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[Smallville22]

GP2 - Calado fastest at rain-hit Barcelona

James Calado was fastest at Barcelona on Wednesday as heavy rain continued to impede GP2 teams' efforts to get up to speed for this month's Sepang season-opener.
Better weather is forecast for the final day of testing on Thursday, but in the interim Calado's morning time of 1m50.218s for ART proved to be as quick as anyone could manage.
Johnny Cecotto Jr set the afternoon-session pace in his Arden car, having earlier been among several drivers who caused red flags with incidents.
Five stoppages ultimately occurred, courtesy of Daniel Abt, Cecotto, Riccardo Agostini, Julian Leal and Rene Binder.
Italian Formula 3 champion Agostini, who has already committed to an Auto GP programme this season, had taken over from Pal Varhaug for the day at newcomer Hilmer Motorsport.
The other recent team addition, Russian Time, swapped Formula 2 champion Luciano Bacheta for long-time F2 frontrunner Christopher Zanella on day two.

Morning session:

1. James Calado ART 1m50.218s 30 laps

2. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m50.902s + 0.684s 14

3. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m51.642s + 1.424s 29

4. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m51.689s + 1.471s 17

5. Daniel Abt ART 1m52.034s + 1.816s 24

6. Mitch Evans Arden 1m52.176s + 1.958s 24

7. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m52.233s + 2.015s 23

8. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m52.266s + 2.048s 23

9. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m52.296s + 2.078s 17

10. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m52.457s + 2.239s 19

11. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m52.594s + 2.376s 26

12. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m52.685s + 2.467s 29

13. Daniel de Jong MP 1m52.692s + 2.474s 30

14. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m52.946s + 2.728s 26

15. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m53.100s + 2.882s 25

16. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m53.160s + 2.942s 21

17. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m53.216s + 2.998s 25

18. Robin Frijns Trident 1m53.649s + 3.431s 2

19. Christopher Zanella Russian Time 1m53.772s + 3.554s 23

20. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m53.912s + 3.694s 17

21. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m53.994s + 3.776s 12

22. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m54.075s + 3.857s 18

23. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m54.547s + 4.329s 20

24. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m54.857s + 4.639s 22

25. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m55.077s + 4.859s 16

26. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m55.366s + 5.148s 30

Afternoon session:

1. Johnny Cecotto Arden 1m52.781s 18

2. James Calado ART 1m52.878s + 0.097s 28

3. Felipe Nasr Carlin 1m52.892s + 0.111s 24

4. Kevin Giovesi Lazarus 1m53.081s + 0.300s 21

5. Adrian Quaife-Hobbs MP 1m53.243s + 0.462s 30

6. Simon Trummer Rapax 1m53.414s + 0.633s 32

7. Daniel de Jong MP 1m53.515s + 0.734s 26

8. Julian Leal Racing Engineering 1m53.524s + 0.743s 37

9. Stefano Coletti Rapax 1m53.818s + 1.037s 14

10. Tom Dillmann Russian Time 1m53.819s + 1.038s 23

11. Fabio Leimer Racing Engineering 1m53.920s + 1.139s 22

12. Conor Daly Hilmer 1m53.983s + 1.202s 22

13. Stephane Richelmi DAMS 1m54.137s + 1.356s 29

14. Marcus Ericsson DAMS 1m54.161s + 1.380s 36

15. Sergio Canamasas Caterham 1m54.240s + 1.459s 18

16. Rene Binder Lazarus 1m54.349s + 1.568s 14

17. Robin Frijns Trident 1m54.360s + 1.579s 18

18. Ma Qing Hua Caterham 1m54.494s + 1.713s 33

19. Mitch Evans Arden 1m54.513s + 1.732s 17

20. Rodolfo Gonzalez Trident 1m54.563s + 1.782s 27

21. Rio Haryanto Addax 1m54.662s + 1.881s 35

22. Jake Rosenzweig Addax 1m54.845s + 2.064s 23

23. Jolyon Palmer Carlin 1m54.940s + 2.159s 23

24. Riccardo Agostini Hilmer 1m55.359s + 2.578s 26

25. Christopher Zanella Russian Time 1m55.425s + 2.644s 12

26. Daniel Abt ART 1m55.770s + 2.989s 26

 

