Info

Capirossi and Vermeulen are raring to go at first test

Suzuki’s MotoGP team is on its way to Sepang in Malaysia for the first test of 2009 following the winter test ban, with high hopes as it begins its preparations for the forthcoming season.

Promising tests towards the end of 2008 and comprehensive updating of the Suzuki GSV-R at the Suzuki factory during the break will give Loris Capirossi and Chris Vermeulen a highly modified machine to evaluate during the three-day test.

The gathering of the MotoGP paddock at the 5,548m Malaysian circuit will be the first time all the manufacturers have been present to test the new single rule tyres and make comparisons on the control-spec compounds from Bridgestone. It will also be an ideal opportunity for Suzuki and its riders to assess where they are in relation to other machines and riders with the latest incarnation of the GSV-R.

Sepang is a favoured test track of the MotoGP circus as the usual good weather and the interesting layout of the circuit – with its two long straights, tight turns and fast sweeping corners – make it an ideal test-bed for the 800cc MotoGP bikes.

The three-day test gets underway on Thursday 5^th February with the first race of the 2009 MotoGP season scheduled at Losail in Qatar on Sunday 12^th April.

Loris Capirossi:

“I am ready for this test and I’m really looking forward to getting on the bike again. I’ve worked very hard through the winter with my trainer and feel as fit as I have ever been. I am now 100% and planning to put that to good use as soon as I get on the bike. I’m very excited to see what the guys back in Japan have done to the GSV-R and for Chris and myself to get the chance to ride the latest version of the bike at Sepang. I am sure that all the recommendations we made during the last tests will have been analysed and any improvements the Factory could make they will have done in the winter.”

Chris Vermeulen:

“I am really eager to get back on the track again; it feels like it’s been so long since I was on a bike that I might have forgotten how to ride it! It’s been a couple of months since the last test, but that has been two months when Suzuki has been working really hard to make the 2009 GSV-R as good as it can be at this moment in time. It will be great to ride this year’s bike and see the improvements and alterations the Factory has made to last year’s bike. All the other teams will be there so we will be able to see where we are at the moment in comparison to them and how we have moved on since the last time we were at Sepang.”

Source:
http://www.suzuki-motogp.com

McIlroy is confident ahead of WGC

Rory McIlroy is confident he has the game to thrive in the United States as he heads into his first event on American soil this week.

The Northern Irishman has shot to top 20 in the world following his maiden pro victory in Dubai last month.

McIlroy faces South African Louis Oosthuizen in the first round of the WGC-Accenture Match Play Championship in Arizona on Wednesday.

"I think the style of golf over here suits my game," says the 19-year-old.

"I hit it quite high and I'm able to get the ball to stop pretty quickly. I'm pretty long off the tee."

McIlroy could face the Tiger Woods in the third round, if both come through the opening two stages.

"We'll have to see how it goes. It would be a dream come true for me to be able to meet Tiger, just to play with him or play against him, it would be great to do.

"But I have to focus on my first match, and that's all I'm thinking about at the minute."

McIlroy was speaking after having played two practice rounds at the Ritz-Carlton Golf Club at Dove Mountain near Tucson.

"I've had two good looks at the golf course now and that's nice. It's interesting. The greens are still pretty tricky.

"It probably takes a little bit of time to get used to. But the course is in great shape and it looks like it's going to be a good week."

McIlroy, who faces world number 49 Oosthuizen in Wednesday's first round at 1746 GMT, also believes his extensive matchplay experience could prove invaluable in the desert this week.

"All the amateur golf I played growing up was matchplay, playing for Ireland in the European Championships and the Home Internationals.

"Most of our amateur events in Britain are matchplay events as well, so it's a format that we have grown up with.

"And I think that my game suits match play because I make quite a lot of birdies and I'll be able to throw in the odd double bogey here and there.

"It's head to head and it gets the juices flowing. So I'm looking forward to it this week."

Graeme McDowell will face 2007 Masters champion Zach Johnson in the first round while Padraig Harrington takes on Pat Perez.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Woods slumps to Match Play defeat

Tiger Woods lost 4&2 to Tim Clark to crash out of the WGC Accenture Match Play Championship in the second round.

But the world number one, making his comeback after major knee surgery, refused to be too downcast.

"I hit one bad eight iron and one bad drive so I'm happy with the way I was striking the ball," he said.

"Tim is a wonderful player and he made birdies while I didn't sink enough putts. I feel great, though, and I will go home to evaluate what to do next."

Woods jumped into an early lead with a birdie at the second but Clark hit back to win five and six.

