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Showing posts with label sport. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sport. Show all posts
Being a professional racing driver is a dream job, but there are some things you just aren't prepared for before you live it.
Here are a few things I've learned since I started:

1. YOU NEED BETTER BOARDROOM SKILLS THAN ALAN SUGAR

Motor racing is very expensive - and it’s getting tougher and tougher to earn a living from. To fund my Formula Renault campaign I had five or six personal sponsors.
Sponsorship has changed from just having a sticker on the car. Now you really have to offer them value, you have to put the deals together - and obviously the stronger business case you can put to them, and the stronger it actually works in reality, the more chance you have of keeping sponsors for a long time.
Once you have them on board you have to keep them happy, entertain them at the track, keep them up to date with everything that you’re doing, get as much media coverage as possible for them - and make B2B introductions to try and generate more business for them.
You see some guys who have retained sponsors for 20 years over their whole career, and that’s what I’m trying to build.
Proton is set to return to the World Rally Championship in 2018 with a brand new Iriz R5 built by British firm MEM.
The Iriz is under construction at MEM's Derbyshire factory and is scheduled to break cover at next month's Goodwood Festival of Speed.
Chris Mellors' MEM firm was also behind the last Proton rallying project with the Satria, which was a podium-finisher in the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, won in the WRC's old Super 2000 class and was a title-winner in the Asia-Pacific series.
The weird and wonderful world of Rallycross is one of the craziest motorsport categories out there. It pretty much never disappoints with its manic, fast-paced action. Here are some clips that prove just that.

That overtake tho

Kevin Eriksson’s insane, drifty overtake around the outside of three cars at this year’s supercar final in Germany has to be one of the best passes in recent times. He went on to win the race and, with that overtake, our hearts too.

Jari-Matti Latvala and Esapekka Lappi have been named as Toyota's 2017 World Rally Championship drivers, as the manufacturer launched its Yaris WRC in Helsinki on Tuesday.
Former Volkswagen driver Latvala, who sealed his move last week, and Lappi complete an all-Finnish line-up, joining Juho Hanninen in a Toyota Gazoo Racing squad lead by four-time world champion Finn Tommi Makinen.
Latvala and Hanninen will contest all 13 rounds of the 2017 WRC, while recently crowned WRC2 winner Lappi will contest a selected third-car programme starting in the spring.
Latvala said driving for Toyota represented symmetry in his rally career, having first competed in one of the Japanese giant's cars 15 years ago.
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It’s the news we’ve all been waiting for, and M-Sport are proud to confirm that Sebastien Ogier and Ott Tänak will lead the team into an exciting new era – each piloting the all-new Ecoboost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC in the 2017 FIA World Rally Championship.

 Fielding both the reigning FIA World Rally Champion and the WRC Driver of the Year, M-Sport are in prime position and determined to make a return to the top-step of the podium.

 Having tested the new Fiesta in Wales last month, Ogier was sufficiently impressed by the team’s latest creation and agreed terms with the Cumbrian outfit to spearhead his championship defence.

 Ogier and co-driver Julien Ingrassia have long been on Malcolm Wilson’s wish list, and rightly so. The French pairing are a force to be reckoned with – talent, flair and speed on any surface that the FIA World Rally Championship has to offer.

 Since starting their WRC campaign in 2008, the Frenchmen have secured four world championships, 38 victories, 56 podiums and an impressive 475 stage wins – making them a sought-after asset to any team.
An all-female rugby team in Hertfordshire has stripped off for a new nude calendar in an attempt to raise funds for the club.
In the pictures, the girls can be seen posing in various rugby related positions, all completely starkers.
27-year-old player Claire Crompton said that although the team were nervous at first, eventually they got on fine with the naked shoot. "We all shower together at the weekend so it's not too different to that I suppose," she said.
Catch that! Image: SWNS


Photos credit: Terry Fullerton

It was August 1980, in Jesolo, Italy. Ayrton Senna, aged 20, lay in a deck chair by the hotel pool—steely-eyed, angry. He had been beaten the day before in one of the world’s most prestigious karting events, a race he had dominated until the final lap.
His rival, a British guy with a piercing mustache who won every race he competed that year (bar one where his engine blew), stood on the edge of the swimming pool, laughing and joking with his mechanic. Senna could contain his fury no more. He leaped onto his feet, stormed over, and pushed his competitor into the pool.
Throwing your rivals off the scent of gold is a sharp tactic, but it's risky business, as South African swimmer Chad le Clos found out last night during the final of the 200-metre butterfly event.
Tension was high before the final in the aquatic centre in Rio last night. The established rivalry between le Clos and USA's Michael Phelps was, as expected, stronger than ever. After le Clos famously beat Phelps in London 2012, the battle for gold was on.
Phelps recently came out of retirement in the butterfly because he didn't feel the field was very strong. Le Clos was pretty outspoken about Phelps' comments: "He's been talking a lot of smack in the media about how slow the butterfly is, so I just can't wait until I race him," backing this statement up by smashing Phelps' recent times: "I just did a 100m butterfly time that Phelps hasn't done in four years, so he can keep quiet now." Fair play. But that was the past.
Surely then the race for the top spot on the podium would be between former Olympic Champion, le Clos, and the most decorated Olympic swimmer of all times, Phelps.

