The Malaysian Insider :: Sports
The Malaysian Insider :: Sports |
| Stoner on pole for British Grand Prix Posted: 11 Jun 2011 08:27 AM PDT  Repsol Honda MotoGP rider Casey Stoner of Australia prepares to take a curve during qualifying for the British motorcycling Grand Prix at the Silverstone circuit on June 11, 2011. — Reuters pic Stoner, the 2007 world champion who will be starting his 150th grand prix in all categories on Sunday (tomorrow), made sure of his fourth pole in six races with a quickest lap of two minutes 02.020 seconds. Italy's Marco Simoncelli, also on a Honda, was second fastest in a dry session ahead of Yamaha's reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo of Spain. Stoner can become the first Honda rider to win three successive MotoGP races since Valentino Rossi in 2003 and few would bet against the 25-year-old after he dominated yesterday's practice in mixed conditions. "Looking at the way we went this weekend, it doesn't really matter what conditions tomorrow brings," said the Australian, knowing it could be wet on Sunday. "I am definitely going to prefer dry...but we feel ready for any conditions." "I felt we got quite lucky with pole position today, we tried a couple of things with the bike...we changed the front a little bit and on my best lap I lost the front two or three times," he added. "One of them was very small but two were more than I'd like to push." Simoncelli, who started the last race in Spain on pole but faded to finish sixth, hoped to be Stoner's main adversary in the absence of Honda's injured Spanish rider Dani Pedrosa. "Here I have a better feeling with the bike than in Barcelona," said the Italian. "I am feeling ready to fight for the podium and victory tomorrow." There was bad news for Crutchlow, the sole British rider in the championship, who looked sure to miss his home race after falling on only his second lap and fracturing his left collarbone. Officials said the Yamaha Tech3 rider, who clutched his shoulder in pain as he lay on the grass before being taken away on a stretcher, was also suffering from concussion. After finishing seventh in Barcelona last weekend and setting the sixth fastest lap in Friday's practice, the British rookie had hoped to shine in front of his home fans at the circuit where last year he won two superbike races, Crutchlow's American team mate Colin Edwards, who broke his right collarbone in practice last week for the Spanish Grand Prix, qualified an impressive eighth. Italian great Valentino Rossi was a disappointing 13th on his Ducati, 3.7 seconds off the pace. Spaniard Maverick Vinales took his first pole in the 125cc category, the 16-year-old beating championship leader and compatriot Nicolas Terol into second place. France's Johann Zarco, who was denied a first victory in Spain last weekend after being disqualified for an illegal overtaking manouevre on Terol on the final bend, starts third. — Reuters Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Pressure on Poland to complete Euro 2012 stadiums Posted: 11 Jun 2011 07:14 AM PDT  Construction site of Poland's National Stadium one year before the Euro 2012, on June 5, 2011 in Warsaw. — AFP pic The current focus is on botched stairs at the site of the new national stadium in the capital Warsaw, where the European Championships kick off on June 8, 2012. The construction firm has received an ultimatum, with top officials stepping in, including Sunday league player Prime Minister Donald Tusk. After stadium delays in the Baltic port of Gdansk forced Poland to switch Thursday's friendly with France to a club ground in Warsaw, they do not want a repeat for the national arena's opener against Germany on September 6. In gloomy mood, the tabloid Fakt headlined "Could we be stripped of Euro 2012?" and the broadsheet Polska, "Is Euro 2012 beyond our ability?" Such headlines are off the mark, insists Mikolaj Piotrowski, spokesman of organising body PL.2012. "With one year to go, we feel quite safe, though of course in the near future there's a lot of work to do," he told AFP. "I must underline there is no danger to Euro 2012," he added, noting "very strong safety-buffers". Infrastructure has been spotlighted by doubters since 2007, when European football's governing body Uefa chose joint bidders Poland and Ukraine to host the 16-nation tournament ahead of favourites Italy. As the first edition behind the ex-Iron Curtain, it is a showcase. "A couple of billion eyes will be focused on us," said Piotrowski. Austria and Switzerland hosted Euro 2008, while Euro 2016 will be held in France. The communist era ended two decades ago, but 2004 European Union entrant Poland still faces challenges way beyond Western hosts, despite bucking the recession. A 2008 Uefa readiness report gave a yellow card, and the Poles have had to work to repair their image. Poland's first Euro 2012 stadium, in the western city of Poznan, opened last September. Gdansk and Warsaw's grounds are set to be ready within months. The final arena, in the southwestern city of Wroclaw, is due in October. "Quality, security and standards are the most important. The Gdansk stadium is not being built specifically for the France game," he said. "These stadiums are being built for Euro 2102 and beyond." Martin Kallen, Uefa's Euro watchdog, told AFP jitters are part of any major event. "We are satisfied with where we are today. But we are looking every day," he added. "There are still a lot of outstanding issues. But these aren't alarm bells." He compared Euro 2004 host Portugal's preparations. "We were on a similar level, even slightly behind, where Poland is now," he noted. Euro 2012-related investments in Poland tally 80 billion zloty (RM87billion, $29 billion), largely on transport. Ninety percent is public money, almost half of it from EU coffers used to help poorer members of the 27-nation bloc. Polish holidaymakers face a summer of jams in roadworks and railway overhauls. Officials note transport needed upgrading anyway to spur the economy, given the lack of a decent highway network in the nation of 38 million. But only 45 per cent of planned highway and 40 per cent of train-track look set to be finished in 2012, according Janusz Piechocinski of the parliamentary infrastructure commission. With qualifying ongoing, organisers must wait until December 2 to see which successful team is drawn to play where in Poland and Ukraine. "We're writing a couple of hundred scenarios," said Piotrowski, noting fans could number 1-1.5 million. "Who, from where, and how they will come to Poland, by train, by car, by plane, or by ferry." Kallen said Uefa is satisfied they can be accommodated. Polish authorities have also beefed up measures against the country's estimated 5,000 hooligans. They plan fast-track hearings in special stadium courts, and electronic tagging for convicted hooligans. — AFP-Relaxnews Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
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