[Smallville22]

Athletics - IAAF cites former champions for doping

Six athletes, including former Olympic and three-times world hammer champion Ivan Tsikhan of Belarus were named by the sport's governing body on Friday for failing doping tests after samples taken at the 2005 world championships in Helsinki were re-examined.
The other athletes named were Andrei Mikhnevich, Vadim Devyatovskiy and Nazdeya Ostapchuk from Belarus and Tatyana Kotova and Olga Kuzenkova of Russia.
All are now subject to the disciplinary procedures of the International Association of Athletics Federations.
Tsikhan won the gold medal in Helsinki, while Devyatovskiy took silver. They finished in the same order at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, lost their medals after doping tests but won appeals against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Tsikhan did not compete at last year's London Olympics following a request by the IAAF.
Shot-putter Mikhnevich, the 2003 world champion, won an Olympic bronze medal in Beijing in 2008.
Long jumper Kotova was a bronze medallist at both the 2000 and 2004 Olympics and won three successive silver medals in the world championships, while Kuzenkova won hammer gold at the 2004 Olympics and the world championships in Helsinki.
Ostapchuk was stripped of her London shot put gold medal last year after testing positive for a banned anabolic steroid.
"The IAAF's message to cheaters is increasingly clear that, with constant advancements being made in doping detection, there is no place to hide," IAAF President Lamine Diack said in a statement on Friday.
"This re-testing is just the latest example of the IAAF's firm resolve to expose cheating in our sport. The IAAF will continue to do everything in its power to ensure the credibility of competition and, where the rules have been broken, will systematically uncover the cheats."
Two other athletes, Vladislav Piskunov of Ukraine, who finished 12th in the men's hammer in Helsinki and Neelam Jaswant Singh of India who was ninth in Group A of the women's discus qualification, had already been sanctioned, the IAAF said.

 

[Smallville22]

Motorcycling - Hayden undergoes wrist operation

Ducati MotoGP factory rider Nicky Hayden has undergone a 'minor tune up' operation on his injured right hand and wrist.
The American sustained two small fractures to his right hand in a violent Indianapolis qualifying accident which also briefly knocked him out in August last year.
He then aggravated the injury at Aragon when he flew over the track perimeter in a second-lap crash.
With Ducati not attending next week's private test at Austin, Hayden took advantage of his break from testing to have a small operation, which he tweeted was to "clean up some old scar tissue."
Yamaha, Honda and its satellite LCR squad are the only three teams due to head out to Austin for next week's three-day test.
The next official MotoGP test takes place at Jerez on March 23-25.

 

[Smallville22]

GP2 - Coletti sets pace as GP2 test ends

GP2 veteran Stefano Coletti set the pace on the final day of pre-season testing at Barcelona on Thursday.
The Rapax driver came out on top during a flurry of activity in the morning session, as most drivers ran the soft tyre compound once the track had dried out.
Coletti was also one of the leading runners in the slower afternoon session, setting the second fastest time on the hard tyre as Felipe Nasr led the way with a soft compound run.
Marcus Ericsson, who had been setting the pace before Coletti's run in the morning, ended the day with the second fastest time overall.
Nasr's afternoon lap was good enough for third on the day, while the top five was completed by Stephane Richelmi and Jolyon Palmer.
Only 25 of the 26 cars featured on track for the final day of the test, as Trident ran a sole car for Rodolfo Gonzalez.
The Italian team had planned not to run at all as Gonzalez initially felt too ill to drive. It did not have a driver for its second car either as Formula Renault 3.5 champion Robin Frijns switched to new team Russian Time, and Nathaneal Berthon, who Frijns had filled in for on the first two days, continued to be sidelined by contractual issues.
The GP2 season kicks off at Sepang, where it will support the Malaysian Grand Prix on March 22-24.