No, that was not the case. Le Clos probably regrets provoking Phelps who looked focused, determined and ready for anything.
Both Phelps and Clos swam in adjacent lanes. Phelps was in the zone and swam his own race, while le Clos took passing glances at the 20-time gold medallist as the distance between them grew as the race went on.
Unfortunately for him, le Clos didn't have the edge on Phelps. In fact, in his bid to beat his rival, he didn't even make it into the medals. Masato Sakai gave Phelps a really close run for his money, while le Clos was le nowhere to be seen.



It wasn't long before le Clos felt the burn! As the bitter sting of sports rivalry strikes again, we just want to remind le Clos that it's not the taking part that counts, it's the winning.
MMA star Kimbo Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson, famous for his epic street fighting in Florida before he began competing in professional boxing and UFC, died on Monday while in intensive care and the tragic details of his death have been revealed.
He was admitted to Northwest Medical Center as a result of severe abdominal pains, shortness of breath and nausea. He sadly passed away before he could be flown to Cleveland to undergo a heart transplant.

According to hospital reports, he had no history of illegal drug use and there was no foul play in the circumstances of his death. The M.E. Chief explained, ‘We were informed of his death and after review of the circumstances, we declined jurisdiction. It is not a medical examiner case....No medical legal investigation, including toxicology is necessary.’
THREE WEEKS AFTER HIS HYUNDAI I20 WAS DESTROYED BY FIRE IN PORTUGAL, HAYDEN PADDON WILL TACKLE RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA (9-12 JUNE) WITH A BRAND NEW CAR - BUILT IN JUST A WEEK - AND ANOTHER PODIUM FINISH IN HIS SIGHTS.


Shortly after the high of his maiden WRC victory in Argentina, Paddon and co-driver John Kennard hit the ground with a bump in Portugal, when their car caught fire following an off on the opening day. 

 Neither driver was injured, but the total loss of one of the latest specification i20 cars left Hyundai in a race against time to deliver a replacement from scratch for the next round. 

 Paddon’s crew returned from Portugal earlier than the rest of the team to begin work at the squad's base in Germany and turned around the job in just seven working days.
And as he prepared to return to the coastal resort town of Alghero, where he celebrated his first WRC podium result in 2015, Paddon believed recent events had made him stronger.

Ken Block crashes

Ken Block crashesKen Block crashes his precious Fiesta.Ken Block crashes
Ken Block crashes
He isn’t just all about the high-dollar Gymkhana. They may be cool and all but, obviously Block is good at other things with cars, such as “simply” driving a rally car. This video was shot at the New England Forest Rally in Maine where a minor incident happened on Stage 6. As Ken Block isn’t the type of guy who is shy with the throttle, his Fiesta WRC’s tail up into the air and didn’t manage to get back down on time.

