The first race of the F1 season didn't have too much competition with Vettel leading from start to finish. Hispania's start to the season has been put on hold as they weren't allowed either driver to start after their poor performances in qualifying. From the start Petrov made his way up to fourth while the Ferrari's swapped around with Massa up to fifth and Alonso down to ninth. The only real action between the top boys was Button stealing fifth from Massa illegally by cutting a corner, he was handed a drive through penalty due to Alonso having also over taken Massa.
The first retirement of the race came after nine laps when Maldonado's debut race was cut short due to a failure. Kovalainen's Lotus ended up on the gravel ten laps later and Schumacher was also forced to retie with another failure. The first crash of the season came in the 22nd lap when Barrichello crashed into the side of Rosberg, forcing the second Mercedes to retire. Barrichello didn't escape unscathed as he also had to retire but not until the 48th lap and the final retirement was a lap later when Glock ended his race.
So Vettel went onto win the race with Hamilton keeping his second place throughout despite having his under-tray hanging off for the final ten laps or so. The big shock of the race saw Renault clinch an early podium in the shape of Petrov. Alonso finished ahead of Webber, Button and Massa in fourth. The Toro Rosso may cause a few upsets this year and Buemi gained four points after finishing eighth. This was due to both Kobayashi and debutant Perez being disqualified for a technical infringement, seeing the Saubers have a sour end to a promising weekend. Force India finished with the final two point scoring positions with Sutil finishing ahead of Di Resta who won the battle of the debutants. Alguersuari finished eleventh ahead of Heidfeld with Trulli winning the opening battle of the lesser cars in thirteenth, D'Ambrosio finished in fourteenth on his debut race in the Virgin.
Sunday, 27 March 2011
Saturday, 26 March 2011
First Qualifying of the Season
After the delayed start, Formula 1 finally got underway today. Five new drivers have entered the fray with two others making team changes. There has also been a new rule introduced, if a driver is a 107% slower than the Pole driver in qualifying then, unless otherwise allowed by the FIA, they will be excluded from the actual race. The five new drivers come from all around the globe: Force India have added Britain's Paul Di Resta to their team after Liuzzi made the bizarre move to Hispania. Hispania have also made another driver change with Indian Narain Karthikeyan returning to F1 after driving for Jordan in 2005. Nick Heidfeld has moved from Sauber to reserve driver for Renault and has therefore replaced Kubica until he's fit again. Sauber's free space has been filled up by Mexican Sergio Perez. Perhaps the most surprising exit from F1 was promising star Nico Hulkenbrug being dropped by Williams and replaced by Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado. The final newcomer comes in the shape of Belgian Jerome D'Ambrosio in replace of Lucas Di Grassi at Virgin.
So as the season unfolds all eyes will be on the new drivers to see how they get on, which teams fall short of the 107% rule. The battle between Red Bull and McLaren alongside Alonso for the championship with eyes on Massa hopefully coming back to his best. We'll also be keeping an eye out for the progress made by Renault, Sauber, Williams and Mercedes to see if they can spring surprises on the top five/six. It'll be interesting to see if Toro Rosso and Force India can break into the top of the mid-pack with the final battle being between the lesser three teams and seeing which of the six drivers can finish highest.
After the postponement in Bahrain, the official start of the 2011 F1 season took place in Melbourne and Q1 saw the usual six suspects fall. There could well be trouble for Hispania as both Karthikeyan and Liuzzi failed to pass the 107% rule and might be excluded from tomorrow's opening race. Virgin make 21st and 22nd with Glock beating his debutant team-mate. This means Lotus win the battle of lesser teams in the first qualifying with Kovalainen beating Trulli to 19th. The other driver to fall in Q1 was perhaps a shock with Renaukt's Nick Heidfeld failing to make the grade. Champion Vettel carried on where he left off with the fastest time.
Q2 saw the first qualifying retirement of the season after Barrichello span off into the gravel. Adrian Sutil also span but was able to continue although he still only qualified 16th. Maldonado came third in a trio of debutants in 15th with Di Resta just in front and Perez ahead of both of them. Toro Rosso's Alguersuari qualified 12th and the big name to not make Q3 was the veteran Michael Schumacher. Again Vettel blitzed his way to the fastest time.