 

[Smallville22]

BSB - Suzuki pair enjoy fruitful testing

Tyco Suzuki riders Josh Brookes and PJ Jacobsen both went inside the lap record during British Superbike testing at Kirkistown in Northern Ireland.
The pair put in the blistering laps before track temperatures dipped dramatically in County Down, resulting in both riders slipping off.
But with nothing worse than some broken bodywork to their GSX-R1000s, it was a successful outing for the team.
"The second day has been quite productive again, even though we probably only had half the time out there compared to yesterday," Brookes said.
" Yesterday's conditions were freezing and today's were even worse but we've been able to match my lap times which indicate the bike is heading in the right direction.
"The weather prohibited us from getting any further on, but taking it into consideration, we did really good. For me it has shown that we have been able to push the bike close to its limits already, which is pretty impressive for a first test, and we both only got caught-out at the end because of the weather."
Jacobsen added: "Everything was working great today up until the crash and as Josh says; we just got caught out with the weather."

 

[Smallville22]

Mexico Rally - Ogier tops Mexico street stages

Sebastien Ogier emerged fastest from the two short street stages that kicked off Rally Mexico on Thursday night.
The ceremonial start was followed by two brief runs on the streets, cobbles and cycle paths of Guanajuato, with SS2 Parque Bicentenario new for 2013.
Thierry Neuville had been quickest in his M-Sport Ford on SS1, before Ogier put his Volkswagen ahead by the completion of SS2.
Neuville dropped back to third, 0.6 seconds down on Ogier, with Mads Ostberg in the sister Ford holding second.
Works Citroen duo Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo complete the top five, just ahead of returnee Chris Atkinson in Khalid Al Qassimi's usual DS3.
Local favourite and 2012 Production champion Benito Guerra was 10th as he began his World Rally Car debut in another Citroen.
Ogier's team-mate Jari-Matti Latvala stalled at the start of Parque Bicentenario and finished the night 6.4s adrift in ninth.

 

[Smallville22]

WRC - Citroen has full faith in its drivers

Citroen team boss Yves Matton insists he does not fear a future without Sebastien Loeb and has total faith in Mikko Hirvonen and Dani Sordo.
The third round of the 2013 World Rally Championship, which starts from Guanajuato on Thursday evening, will be the first time the official Citroen team has been without its nine-time world champion Loeb since Rally New Zealand 2002.
Of the 55 points Citroen has accumulated so far this year, Loeb has contributed 43, with both Hirvonen and Sordo struggling to find early-season form.
But Matton still has faith in the duo.
"I am still confident that Dani and Mikko can do a very good job in Mexico and for this year," said Matton.
"Sure, Sebastien Ogier, since the start of the year, is putting the level very high, but I am confident with our team.
"Even though Mexico will be the first gravel rally for Dani, it's a rally that will be good for him - it's fast with a lot of grip."
Whatever happens in Mexico this week, Matton says he has no intention of asking Loeb to return to the team for more than the planned outings in Argentina and France.
"This is not the plan," said Matton. "The discussion and negotiation for this year was to ask him to do four rallies this year.
"At the beginning [of those discussions] his choice was to stop at the end of last year. We are happy to have him for the four rallies this year."

 

[Smallville22]

WRC - Mexico may be Block's sole WRC event

Ken Block has admitted this week's Rally Mexico could be his only World Rally Championship outing of the season.
The American had hoped to compete at least three WRC 2013 rounds, but his schedule of Rally America, Global Rallycross and X Games events mean his Guanajuato outing is likely to be his sole WRC show of the year.
"We're doing one event in the WRC right now and this is it," said Block. "It's a time and budget thing, but more the time thing. I would love to do more, but you know right now I'm on a six-week trip at the moment, where I'm home for two days.
"I've come here straight from doing some demonstration runs at the Aussie V8 race in Adelaide, so there's been no time for a test. In fact, I haven't been in the World Rally Car since Finland last year!"
Block made his World Rally Championship debut in Mexico six years ago and it is the event on which he has the most experience: this week is his fifth start in Leon.
The Hoonigan Racing driver is chasing a repeat of his top-10 finish in Leon last year.
Block said: "I still think a top 10 is possible, I don't think I can be anywhere near the top five unless there were any major problems with some of the other guys, but to be able to walk away from points I'd be very happy with that considering I haven't tested at all."