Ken Block crashes his WRC

Moment after, he remembers which planet he is on and starts up the ride as if nothing happened. Typical Block. Video below!
Maria Sharapova and Serena WilliamsMaria Sharapova and Serena Williams
So many haters, so many bigots, driven by jealousy, always find the most vile things to say about Serena Williams. Because of her well toned physique some of insinuated that it is a result of steroids and not hard work. Well it turns out that it is their precious Maria Sharapova who is doping up and Serena Williams continues to be clean as a whistle.
Maria Sharapova says she failed a drug test at the Australian Open.
The five-time major champion took full responsibility for her mistake when she made the announcement at a news conference Monday in Los Angeles. The former world No. 1 could face a lengthy ban from the International Tennis Federation.
It breaks our hearts to watch the people’s champion and the most loved man in the bodybuilding industry, Kai Greene, with tears in his eyes announce that he will not be allowed to compete at this years Mr. Olympia.
He apparently can not tell us the reason for legal reasons we suppose. But there have been a lot of fan speculations. Here’s one of them:
This is what I heard, not sure if it was true but would explain everything and would go back to PJ say there is stuff “behind the scenes” “Kai had big plans to launch Dynamik [Dynamik Muscle, Kai’s new company] in conjunction with the Olympia. His agent demanded a free title sponsorship, a 20×20 booth space and no union load-in fees. Olympia reps countered by demanding that he fork over sponsorship money like everyone else. They had a Mexican standoff. No one budged. Can’t think of a worse way to launch a supplement line than being left outside the arena at the biggest bodybuilding show of the year especially after dieting and gearing up for months. AMI now set to completely pull the plug on him and pressuring the other mags to do the same to sabotage his line and push him over the edge (source:doyoueven)
Wow. If this is true then this industry is more f*cked up then we ever could have imagined.
(Btw we’ve taken a look at the ingredients in Kai’s new supplement line Dynamik Muscle…. it is legit as f*ck.)
Here’s what other fans are saying in comment sections:
We got your back Kai. IFBB f*cked with the wrong competitor. DLB,STEVE [Referring to Dana Linn Bailey and Steve Cook] and now KAI. They can’t stop you no matter what. DARE TO DREAM.
These guy suggests we don’t watch the Mr O
Kai’s Out, Steve’s Out, Dana’s Out…. I’m out.
Man, I say we boycott the Olympia. Everyone should spread the word. Fuck the IFBB.
And another one has sent them an angry letter
I just send [sent] and [an] e-mail to IFBB saying F**K YOU and demanding an explanation for this.. more people should do the same !
Others are waiting for influential people from the industry that dare to speak the truth, like Rich Piana and Lee Priest, to speak on the matter.
Crazyyyy! The Kai Greene chants will be heard in full force at this years olympia. Hopefully the internet is loud enough to make a change. Side note, can’t wait to watch Lee Priest response to what the IFFB has done today.


Sebastien Loeb could still win a 10th World Rally Championship, according to Citroen team principal Yves Matton - who plans to talk to the French superstar about a WRC return.
Loeb has a long-term ambassadorial contract with Citroen, but his deal to run in the World Touring Car Championship is up at the end of the year.
Matton will be discussing the options for the 41-year-old Alsatian soon and more WRC action is one possibility.
"The main weakness of the World Rally Championship is that, for the moment, you only have two drivers who are able to be champion or to win events on a regular basis and one of them is doing the championship [Sebastien Ogier] and the other is in World Touring Cars [Loeb]," said Matton.
Loeb made a one-off appearance for Citroen at the start of the season, driving a DS 3 WRC on the Monte Carlo Rally and leading early on.

 Asked whether he would be inviting Loeb back to the WRC, Matton told AUTOSPORT: "Sebastien is an ambassador for the brand for a long time into the future.
"We have to talk about what he wants to do next year.
"OK, I think he enjoys what he is doing. For sure, sometimes it's maybe not as enjoyable when you are not winning - but that's normal when you are a champion like him, you want to win each weekend and due to the fact that you have more drivers able to win in WTCC, it's more difficult than it was for him in WRC.
"We are speaking about a lot of things and we can speak about asking him back to the WRC, but I do not think he could be interested to do a full championship again."
Loeb recently tested Peugeot's 2008 DKR Dakar Rally contender and could be on the verge of committing to his first cross-country programme.
Although he would not combine Dakar with the WTCC, it could dovetail perfectly with a part-time WRC effort.
ESPN magazine's annual Body Issue hit newsstands Monday, showcasing some of the world's most celebrated athletes in all their chiseled, well-toned glory. Yet it's also become an opportunity to interrogate American standards of beauty, particularly when it comes to female athletes. 
For instance, this year's issue features Brittney Griner, the basketball phenom whose recent off-the-court dramahas added another chapter to a career that's been marked by her repeated need to reassert that yes, she is a woman. There's also track and field athlete Amanda Bingson, who recalls being bullied by kids in school because of her size and then finally embracing it. 
Here's a glimpse into how these incredible athletes view their own bodies. 

1. Brittney Griner 

SÉBASTIEN OGIER HEADED RALLY ITALIA SARDEGNA FOLLOWING A CAR-BREAKING SATURDAY THAT ENDED IN HEARTBREAK FOR LONG-TIME LEADER HAYDEN PADDON.

Ogier completed the WRC’s longest day since 2002 with a 2min 13.6sec advantage in his Volkswagen Polo R over Paddon, who had his lead wiped out after a spin and fell back further after hitting a rock.

TWO RISING STARS OF JAPANESE RALLYING ARE SET TO MAKE THEIR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DEBUTS AT NEXT MONTH'S LOTOS 72ND RALLY POLAND AS PART OF A YOUNG DRIVER DEVELOPMENT SCHEME BACKED BY TOYOTA.