The American restored parity with a birdie on seven, but his South African opponent took command with consecutive birdies on 11, 12 and 13.

Woods holed an outstanding bunker shot on 14 to reduce the gap to two, but his challenge was effectively ended by a wayward tee shot on the driveable par-four 15th.

He blocked his drive out to the right, but it bounced off a cart path into the desert and out-of-bounds.

Woods trudged back to the tee and found the middle of the putting surface with his third shot, but he missed the par putt, leaving Clark with two putts from 20 feet to go three up with three to play.

The South African then hit his tee shot on the par-three 16th to four feet while Woods missed the green to the right.

When his chip stopped 18 inches short of the hole, he removed his cap to signal the end of his comeback.

"I had to try and forget who I was playing," said Clark after his victory.

"I played him here a couple of years ago so I did know what to expect but I was a little nervous on the first tee.

"He may have been a little rusty but he was still going to be able to play some shots that I couldn't.

"He holed a great bunker shot on 14 and it was game on again, but he made a couple of mistakes near the end."

Clark will play Rory McIlroy in round three after the Northern Irishman birdied the last two holes to beat Hunter Mahan one up.

The American opened up a two-shot lead on the 12th, but McIlroy hit back on the 13th and a Mahan error on 14 levelled the match.

McIlroy finished with four threes, sinking 10 and 20 feet putts on 17 and 18 respectively, to wrap up victory.

"I was standing on 13 at two down, but I dug deep and played my best golf when I had to which was satisfying," said the world number 17.

"It was a great way to finish and it gives me momentum going into the game against Tim."

Lee Westwood was the only casualty on an otherwise great day for England's golfers.

He squared his match with Stewart Cink on 17, but eventually lost on the 23rd when he made his first bogey of the tournament.

Paul Casey and Ross Fisher were the big winners.

Casey, who has a home two hours up the road in Scottsdale, won four of the first nine holes against Australia's Matthew Goggin and sank birdies on 13 and 14 to run out a comfortable 6&4 winner and set up a meeting with Sweden's Peter Hanson, who beat Canada's Stephen Ames 2&1.

Fisher birdied four of the first eight holes to go up four up on America's Pat Perez, then closed out the match with an eagle on the 13th. Fisher takes on Jim Furyk after the American overcame Germany's Martin Kaymer 4&2.

Oliver Wilson was also in impressive form, sinking eight birdies to lead by two at the turn on his way to a 3&2 win over America's world number 11 Anthony Kim. His reward is a third-round match with Justin Leonard who defeated Davis Love III with a par at the last.

Luke Donald recovered from two down with two to play to beat Vijay Singh. A Donald birdie at 17 and Singh bogey at 18 took the game down the 19th and the Fijian left his par putt short to hand victory to the Englishman who will play Ernie Els next.

The South African was never behind as he beat Steve Stricker 3&2.

Ian Poulter capped a remarkable day with a one up victory over Charl Schwartzel. The South African played a bogey-free round, but Poulter sank three birdies, including what turned out to be the crucial one on 17.

Poulter meets Sean O'Hair who defeated his fellow American Boo Weekley 2&1 in a scrappy match. The duo's combined score was nine over par after 11 holes, but O'Hair hit a couple of birdies in the closing holes to secure the win.

Elsewhere, Phil Mickelson survived a late charge from Zach Johnson to win at the last to set up a clash with fellow American Cink.

And Spain's Miguel Angel Jimenez was overwhelmed by Camilo Villegas, who birdied four of the first five holes on his way to a 5&4 win. The Colombian plays Geoff Ogilvy, who beat Shingo Katayama on the 19th.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk

McIlroy can win major - Immelman

Trevor Immelman has said that Rory McIlroy has a chance to succeed him as Masters champion at Augusta next month.

When asked about the chances of the 19-year-old from Holywood, County Down winning his first major, Immelman said: "It's definitely not impossible".

"Obviously there's going to be a lot of pressure on him and he's going to have feelings that he has not had before mentally and emotionally.

"But he has all the physical talents at his disposal," said the South African.

"But there are a whole host of guys who do and there's a little bit of an x-factor in doing something great in sport.

"Players find that out when the moment arises and time will tell whether he has that little X-factor."

Northern Ireland sensation McIlroy, winner of the first European Tour title in Dubai last month, played his first professional event in America only last week and reached the quarter-finals of the WGC-Accenture Match Play before losing to eventual winner Geoff Ogilvy.

Now in Florida for the Honda Classic, he is already into the world's top 20 and stablemate Ernie Els has gone on record as saying he could be the next number one.