 

[Smallville22]

WRC - Ogier slams Loeb comparisons

Sebastien Ogier says the time has come for comparisons between himself and Sebastien Loeb to stop.
Ogier has grown increasingly frustrated by the media's fascination with drawing parallels between the careers of the two Frenchmen, to the extent that he refused to answer questions on the subject on the season-opening Monte Carlo Rally.
This week's Rally Mexico is the first WRC round to start without the now semi-retired Loeb in seven years.
And Ogier believes that is the ideal cue to cease equating his rise to Loeb's.
"I don't think we need these comparisons anymore," said Ogier. "I can tell you, I am not the new Sebastien Loeb, I am Sebastien Ogier.
"I heard so many times this comparison that I just don't think we need it now.
"I think it's very odd to compare people that are 10 years apart. I am a different generation. If I was 10 years older and fighting with him maybe [it would be relevant], but it's not like that - he's not here anymore."
Loeb and Ogier famously fell out when they shared the Citroen team in 2011, with Ogier's position becoming untenable with the French firm, forcing his move to Volkswagen.

 

[Smallville22]

WRC - Guerra promised full season if strong in Mexico

Benito Guerra has been promised a good performance on this week's Rally Mexico will be enough to land him a seat in a Citroen DS3 WRC for the rest of this season and all of next year.
The reigning Production Car World Rally Champion makes his World Rally Car debut on his home round of the series in Guanajuato this week - and the 27-year-old admits the pressure is enormous as he starts the biggest rally of his life.
Guerra said: "My sponsors have told me that if I go well and get good publicity on this rally then they will support me for the next nine [rallies] and all of next season – this is an incredible position to be in.
"I have to be sensible, I have to drive a clean rally and go as quickly as I can to make a result and get a dream programme."
Guerra has already received extensive media coverage of his Citroen debut this week, but during the event he will be followed by 28 separate cameras sent out by Mexican television.
"Some people have been asking for a podium," said Guerra. "But I have to say to these people: "Come on, guys, this is my first time in this car!
"The Citroen is fantastic to drive, but it's the first time I have ever driven a World Rally Car and it is quite different to the Group N Mitsubishis I've been driving for a long time.
"This can be quite a difficult week with so much pressure, but I have to get it right – this is a very big moment for my career."

 

[Smallville22]

Super Rugby - Hurricanes snatch dramatic win over Crusaders

The Wellington Hurricanes scored a dramatic late try to snatch a narrow 29-28 Super Rugby win over fellow New Zealand outfit the Canterbury Crusaders on Friday.
The Crusaders were on course for their first win of the season when they led 28-22 with seven minutes left, but wing Alapata Leiua intercepted a loose pass to score a second try for the home side following Julian Savea's brutish earlier score.
Fly-half Beauden Barrett converted from in front of the posts to put his side ahead and complete a personal haul of 19 points against the record seven-time champions, who scored four tries but also gave away a string of careless penalties.
All Black fly-half Dan Carter had a chance to win it for the Crusaders but sliced his drop goal attempt wide of the left upright.
"That one could have gone either way," Hurricanes captain Conrad Smith said.
"They'll probably be disappointed in the way it slippedaway but we've had a few of those. We just wanted to hang in there."
The Hurricanes lost 34-20 to the Auckland Blues in their opening match before being edged 18-12 by the Queensland Reds last week.
The Crusaders remain without a win, although they collected the consolation of a losing bonus point and another for the tries from Ryan Cotty, Corey Flynn, Israel Dagg and Carter, who converted all four.
"We probably did enough at the start of the second half but we let them back in it," Crusaders number eight Kieran Read. said. "They're a good enough side to capitalise on our mistakes."
The opening try owed everything to the individual brilliance of Cotty, who beat four men to touch down. The inside centre dropped his shoulder to sneak between two players in the defensive line, shrugged off an attempted tackle from Tim Bateman and made it across the line despite being caught by Leiua.
Carter's conversion made it 7-3 but handling errors robbed the Crusaders of more points. Those errors proved crucial when Barrett knocked over three penalties to give the Hurricanes a 12-7 halftime lead.
The Crusaders were back in front, though, when hooker Flynn went over from close range and Dagg outpaced the chasing defenders for a try following his hack downfield from a soft turnover.
But Savea struck back with a try of sheer brute force, bursting through a challenge by Tom Marshall and repelling Dagg with such ferocity that the tackling fullback bounced backward off him.
Carter's converted try made it 28-19 but Barrett reduced the deficit with a 46-metre penalty and Leiua got his team to within a point, leaving Barrett to win it with the conversion.

