his Race 1 win, his eighth of the season. Still not fully recovered from the flu, Fujiwara found himself over-powered early on by Hafizh and Zamri. The trio were engaged in a fierce battle with Hafizh leading the pack for most of the race but he was forced to slow down on lap 13 following issues with the rear suspension. Fujiwara took control to cross the finish line in 32:01.257, just 0.002s ahead of Zamri while Hafizh was third in 2:07.119. "It was really tough. I wasn't feeling well and this affected my concentration. I also didn't feel comfortable with the rear tyre in Race 1 while in Race 2 the tyre wore out fast because I wanted to set a lap record. "By the seventh lap, it got really slippery and the cool asphalt just made things more difficult. Even so, I'm really happy because this is our maiden year in the championship and we won eight out of the 12 races," said Fujiwara, who topped the overall standings with 237.5 points. ResultsSUPERSPORTS 600cc Race 1: 1. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Jpn) Manual Tech Beet Kawasaki Racing 32:01.257, 2. Mohd Zamri Baba (Mas) Petronas Yamaha Malaysia 32:01.259, 3. Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Mas) Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline 32:01.673, 4. Mohd Fadli Imannuddin (Ina) Manual Tech Beet Kawasaki Racing 32:23.286, 5. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Mas) Boon Siew Honda Racing Malaysia 32:23.310. Race 2: 1. Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Mas) Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline 32:02.780, 2. Mohd Zamri Baba (Mas) Petronas Yamaha Malaysia 32:03.929, 3. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Jpn) Manual Tech Beet Kawasaki Racing 32:05.205, 4. Makoto Inagaki (Jpn) Moto Rev India 32:25.942, 5. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Mas) Boon Siew Honda Racing Malaysia 32:25.965. Standings: 1. Katsuaki Fujiwara (Jpn) Manual Tech Beet Kawasaki Racing 237.5, 2. Azlan Shah Kamaruzaman (Mas) Boon Siew Honda Racing Malaysia 162, 3. Mohd Zamri Baba (Mas) Petronas Yamaha Malaysia 147, 4. Hafizh Syahrin Abdullah (Mas) Petronas Syntium Moto Yamaha Raceline 135. UNDERBONE 115cc Race 1: 1. Rafid Topan Sucipto (Ina) Yamaha CKJ TJM Racing 18:52.389, 2. Mohd Affendi Rosli (Mas) Harian Metro Y-Teq SCK Honda Racing 18:52.449, 3.. Ahmad Afif Amran (Mas) Yamaha KKJ TJM Racing 18:52.500, 4. Zaidy Mohd Zalfaizal (Mas) Yamaha YY Pang Racing 18:52.511, 5. Gupita Kresna (Ina) Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech 18:52.560. Race 2: 1. Rafid Topan Sucipto (Ina) Yamaha CKJ TJM Racing 18:43.254, 2. Ahmad Afif Amran (Mas) Yamaha KKJ TJM Racing 18:43.292, 3. Hadi Wijaya (Ina) Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech 18:43.435, 4. Mohd Affendi Rosli (Mas) Harian Metro Y-Teq SCK Honda Racing 18:43.890, 5. Zaidy Mohd Zalfaizal (Mas) Yamaha YY Pang Racing 18:43.910. Standings: 1. Rafid Topan (Ina) Yamaha CKJ TJM Racing 261, 2. Hadi Wijaya (Ina) Kawasaki NHK Rextor Manual Tech 186, 3. Mohd Affendi Rosli (Mas) Harian Metro Y-Teq SCK Honda Racing 107, 4. Zaidy Mohd Zalfaizal (Mas) Yamaha YY Pang Racing 97. Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
| Lin Dan crushes Chen Long to nail Masters Finals crown Posted: 18 Dec 2011 04:16 PM PST LIUZHOU: The king is not about to surrender his throne. That was the stark message China's Lin Dan delivered to his young compatriot Chen Long in the Super Series Masters Finals yesterday. The four-time world champion crushed his 22-year-old heir apparent 21-12, 21-16 in just 45 minutes to nail his first Masters Finals title. That completed his Super Grand Slam collection, having won all the major titles badminton has to offer. Chen Long has never beaten Lin Dan on court before, the only time the results going his way being when his illustrious teammate conceded walkovers on four occasions due to injury. Yesterday, though, Lin Dan was in no mood to show any favours and completely dominated the final. The 28-year-old was, however, gracious in victory. "It was relatively easy but that is understandable as Chen Long had a tough battle against Lee Chong Wei in the semi-finals. My body condition was much better than his," said Lin Dan. "Chen Long is one of the many good singles players we have in the team. This is really good for team China." When asked to sum up his year, Lin Dan said: "The most memorable was winning the World Championships. It's significant because I was able to turn around the match to beat Chong Wei. It was an incredible match and I think the fans will remember it for a long time." On his preparations for the London Olympics and his main rival Chong Wei, he said: "China may have three - Chen Jin, Chen Long and I - for the Games and it will not be an advantage for Chong Wei. It will be tough anywhere with us three around." Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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