Polish rally organisers have confirmed that Daiki Arai, 21, [above] the son of former PWRC champion Toshi, and Takamoto Katsuta, 22, the son of Norihiko Katsuta - six-time Japanese rally champion - will take part.


TOYOTA HOPES TO ADD TO ITS TALLY OF SEVEN FIA WRC TITLES ‘AS SOON AS POSSIBLE’ AFTER ITS CHAMPIONSHIP RETURN IN 2017 - AND IS TARGETING A RALLY WIN IN ITS FIRST SEASON.

Toyota recently confirmed that after a break of almost two decades it would return to the WRC with an all-new Yaris World Rally Car run from its motorsport base in Germany.

Toyota Motorsport’s vice president Rob Leupen told wrc.com that the team wanted to hit the ground running in 2017. “We want to be a title contender as soon as possible - as a motorsport organisation this is what your aim is,” he said.

“But we have a lot of respect, especially for Volkswagen, at the present moment. I think if we are on a podium and with a win in 2017 that would be a good achievement. After a year of experience we should become a bit more serious with our aspirations and we should give all the others a hard life and be fighting for the championship.

“I think it would be pretentious to say we will win the title in 2017, or even that we would be a serious title contender. I would like to be much more modest there and see how we develop. Should we be that good then of course we would go for it, but it is not what I expect today,” he added.


Development of the Yaris World Rally Car began in 2014 and will accelerate this year with a packed test programme. This week Toyota announced that Teemu Suninen would join Eric Camilli in its junior driver development squad, working alongside other test drivers Stéphane Sarrazin and Sebastian Lindholm. The team structure is also taking shape, at the same Cologne base that houses Toyota’s World Endurance Championship outfit. 

“Since we started on the project we have put all the vital functions in place and already have the structure pretty well set-up,” said Leupen. “We have an operational team focussed for now mainly on the technical side of car development, engine and chassis. Emanuele Battisti is the project manager in charge of the technical side.”

Wherever possible Toyota Motorsport will try to make use of synergies between its WRC and WEC programmes. “In some areas you have to have fully dedicated teams - after all, there might be a situation where a WEC race is taking place at the same time as a WRC rally,” Leupen explained. “But we also have crossovers and co-operations between different departments - on projects like engineering and engine development. We will run in an efficient way and expect to use the best resources from both sides.”
Ref:wrc



TOYOTA CONFIRMED TODAY THAT IT WILL RETURN TO THE FIA WORLD RALLY CHAMPIONSHIP WITH A YARIS WORLD RALLY CAR IN 2017.

Toyota Motor Corporation president Akio Toyoda ended months of speculation when he made the announcement during a press conference in Tokyo, at which the Yaris WRC made its public debut in a launch livery.

The programme will be handled by Toyota Motorsport (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, which has already completed a preliminary test programme in Europe with the Yaris WRC on asphalt and gravel.


HOLLYWOOD SUPERSTAR IDRIS ELBA EXPERIENCED THE THRILL OF TOP-LEVEL RALLYING THIS AFTERNOON, WHEN SEBASTIEN OGIER TOOK HIM ON A HIGH-SPEED BLAST AROUND THE STREETS OF MONTE-CARLO IN A VOLKSWAGEN POLO R WORLD RALLY CAR.

The British star of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, and TV series The Wire and Luther, jumped into Julien Ingrassia’s co-driver’s seat at the WRC season launch to find out more about the sport for a TV documentary during which he will compete on a rally in Ireland.

A self confessed petrol-head, Elba has described rallying as ‘the pinnacle of motorsport’. Last year he got behind the wheel himself for a BBC documentary ’Idris Elba King of Speed’, and had lessons on a Finnish rally stage with 1981 Champion Ari Vatanen and his rally driving son Max.

“I just had an amazing lesson from Seb - the number one driver in the world,” Elba told wrc.com after two laps of a special circuit built on the iconic harbourside.
“Okay, it’s a safe course, a spectator course, but I learned so much. I’m competing in the [non championship] Irish Rally and I’m lucky to drive [here] with the number one driver. I learned some interesting, subtle, things about safety and car control as well.”

Ari Vatanen was on hand to offer advice as he was strapped into the car, and Elba credited him with firing his passion for the sport. “Ari is definitely my grandfather in this business,” he said.

“He is the man who brought me into a car first - along with Max too. It was good to see them here. And he’s going to help me progress. Before I compete in April, I’m probably going to see Ari again for some tips.”
The competitive action at Rallye Monte-Carlo gets underway tonight with first stage, the 21.31km from Entrevaux, starting at 2021hrs.
Ref:wrc