 

[Smallville22]

Super Rugby - Reds win as Rebels' second-half woes continue

The Queensland Reds ground out a hard-fought 23-13 Super Rugby win over the Melbourne Rebels on Friday to heap more second half woe on their fellow Australians.
Ben Tapuai and Nick Frisby touched down for the visitors, who scored 13 unanswered second half points in Melbourne despite periods of sustained pressure from the home side.
The Rebels have now led at half-time in three straight matches and lost them all. Their only victory this year came against the Western Force in round one, when they trailed by a point at the interval.
Quade Cooper kicked the Reds' other points but was outshone in his head-to-head duel with James O'Connor, his apparent rival to fill the Wallabies' flyhalf jersey against the British and Irish Lions later this year.
O'Connor set up the Rebels' only try for Lachie Mitchell, kicked the conversion and scored two penalties, although his evening was tarnished by three missed kicks at goal.
The Rebels put together 12 phases of possession at one point and camped deep into Queensland territory but could not find a finishing touch despite a stellar performance from number eight Scott Higginbotham.
Tapuai showed them how it should be done in the 15th minute, shimmying past his man and touching down for his third try of the season. Cooper, who had already hit a penalty, converted to make it 10-3 and the Reds could have been even further ahead but Anthony Faingaa spilled the ball as he twisted and rolled his way across the line.
"We still haven't put in an 80-minute performance this year," Reds prop James Slipper said. "We just played in patches which was not what we wanted to do."
The Rebels stayed in touch with two penalties from O'Connor but his accuracy wavered and Higginbotham's fleet-footed break amounted to nothing when a team-mate put a pass to ground with the line in sight.
The home side did lead at half-time thanks to O'Connor, who waited and waited to draw in several tacklers before popping up a soft pass for Mitchell to run onto and cross unopposed.
O'Connor converted but those two points were to be the Rebels' last.
Digby Ioane picked the ball up off his toes and broke the defensive line before offloading to Frisby, who accelerated away to score. Cooper converted for 17-13 after 43 minutes and then landed a penalty awarded for a late challenge by Luke Jones.
O'Connor thought he had the chance to trim the deficit after the referee awarded a penalty to the Rebels but the official reversed his decision when his TV assistant advised him that Paul Alo-Emile's swing at an opponent had been preceded by Ged Robinson's illegal use of the boot.
Play switched up the other end and Cooper's final penalty made sure of the result.

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby - Six Nations - Orquera returns as Italy ring changes