It was no surprise to see Vettel again out-run his opponents to make the first Pole of the season but Hamilton gate-crashed a Red Bull one-two despite claims that the McLaren car wasn't ready to win a championship. Webber finished third in his home country qualifying with Button fourth and the other contender Alonso off the pace in fifth. The battle of the middle order saw Petrov give Renault a sixth place start ahead of Mercedes' Rosberg. Massa got off to a very bad start and his red Ferrari will start from eighth place ahead of Kobayashi's Sauber and Buemi's Toro Rosso.
So as the season unfolds all eyes will be on the new drivers to see how they get on, which teams fall short of the 107% rule. The battle between Red Bull and McLaren alongside Alonso for the championship with eyes on Massa hopefully coming back to his best. We'll also be keeping an eye out for the progress made by Renault, Sauber, Williams and Mercedes to see if they can spring surprises on the top five/six. It'll be interesting to see if Toro Rosso and Force India can break into the top of the mid-pack with the final battle being between the lesser three teams and seeing which of the six drivers can finish highest.
After the postponement in Bahrain, the official start of the 2011 F1 season took place in Melbourne and Q1 saw the usual six suspects fall. There could well be trouble for Hispania as both Karthikeyan and Liuzzi failed to pass the 107% rule and might be excluded from tomorrow's opening race. Virgin make 21st and 22nd with Glock beating his debutant team-mate. This means Lotus win the battle of lesser teams in the first qualifying with Kovalainen beating Trulli to 19th. The other driver to fall in Q1 was perhaps a shock with Renaukt's Nick Heidfeld failing to make the grade. Champion Vettel carried on where he left off with the fastest time.
Q2 saw the first qualifying retirement of the season after Barrichello span off into the gravel. Adrian Sutil also span but was able to continue although he still only qualified 16th. Maldonado came third in a trio of debutants in 15th with Di Resta just in front and Perez ahead of both of them. Toro Rosso's Alguersuari qualified 12th and the big name to not make Q3 was the veteran Michael Schumacher. Again Vettel blitzed his way to the fastest time.
It was no surprise to see Vettel again out-run his opponents to make the first Pole of the season but Hamilton gate-crashed a Red Bull one-two despite claims that the McLaren car wasn't ready to win a championship. Webber finished third in his home country qualifying with Button fourth and the other contender Alonso off the pace in fifth. The battle of the middle order saw Petrov give Renault a sixth place start ahead of Mercedes' Rosberg. Massa got off to a very bad start and his red Ferrari will start from eighth place ahead of Kobayashi's Sauber and Buemi's Toro Rosso.
Friday, 25 March 2011
Premier League Darts: Week Seven
The seventh week of the Darts Premier League signifies the half-way stage of the round robin format before the semi-finals. The dartboard and cameras arrived in Brighton and the opening match saw Webster take on Whitlock, both of whom have been very inconsistent. After a scrappy first leg, Whtilock took out a 140 to make it 2-0. Webster pulled one back but Whitlock's doubles were returning and he fired a 120 to make it 3-1. Webster's darts were as poor as ever and Whitlock took full advantage by taking a 7-1 lead to earn at least a point. Webster momentarily stopped the inevitable by winning the ninth leg but Whitlock finished it off to win 8-2.
After six weeks and one match, we finally saw the first draw of the 2011 Darts Premier League. Lewis came into the match after the abusive win against Anderson and his opponent was Terry Jenkins. The first four legs went with throw before Jenkins broke it in the fifth with a double top. But Lewis broke back instantly with a 101 finish to make it 3-3 at the break. The break seemed to have broke Jenkins' momentum as Lewis won the following three legs to make it 6-3. Lewis was playing fantastically just consistently, but he also started to lose his way which allowed Jenkins to fight back to 6-6. Lewis assured himself of the point first before Jenkins won the final leg to earn himself a deserved point too.