Meanwhile McIlroy has added the Shot of the Month title to the European Tour Golfer of the Month award he won for January.

The shot in question was his recovery from a greenside bunker on the final hole of the Dubai Desert Classic.

One ahead after three consecutive bogeys, the 19-year-old splashed out of the sand to three feet and achieved the par he needed for his maiden victory.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Hamilton faces tight test regime

World champion Lewis Hamilton is facing a truncated testing schedule in getting to grips with the technical changes Formula One will embrace this season.

McLaren is one of the teams that is using kinetic energy recovery systems - one of the many changes that are being introduced for 2009 - in its two cars.

"I've seven days to master the car, where normally I would have had 20 days," Hamilton, 24, told BBC Sport.

"It's a completely new package for us all - it's going to be interesting."

Kers harnesses energy that would have been lost during braking and allows the driver to reapply it during acceleration.
"We've a huge challenge ahead of us with Kers - with the reliability of that, the reliability of the car and finding the new set-up," said Hamilton, who got his first taste of McLaren's 2009 car when he completed 81 laps in testing in Portugal on Wednesday.

Hamilton said McLaren would definitely be using the system - other teams have yet to decide whether to employ it or not from the start of the season.

The 24-year-old decided to take more time off at the end of last season after he became the youngest world champion in Formula One history after a thrilling Brazilian Grand Prix.

His team-mate Heikki Kovalainen is still waiting to try out his new McLaren after bad weather wiped out the final day of testing in southern Portugal on Thursday.

The Finn had been due to drive the MP4-24 at the Algarve circuit, but rain and fog grounded the medical helicopter and forced organisers to close the circuit for safety reasons.

McLaren's next test is at the Jerez circuit in southern Spain on 10 February, with the F1 season starting in Australia on 29 March.

Driving for the first time since winning the F1 title in dramatic fashion at the Brazilian Grand Prix, Hamilton was third fastest overall after a minor engine problem.

"It was good to be back working with the team. It felt like I'd hardly been away because it was easy to slip back into the routine," said Hamilton.

"This first test was all about just getting used to the new car and the new regulations and about giving my feedback to the engineers - it wasn't about setting a fast time.

"I'm pleased to report that the car feels good, we've made lots of progress over the winter and I'm looking forward to developing the car ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
"It's going to be an extremely busy winter. I've only been in the car for one day and our usual job list for the weeks ahead is already enormous.

"With the limitations on testing during the season, and the few sessions we have over the next two months, this is going to be an intense time and absolutely critical for every team."
Wednesday's fastest time was set by Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi, who finished almost two seconds clear of second-placed Nico Rosberg in the Williams who was half a second clear of Hamilton.

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk

De la Rosa unhappy with test ban

McLaren's Formula One test driver Pedro De la Rosa says the ban on in-season testing could prove to be dangerous.

New measures were brought in by the FIA, the sport's governing body, as part of cost-cutting measures for F1.

With Barcelona hosting the last testing session ahead of the season-opener in Australia on 29 March, De la Rosa is worried if reserve drivers are needed.

"We could be a problem, with regard to safety, if we haven't driven enough," he said after testing in Jerez, Spain.

Teams are currently preparing for the new season, which opens with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne at the end of March.

The FIA opted for the new ban in December last year and it could lead to F1 team's test drivers becoming redundant for the rest of the year.

The 38-year-old Spaniard added: "I'm hoping I can test again in the next few weeks because to me it's very important to arrive in Melbourne with as many miles as possible.

"Otherwise, the situation for a reserve driver is ridiculous.
"Arriving in Melbourne with very little mileage done, or not having a single day of testing during the season, makes the test driver rusty in case we have to climb into the car."

Source:
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Sato rules out third-driver role at Red Bull

The chances of Takuma Sato making a return to the Formula One paddock for the 2009 season grew even slimmer on Wednesday, after the former Super Aguri racer announced he is no longer in talks with Red Bull about the possibility of becoming their reserve driver.

Sato tested for Red Bull's Toro Rosso team three times over the winter and was in the running for a 2009 race seat. But the news in February that the team had chosen Sebastien Bourdais to partner new signing Sebastien Buemi forced the Japanese driver to look for other avenues to continue his Formula One career.

In a statement on his official website, the 32 year-old said: “I am no longer in negotiation with the Toro Rosso or Red Bull teams about their third driver positions. I am very disappointed that we were not able to come to an agreement with them but you never know what is around the corner. As everyone knows, I never give up so we are still looking for the best options for the future.”

Before Super Aguri withdrew last season, Sato had been a firm fixture on the Formula One grid since 2003.

Source:
http://www.formula1.com