Fly-half Luciano Orquera has returned in one of eight changes to the Italy side for Sunday's Six Nations Championship clash against England at Twickenham.
Orquera, man-of-the-match in Italy's thrilling 23-18 win against France on the opening day of the tournament before struggling in the defeat by Scotland, comes back in for Kristopher Burton who played in the loss to Wales.
"We started the tournament well but have been disappointed in how the following two matches went," coach Jacques Brunel told reporters on Friday.
"Against Wales we didn't play at the intensity we should have. I don't know whether it was because of tiredness or something else, but the attitude wasn't what I expect of this team.
"Sunday's match will be important in that respect. If we're not at their level physically, we can expect a hard afternoon and a potentially heavy defeat."
Sergio Parisse will return to captain Italy as expected after his suspension for insulting a referee during a French Top 14 club match last month was shortened on Wednesday.
Parisse had been suspended for the rest of the Six Nations after the sending off for Stade Francais but the number eight appealed to the French rugby federation and his ban now ends on Saturday.
Brunel has brought in five new faces to a pack that was dominated by Wales in their 26-9 defeat a fortnight ago with loosehead prop Alberto De Marchi replacing Andrea Lo Cicero, who will make a record-breaking 102nd appearance for Italy if he comes off the bench.
Joshua Furno returns alongside Quintin Geldenhuys in the second row and Robert Barbieri replaces Simone Favaro at openside flanker.
In the back line, Gonzalo Canale is moved to his preferred position of outside centre with Tommaso Benvenuti dropping to the bench and Gonzalo Garcia coming in at inside centre.
"Against Scotland and Wales we conceded tries scored by centres, but we think that having played together often for Italy, Garcia and Canale have the sort of good understanding that will be necessary," added Brunel, who joked the only way to stop England centre Manu Tuilagi was "to lock him in the dressing room".
Italy, fifth in the standings above France and desperate to avoid the wooden spoon, host Ireland in their final game on March 16.
England have won three out of three and are targeting a Grand Slam.

Italy team: 15-Andrea Masi, 14-Giovanbattista Venditti, 13-Gonzalo Canale, 12-Gonzalo Garcia, 11-Luke McLean, 10-Luciano Orquera, 9-Edoardo Gori, 8-Sergio Parisse, 7-Robert Barbieri, 6-Alessandro Zanni, 5-Joshua Furno, 4-Quintin Geldenhuys, 3-Martin Castrogiovanni, 2-Leonardo Ghiraldini, 1-Alberto De Marchi

Replacements: 16-Davide Giazzon, 17-Andrea Lo Cicero, 18-Lorenzo Cittadini, 19-Antonio Pavanello, 20-Francesco Minto, 21-Simone Favaro, 22-Tobias Botes, 23-Tommaso Benvenuti

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby - Six Nations - Vunipola named in England team to face Italy

Saracens prop Mako Vunipola will make his first England start in Sunday's Six Nations clash with Italy as one of five changes made by head coach Stuart Lancaster from the 23-13 victory over France.
England have crushed the Azzurri every time they have faced them at Twickenham and have an average winning margin of almost 35 points from their six previous Six Nations meetings there. Another victory on Sunday will leave them one win - away to Wales next Saturday - away from their first Grand Slam since 2003.
It is a very different scenario from 12 months ago when Lancaster had just begun his rebuilding job and such is his confidence in the squad he has assembled that on Friday he felt able to make four tactical changes, plus one injury-enforced, from the team who beat France two weeks ago.
Mako Vunipola, the giant 22-year-old New Zealand-born prop, whose father Fe'ao captained Tonga and played against England in the 1999 World Cup, will make his first start as a reward for some dynamic displays off the bench having won all his previous seven caps as a replacement.
There is a new half-back combination as Toby Flood starts at fly-half in place of the injured Owen Farrell and Danny Care regains the scrum half jersey from Ben Youngs.
James Haskell returns to blindside flanker in place of Courtney Lawes and Tom Youngs comes back in at hooker for Dylan Hartley, reversing the switch made for the France game.
There is also a recall to the bench for flanker Tom Croft, who has made a remarkable recovery after almost being paralysed after breaking his neck 11 months ago.
"We were very happy with the way we finished the France game. The impact the replacements made shows that we have competition for places across the board and we have had to make some tight calls," Lancaster said in a statement.
"I am sure those starting will seize their chance and the bench will also have a significant part to play as the game goes on."
Vunipola, who comes in for Joe Marler, weighs in at 20 stone and will hope to stabilize the England scrum, which has been arguably the weakest aspect of their campaign to date.
Italy lead the way with a 91 per cent success rate in the tournament, while England are joint-last with Scotland on 74 percent.
England also trail in last in lineout success so the potential return of Croft, an athletic and effective operator, is a real, if unexpected, boost.
The Leicester flanker was told he was lucky to have escaped paralysis after breaking his neck in a club game last April shortly after completing an impressive Six Nations campaign at number six.
He returned to tentative action for Leicester in January, with a metal plate and four pins in his spine and although he has played less than five hours in five games since then, he has shown enough for Lancaster to rush him back into the mix.
As a result of his injury rehabilitation he has added several kilogrammes of muscle bulk around his neck and shoulders that give him more power in the contact but do not seem to have diminished his athletic ability.
"Tom's seven feet tall and 10 stones in terms of throwing him up in the air," said his Leicester and England colleague Geoff Parling.
"He's a quality player who can play anywhere in the line-out. You can put him anywhere and he's comfortable. He'll pick things up very quickly."

