Webber Upbeat Despite Crashing Out in South Korea

Yeongam, South Korea - Australian Mark Webber remained bullish about his chances of winning this year’s Formula One world championship, despite losing his leadership after crashing out of Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix.

The 34-year-old Red Bull driver spun his car during the early laps of a delayed and interrupted, but wildly dramatic, rain-hit race while running in second place and hit a curb and a wall before colliding with German Nico Rosberg’s Mercedes car.

The accident left him pointless and cost him top spot in the title race with two events remaining in Brazil and Abu Dhabi. Fernando Alonso of Ferrari took over as leader.

Webber collected himself, however, and remained defiant in his bid to become the third Australian after Jack Brabham and Alan Jones to lift the title.

“It’s not easy, but I can still do it, absolutely,” he said on Monday. “Positions are not really important at the moment — the points are the important thing. They can change very quickly. This is my second non-finish of the year, but there are still two races to go and I will do my absolute best.”

Webber conceded that his accident was all his own fault.

“I got a wheel on the curb on the exit of turn 12 and it was a very slow-motion moment. Totally my mistake,” he said.

“It was a very long slide and so frustrating. I thought I had done enough, but in the end it wasn’t enough,” he added.

While Webber bemoaned his fortune, Briton Lewis Hamilton of McLaren, the 2008 champion, is optimistic that he is still in the hunt thanks to finishing second, his first podium finish in four races. “It is definitely back on and it is possible, but we need to keep pushing and we need some luck,” he said.

“We will keep pushing and as you saw anything can happen, we didn’t expect two Red Bulls to go out, but that is how close this championship is. Fernando is quick but it is still open.”

His McLaren teammate and countryman Jenson Button was downbeat after finishing 12th and acknowledged his title defense was virtually over. He is 42 points behind Alonso with two races remaining.

“Everyone else needs to have failures,” Button said. “That’s the way it is. I don’t know what happened, but there must have been something wrong because the car was undriveable,” the defending champion added.

“If I can’t mathematically win it I’d do whatever I needed to, to help the team. My championship, if the other guys don’t have non-scores or issues, is pretty much over. But you don’t win championships by sitting back and saying ‘I can’t win it any more’. You have to keep on fighting.”

Agence France-Presse

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City deny Rooney contact as clubs weigh up offers

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini denied on Wednesday that his club had approached Wayne Rooney in a bid to sign the striker from cross-town rival Manchester United.

Big-spending City was one of the teams heavily linked to speculation about Rooney, who has told United manager Alex Ferguson he does not want to extend his contract at Old Trafford beyond 2012.

Mancini said City hasn't spoken to the Englad international and believes the 24-year-old Rooney won't go anywhere.

"Rooney is a great player but I think he'll stay at United," said Mancini. "He's a good player, he's an important player for United.

"He is a United player. It's not correct to speak about that situation. I have respect for him, for Ferguson, for United. I want to speak only about my players."

Chelsea and Real Madrid have already said they would be interested in signing Rooney if he carried out his threat to leave United, as Europe's major clubs weigh up bids in the January transfer window.

City, which is owned by Abu Dhabi billionaire Sheikh Mansour, would be one of the few clubs who could afford to pay the wages Rooney may demand.

Mansour has spent more than 300 million pounds ($475 million) on players, including Carlos Tevez, who left United in 2009 after his contract ran out to join City. Tevez had a season earlier teamed up with Rooney to win the Champions League with United in 2008.

Madrid coach Jose Mourinho said on Tuesday "everybody will be interested" if United was willing to sell Rooney before his transfer value starts to plummet as the end of his contract approaches.

"If at the end of the day Man United decide that he is to leave, then give me a call," said Mourinho.

If Rooney was to favor a move to Madrid, he would link up again with Cristiano Ronaldo, who struck up a superb partnership with the England striker at Old Trafford before leaving for the Spanish giants for 80 million pounds in June 2009.

"But I believe he belongs to Man United, he belongs to Man United fans, he belongs to Old Trafford. I believe he is going to stay," Mourinho added.

Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti said on Monday that his club would be keen to move for Rooney if the striker was on the market.

Spanish champion and three-time European Cup winner Barcelona was also widely reported as a potential bidder for Rooney.

"He is one of the greatest players in the world as there are very few players with his qualities," Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola was quoted as telling The Sun newspaper. "He's a player I very much admire."

Sections of the British press said on Wednesday that money was the key factor behind Rooney's decision to walk away from United, despite Ferguson's claim that the club was willing to offer "the best terms possible for any player in the country."

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Spain players head FIFA Ballon d'Or nominations

Seven players from Spain's World Cup-winning team, including Barcelona trio Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Xavi Hernandez, were nominated Tuesday for the 2010 FIFA Ballon d'Or world player of the year award.