Van Barneveld was looking to keep his winning ways going as he took on Anderson who had lost his last two matches. But Anderson looked to have settled the quickest with Barney missing doubles, allowing the Scot to take a 2-0 lead. But the Dutchman fought back and turned the score around to make it 3-2, Anderson took out a 121 in the sixth to make it 3-3 at the break. Barney looked fresher coming back from the break and managed to win the next three legs to make it 6-3. Anderson did manage to pull it back to 6-5 but he couldn't catch Barneveld as he went onto win 8-5.
The final match of the night saw Phil Taylor take on James Wade, in fairness Wade didn't turn up and that always means a Taylor thrashing. Taylor took out a two double top ton to make it 3-0 before Wade pulled a leg back. But there was very little else that was positive in Wade's performance. Taylor carried on to win the match 8-1, the highlight being a 121 checkout in the fifth leg.
Taylor remains two points ahead at the top of the league but faces Barney next week who is in second on ten points. Anderson drops to third on eight but is only a point ahead of Lewis in fourth. Whitlock has also closed the gap on the top four with six points, with Jenkins now up to sixth after his draw. Webster and Wade are propping up the table with four points apiece.
After six weeks and one match, we finally saw the first draw of the 2011 Darts Premier League. Lewis came into the match after the abusive win against Anderson and his opponent was Terry Jenkins. The first four legs went with throw before Jenkins broke it in the fifth with a double top. But Lewis broke back instantly with a 101 finish to make it 3-3 at the break. The break seemed to have broke Jenkins' momentum as Lewis won the following three legs to make it 6-3. Lewis was playing fantastically just consistently, but he also started to lose his way which allowed Jenkins to fight back to 6-6. Lewis assured himself of the point first before Jenkins won the final leg to earn himself a deserved point too.
Van Barneveld was looking to keep his winning ways going as he took on Anderson who had lost his last two matches. But Anderson looked to have settled the quickest with Barney missing doubles, allowing the Scot to take a 2-0 lead. But the Dutchman fought back and turned the score around to make it 3-2, Anderson took out a 121 in the sixth to make it 3-3 at the break. Barney looked fresher coming back from the break and managed to win the next three legs to make it 6-3. Anderson did manage to pull it back to 6-5 but he couldn't catch Barneveld as he went onto win 8-5.
The final match of the night saw Phil Taylor take on James Wade, in fairness Wade didn't turn up and that always means a Taylor thrashing. Taylor took out a two double top ton to make it 3-0 before Wade pulled a leg back. But there was very little else that was positive in Wade's performance. Taylor carried on to win the match 8-1, the highlight being a 121 checkout in the fifth leg.
Taylor remains two points ahead at the top of the league but faces Barney next week who is in second on ten points. Anderson drops to third on eight but is only a point ahead of Lewis in fourth. Whitlock has also closed the gap on the top four with six points, with Jenkins now up to sixth after his draw. Webster and Wade are propping up the table with four points apiece.
Monday, 21 March 2011
Mixed Responses To Euro Exits
Super Sunday saw the two defeated Europa League teams try to bounce back from their disappointment. The first installment saw Sunderland host Liverpool who lost 1-0 on aggregate to Sporting Braga. In fairness, Liverpool always looked the better team as they set out to maintain European status next season. They were awarded their goal, but in controversial circumstances; Mensah brought down Jay Spearing just outside the box and although referee Kevin Friend was about to give a free-kick, his linesman flagged, wrongly, for a penalty and that was what was given. Kuyt stepped up and sent Mignolet the wrong way eleven minutes before half-time. Life without Torres isn't turning out to be so bad as a Uruguayan at half the price is doing just a good a job. Suarez finished the game off after 77 with another piece of imaginative improvisation, dodging numerous tackles he fired a ferocious shot from an acute angle, past the young Belgian, who would probably be disappointed to be beaten from that angle, to make it 2-0. It got worse for Sunderland when Mensah received a red card eight minutes from time. Liverpool now move five points clear of Bolton in fifth with Sunderland two behind Bolton ninth.
The second installment saw Champions League quarter-finalists Chelsea take on defeated Europa League hopefuls Manchester City. City were without Tevez but the game was still the richest game ever at just over half a billion pounds spent on the starting XIs. City were clearly missing Tevez but Torres was still not shining for Chelsea and was again substituted. But Chelsea's other January buy is proving a handful, with David Luiz breaking the deadlock with twelve minutes left. His Brazilian team-mate Ramires then danced through the City defence to make it 2-0 in injury time. As a result, Chelsea move a point ahead of City into third with still a game in hand.