England: 15-Alex Goode, 14-Chris Ashton, 13-Manu Tuilagi, 12-Brad Barritt, 11-Mike Brown, 10-Toby Flood, 9-Danny Care; 8-Tom Wood, 7-Chris Robshaw (captain), 6-James Haskell, 5-Geoff Parling, 4-Joe Launchbury, 3-Dan Cole, 2-Tom Youngs 1-Mako Vunipola

Replacements: 16-Dylan Hartley, 17-Dave Wilson, 18-Joe Marler, 19-Courtney Lawes, 20-Tom Croft, 21-Ben Youngs, 22-Freddie Burns, 23-Billy Twelvetrees.

 

[Smallville22]

Rugby League - Champions Leeds handed defeat by Huddersfield

Huddersfield captain Danny Brough produced a dazzling display to help his side beat Super League champions Leeds 32-8 and lead the Giants to a third successive win at Headingley.
Brough scored a try and created four more to keep the Giants top of the table, with Joe Wardle, Scott Grix, and Eorl Crabtree contributing a try each and Aaron Murphy getting a brace.
Leeds had to remain content with just a solitary try, scored by Paul McShane, while Leeds Captain Kevin Sinfield kicked two goals, as the Rhinos suffered their second defeat of the season.
St Helens finally kickstarted their Super League campaign with a convincing 22-10 win over their old whipping boys Warrington at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
Nathan Brown has endured a frustrating time since taking charge at Saints but his new side clicked into gear as early tries from Jordan Turner, Lance Hohaia and Francis Meli put them in charge.
Below-par Warrington eventually replied through Chris Bridge but their poor record against Saints continued as James Roby condemned them to a second successive defeat. Bridge claimed a second try on the breakaway in the dying moments but Saints, who had won 37 of the previous 44 Super League encounters between the clubs, held on.
Pat Richards marked his 200th appearance for Wigan with a personal haul of 18 points as they ran in seven tries to see off the Catalan Dragons 38-0.
Richards crossed twice and kicked five goals in this Super League contest - the first try was his 150th four-pointer for the Warriors.
The Warriors took the lead after 21 minutes when Blake Green went over, before quick tries from Chris Tuson and Jack Hughes saw them 18-0 ahead at the break. Wigan did not ease up in the second half and a brace of tries for Richards and one each for Sam Tomkins and Greg Burke ensured a one-sided scoreline.
Widnes had Gareth Hock sent off but his side salvaged a 22-22 draw after a magnificent backs-to-the-wall effort against Bradford.
The forward, on loan from Wigan, was red-carded on the half hour by referee Robert Hicks for dissent after Matt Diskin bagged the Bulls third touchdown to stretch their advantage to 16-4, following scores from Elliott Whitehead and Brett Kearney inside the opening five minutes. Patrick Ah Van crossed for Widnes' opener.
However, the Vikings stunned Bradford by grabbing three tries without reply when they were down to 12 men through Rhys Hanbury, Ah Van and Lloyd White before an Ah Van penalty five minutes from time earned them a deserved draw.
Joe Arundel and Tom Lineham scored hat-tricks as Hull returned to winning ways at the expense of a poor Castleford side in a 52-0 win which descended into chaos.
Australian stand-off Daniel Holdsworth marked his return from injury with an excellent display at the KC Stadium, having missed two matches due to concussion, and in the first half he produced two huge bombs to create tries for Richard Horne and Lineham.
Danny Tickle booted five goals overall, with Richard Horne, Danny Houghton and Josh Bowden also crossing over for the hosts. A 26-man brawl in the second half led to red cards for Tickle and Weller Hauraki and a pair of yellow cards, making it an 11-a-side contest.

 

[Smallville22]

WTCC - Bennani tests with Proteam

Proteam Racing completed two days of testing at Magione with Mehdi Bennani at the wheel of the Italian team’s World Touring Car Championship BMW 320 TC.
Team principal Valmiro Presenzini commented: “We have been lucky with the weather. We had two wonderful days that enabled us to complete an intensive programme.
“Mehdi ran for 400 kilometres without any technical issues. We tested new dampers and this resulted in setting our record lap-time here at Magione.”
Bennani echoed: “I had not driven since Macau and it was nice to get back behind the wheel of a racing car.
“We worked a lot on the set-up and I am pleased with the job done. I have the feeling that we are on the right path to improving the car’s performance.”

 

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ERC - Model suffers further rally woe

Glamour model Inessa Tushkanova endured more frustration in her quest to appear on the European Rally Championship as clutch failure ended her participation on a practice event on the opening stage.
Tushkanova was recently forced to cancel her planned entry on Rally Liepāja-Ventspils following a car-wrecking crash in Finland.
The famous Ukrainian, who has modelled for Playboy magazine, suffered the problem in her Mitsubishi Lancer on Rally Ronde Valtiberina in Italy last week.
Meanwhile ERC Production Car Cup entrants Marco Tempestini and his son Simone reached the finish in their Napoca Rally Academy Subaru Imprezas - taking seventh and 10th spots respectively.

 

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WTCC - O’Young debuts in ROAL BMW

Darryl O’Young had his first test with ROAL Motorsport at the Adria International Raceway this week.
He completed more than 500 kilometres over two days at the wheel of the BMW 320 TC ahead of the World Touring Car Championship season.
Team principal Roberto Ravaglia commented: “I was very pleased with Darryl’s approach to this first test. He proved to be a professional driver and it did not take much to him to get used to the car, which it was not granted as he had never been in a rear-wheel driven saloon car before.
“We have planned another test at Monza next week and I believe that, afterwards, Darryl will be in the position to fight for the Yokohama Trophy title from the beginning of the season.”
O’Young said: “I felt very comfortable in the car right from the first laps and my confidence grew throughout the two-day test. I had a full day of dry running and some laps in the rain, so we accomplished a lot. I worked well with Roberto and the boys at ROAL, and I'm already looking ahead to our test days next week.
“I feel ready for the first race meeting as I never had the chance to test before the start of the season in the past, so I'm already ahead compared to the last few years.”

 

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WTCC - MacDowall, Nash in wet Cruze outing

Alex MacDowall and James Nash enjoyed some time behind the wheel of bamboo-engineering’s World Touring Car Championship Chevrolet Cruze at Rockingham Speedway despite wet weather.
Sporting the new livery, MacDowall drove the Cruze for the first time since Macau last year, when he crashed into the barriers following contact with Yvan Muller.
It was Nash’s first look at the Cruze. The damp conditions meant he could not get a proper feel of how the car handles, but he was nevertheless impressed.
The team will test again on Monday at Pembrey, hoping for dry weather.

 

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WTCC - Liqui Moly Engstler test in Slovakia

Charles Ng and team principal Franz Engstler tested Liqui Moly Engstler Motorsport’s pair of BMW 320 TC cars over two sunny days at the Slovakia Ring.
The World Touring Car Championship team’s time was mainly used to experiment with set-up solutions, while Engstler also tested new Pagid brake pads which have been specially designed for Monza’s super-fast circuit.
Ng improved upon the qualifying lap-time he set there in 2012 by more than one second.