The second installment saw Champions League quarter-finalists Chelsea take on defeated Europa League hopefuls Manchester City. City were without Tevez but the game was still the richest game ever at just over half a billion pounds spent on the starting XIs. City were clearly missing Tevez but Torres was still not shining for Chelsea and was again substituted. But Chelsea's other January buy is proving a handful, with David Luiz breaking the deadlock with twelve minutes left. His Brazilian team-mate Ramires then danced through the City defence to make it 2-0 in injury time. As a result, Chelsea move a point ahead of City into third with still a game in hand.
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Barclay's Premier League: 19/3/11
With the Premiership end only two months away and the International break coming up, the top and bottom ends of the table are continuously in a state of flux as the action restarted after last week's FA Cup quarter-finals. The lunch-time kick-off was at White Hart Lane with Tottenham entertaining their Olympic Stadium bid rivals West Ham. West Ham won the bid but needed to regain momentum after losing to Stoke last weekend. Spurs were the main attacking force in the game but were thwarted by Green and co as West Ham earnt themselves a goalless draw to get themselves a little further away from the bottom.
The reason why the bottom is so tight this year is because the teams at the bottom keep winning games. Wigan have been cast aside for the past few weeks but reopened their survival chances with a win at home to Birmingham who also find themselves in deep trouble. It was Birmingham who took the lead with Ridgewell surviving offside calls to smash it home. On-loan Tom Cleverly equalised for Wigan after 25 minutes after Foster palmed to the cross into his former Manchester United team-mate's path. Birmingham had a late penalty shout wrongly turned down when Alcaraz body checked Curtis Davies in the box. But the game was won in injury time when a Maynor Figueroa shot wrong-footed Foster as it hit the back of the net.
When Blackpool are playing, you know there's going to be drama. It started with Luke Varney having two disallowed goals for offside, both were right decisions but the first incident saw the flag go up extremely late. The deadlock was broke by Blackpool when Charlie Adam converted a penalty after 25 minutes, he then doubled the lead after striking a free-kick past Robinson just four minutes later. Captain Samba pulled one back for Blackburn after Kingson couldn't completely clear the cross, four minutes into the second half. Another injury time goal, this time from Junior Hoilett saw that Blackburn got themselves a point.
Stoke carried on with their progression into the FA Cup semi-finals with a demolition of Newcastle at the Britannia. Jon Walters made it 1-0 after 28 minutes before a Harper blunder allowed Pennant to make it 2-0 just a minute into the second half. Fresh from his free-kick last week-end, Danny Higginbotham smashed another in past a flaky wall just three minutes later. Ricardo Fuller finished off a route one counter attack in injury time to make it 4-0 final score.
Manchester United extended their lead at the top, but only just. Bolton held their own for much of the game but couldn't test Van Der Sar enough in a defence that saw Vidic and Ferdinand still missing. Their defensive got worse fourteen minutes from the end when Jonny Evans received a straight for going into a fifty-fifty challenge with Holden studs showing. Holden unfortunately had to stretchered off with what could be broken leg. But United came through when Jaaskelainen fumbled a Nani shot into the path of substitute Berbatov, allowing the Bulgarian to steal all three points two minutes from time.
United's lead is now up to five but could have been six as Arsenal dropped points at West Brom. Arsenal were behind after just three minutes when Steven Reid broke the deadlock. Another piece of goal-keeping cock-up gave West Brom their second, Almunia came rushing out of his goal into no man's land where Squillaci looked comfortable in getting the ball. But Odemwingie won it and played it into the empty net thirteen minutes into the second half. But Arsenal fought back with Arshavin scoring a nice goal with twenty minutes to play, Van Persie equalised just eight minutes later but West Brom held on for the point.
Aston Villa are now one of four teams that are a point away from the relegation zone after losing a Midlands derby at home to Wolves. A Wolves goal was looking ominous as they had two already correctly disallowed. It came seven minutes before half-time courtesy of Matt Jarvis to give Wolves a needed three points.
The tea-time kick-off saw Everton host Fulham at Goodison Park. Everton took the lead through Seamus Coleman nine minutes before half-time. Everton then doubled their lead four minutes after the restart with Saha getting the goal. Fulham pulled one back with Clint Dempsey scoring his eleventh of the season two minutes after the hour but Everton held on for the win.
The reason why the bottom is so tight this year is because the teams at the bottom keep winning games. Wigan have been cast aside for the past few weeks but reopened their survival chances with a win at home to Birmingham who also find themselves in deep trouble. It was Birmingham who took the lead with Ridgewell surviving offside calls to smash it home. On-loan Tom Cleverly equalised for Wigan after 25 minutes after Foster palmed to the cross into his former Manchester United team-mate's path. Birmingham had a late penalty shout wrongly turned down when Alcaraz body checked Curtis Davies in the box. But the game was won in injury time when a Maynor Figueroa shot wrong-footed Foster as it hit the back of the net.
When Blackpool are playing, you know there's going to be drama. It started with Luke Varney having two disallowed goals for offside, both were right decisions but the first incident saw the flag go up extremely late. The deadlock was broke by Blackpool when Charlie Adam converted a penalty after 25 minutes, he then doubled the lead after striking a free-kick past Robinson just four minutes later. Captain Samba pulled one back for Blackburn after Kingson couldn't completely clear the cross, four minutes into the second half. Another injury time goal, this time from Junior Hoilett saw that Blackburn got themselves a point.
Stoke carried on with their progression into the FA Cup semi-finals with a demolition of Newcastle at the Britannia. Jon Walters made it 1-0 after 28 minutes before a Harper blunder allowed Pennant to make it 2-0 just a minute into the second half. Fresh from his free-kick last week-end, Danny Higginbotham smashed another in past a flaky wall just three minutes later. Ricardo Fuller finished off a route one counter attack in injury time to make it 4-0 final score.
Manchester United extended their lead at the top, but only just. Bolton held their own for much of the game but couldn't test Van Der Sar enough in a defence that saw Vidic and Ferdinand still missing. Their defensive got worse fourteen minutes from the end when Jonny Evans received a straight for going into a fifty-fifty challenge with Holden studs showing. Holden unfortunately had to stretchered off with what could be broken leg. But United came through when Jaaskelainen fumbled a Nani shot into the path of substitute Berbatov, allowing the Bulgarian to steal all three points two minutes from time.
United's lead is now up to five but could have been six as Arsenal dropped points at West Brom. Arsenal were behind after just three minutes when Steven Reid broke the deadlock. Another piece of goal-keeping cock-up gave West Brom their second, Almunia came rushing out of his goal into no man's land where Squillaci looked comfortable in getting the ball. But Odemwingie won it and played it into the empty net thirteen minutes into the second half. But Arsenal fought back with Arshavin scoring a nice goal with twenty minutes to play, Van Persie equalised just eight minutes later but West Brom held on for the point.
Aston Villa are now one of four teams that are a point away from the relegation zone after losing a Midlands derby at home to Wolves. A Wolves goal was looking ominous as they had two already correctly disallowed. It came seven minutes before half-time courtesy of Matt Jarvis to give Wolves a needed three points.
The tea-time kick-off saw Everton host Fulham at Goodison Park. Everton took the lead through Seamus Coleman nine minutes before half-time. Everton then doubled their lead four minutes after the restart with Saha getting the goal. Fulham pulled one back with Clint Dempsey scoring his eleventh of the season two minutes after the hour but Everton held on for the win.
Friday, 18 March 2011
Champions League Quarter Final and Semi Final Draws
Real Madrid will face Tottenham in the quarter finals. There could then be an all Spanish semi final as the winners of that match will face the winners of Barcelona against Shakhtar Donetsk. Gary Lineker drew out an all English quarter final as Chelsea host Manchester United in the first leg. The winner of the English battle will face either champions Inter Milan or Shalke in the semi-finals.
Premier League Darts: Week Six
The sixth week of the Darts Premier League was at the SECC Arena in Glasgow. The opening match of the night saw seventh take on eighth as Jenkins battled James Wade. Jenkins took the first leg but Wade stormed to a 3-1 lead with the highlight being a 127 check-out in the third leg. Jenkins a leg back but Wade took out two consecutive tons (the first one with two double tops) to make 6-2. Jenkins responded with a ton of his own to then claw his way back to 6-5. It went to the wire with Wade leading 7-6 but Jenkins had the first shot at the double, he missed allowing Wade to take the final fourteenth leg to win 8-6.
The Scottish crowd were leading the Barney Army as Van Barneveld played the inconsistent Webster. Webster made it 1-1 with a ton and then 2-2 with Shanghai 120. But the crowd surged within Barney and he made three consecutive ton plus check-outs of 121, 161 and 116 to make it 5-2. Webster pulled it back to 6-4 but Barney won the eleventh and twelfth legs to seal the victory.
The third match saw Whitlock play Taylor with Taylor having the chance to go top of the league before Anderson's match. But Whitlock took the early 2-1 lead with a ton check-out. But Whitlock's problems with his doubles struck again, allowing Taylor to go 5-2 ahead. It was soon 6-3 before Whitlock planted the seed of doubt as he fought back to 6-5. But Taylor wasn't to be denied top spot and won the final two legs to win 8-5.
What happens when a crowd of Scots in Glasgow on St. Patrick's day come to watch a Scotsman take on an Englishman? Utter carnage. Unfortunately the final game of the night between home man Anderson and Lewis will be remembered for the crowd trouble rather than the actual darts. The trouble started before the action as Lewis was drenched in thrown beer as he walked to the stage. From there the boos rang out every time he took a shot and there were even objects thrown onto the stage. Anderson started by using the Partisan crowd's energy to take a 3-0 lead. But as the actions of the crowd worsened, so did Anderson's mood which effected his game. Lewis stopped the rot with a 111 check-out on his way to winning eight consecutive legs to win the game. However one of the legs Anderson showed great sportsmanship as he purposely lost the leg after picking up a coin that had been thrown onto the stage. An unfortunate way to end a great night of darts on St. Patrick's day.
The win now sees Taylor move two points clear at the top. Anderson has now been joined by Van Barneveld on eight points in second and third. Lewis has now cemented his place in fourth with six while the remaining four players all have four points.
The Scottish crowd were leading the Barney Army as Van Barneveld played the inconsistent Webster. Webster made it 1-1 with a ton and then 2-2 with Shanghai 120. But the crowd surged within Barney and he made three consecutive ton plus check-outs of 121, 161 and 116 to make it 5-2. Webster pulled it back to 6-4 but Barney won the eleventh and twelfth legs to seal the victory.
The third match saw Whitlock play Taylor with Taylor having the chance to go top of the league before Anderson's match. But Whitlock took the early 2-1 lead with a ton check-out. But Whitlock's problems with his doubles struck again, allowing Taylor to go 5-2 ahead. It was soon 6-3 before Whitlock planted the seed of doubt as he fought back to 6-5. But Taylor wasn't to be denied top spot and won the final two legs to win 8-5.
What happens when a crowd of Scots in Glasgow on St. Patrick's day come to watch a Scotsman take on an Englishman? Utter carnage. Unfortunately the final game of the night between home man Anderson and Lewis will be remembered for the crowd trouble rather than the actual darts. The trouble started before the action as Lewis was drenched in thrown beer as he walked to the stage. From there the boos rang out every time he took a shot and there were even objects thrown onto the stage. Anderson started by using the Partisan crowd's energy to take a 3-0 lead. But as the actions of the crowd worsened, so did Anderson's mood which effected his game. Lewis stopped the rot with a 111 check-out on his way to winning eight consecutive legs to win the game. However one of the legs Anderson showed great sportsmanship as he purposely lost the leg after picking up a coin that had been thrown onto the stage. An unfortunate way to end a great night of darts on St. Patrick's day.
The win now sees Taylor move two points clear at the top. Anderson has now been joined by Van Barneveld on eight points in second and third. Lewis has now cemented his place in fourth with six while the remaining four players all have four points.
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