The 23-man list also has three players who starred both at the World Cup and for their club last season: Golden Ball winner Diego Forlan of Uruguay and Europa League champion Atletico Madrid; Wesley Sneijder of runner-up the Netherlands and Champions League winner Inter Milan; and Thomas Mueller of Germany and Champions League runner-up Bayern Munich, who was top scorer and voted best young player in South Africa.

The past two winners - Lionel Messi of Argentina and Barcelona and Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Real Madrid - are nominated despite disappointing World Cup campaigns.

"Hopefully the trophy will remain in Barcelona," Messi told France Football magazine. "I hope it will be for one of ours."

Six players from Barcelona - Daniel Alves, Iniesta, Messi, Carles Puyol, Xavi and Villa, who joined the Catalan outfit from Valencia - are on the shortlist.

Barcelona retained the Spanish title last season with Messi scoring 34 goals to finish as the league's top scorer. Messi scored 47 goals in all competitions and won the Golden Boot, a prize awarded to Europe's top marksman.

"Of course I would be happy to win the Ballon d'Or for a second straight year," Messi said. "But I think the World Cup will weigh a lot in the balance."

Messi failed to score a single goal at the World Cup in South Africa, where Argentina lost 4-0 to Germany in the quarterfinals.

The 23 players nominated all took part in the World Cup while nine of them played the Champions League final won by Inter over Bayern Munich.

The 2007 winner Kaka is left off the list, which includes of his Brazil teammates Daniel Alves of Barcelona, and Inter Milan pair Julio Cesar and Maicon.

Chelsea's Ivory Coast forward Didier Drogba and Arsenal's Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas are among the three English Premier League players nominated while no English, French or Italian players are sortlisted.

The award, formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year, is being staged jointly for the first time by FIFA and France Football magazine, which first presented the original Ballon d'Or in 1956.

Votes will be cast by captains and head coaches of men's and women's national teams plus ivited journalists.

A top-three shortlist will be announced Dec. 6, and the winner named at a ceremony in Zurich on Jan. 10.

Among the 10 candidates for the women's world player award are Brazil's Marta and Germany's Birgit Prinz, who have combined to win the past seven titles.

Awards for the best en's and women's coach will be made for the first time.

Spain's Vicente del Bosque is competing for the men's honor with nine rivals including Oscar Tabarez of World Cup semifinalist Uruguay and Jose Mourinho, who won the Champions League with Inter Milan before joining Real Madrid.

The women's list cntains Maren Meinert, who led Germany to the Women's Under-20 World Cup title in July, and Albertin Montoya of FC Gold Pride, champion of the United States' Women's Professional Soccer league.

At the January gala, FIFA also will announce a World XI team in conjunction with the FIFPro group of players' unios, the Puskas Award for most beautiful goal of the year, a presidential award and a prize for fair play.
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FIFA Ballon d'Or men's nominations: Xabi Alonso (Spain), Daniel Alves (Brazil), Iker Casillas (Spain), Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal), Dider Drogba (Ivory Coast), Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Diego Forlan (Uruguay), Asamoah Gyan (Ghana), Andres Iniesta (Spain), Julio Cesar (Brazil), Miroslav Klose (Germany), Philipp Lahm (Germany), Maicon (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Thomas Muller (Germany), Mesut Oezil (Germany), CarlePuyol (Spain), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Germany), Wesley Sneijder (Netherlands), David Villa (Spain) and Xavi (Spain).

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Yamaha allows Rossi to test for Ducati

By Matt Beer

Valentino Rossi has been given clearance to test the Ducati for the first time in the post-season sessions at Valencia next month.

Yamaha's contract with Rossi does not expire until the end of the season, but he had urged the team to give him dispensation to start work with his new employer immediately after the 2010 racing season ends.

Two months after his deal with Ducati was announced, Rossi said he finally has permission from Yamaha racing boss Masao Furusawa to switch to Ducati for the Valencia tests, which take place in the days after the season finale at the Spanish track on 7 November.

"Last night I spoke with Furusawa," Rossi was quoted as saying by Italian newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, "and he said that I can test the Ducati after the Valencia GP.

"I think that it's the right choice after everything there has been between us and a way to thank me for my work and commitment. I would like to thank them; it's a nice sportsmanlike gesture, also because with the limits on testing it's not as if you decide when you can do the tests."

News that Rossi can test that Ducati next month, plus his improved form in the last two grands prix, also makes it virtually certain that he will complete the season and wait until the winter break before having surgery on the niggling shoulder injury that has affected his form this year.

The Valencia test will also see Casey Stoner having his first run with Honda after leaving Ducati.

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Stoner targeting strong set-up and Hayden eyeing podium

With three wins from the four previous rounds Casey Stoner is a rider in form and the Ducati Team rider will be aiming to deliver the Bologna factory it’s first MotoGP win at the Estoril circuit in this weekend’s Grande Premio de Portugal.

Stoner finished second in last year’s race – Ducati’s best premier class result at Estoril to date – and comes into Round 17 off the back of a dominant victory in his home GP at Phillip Island last time out.

“I have had a mixture of different results at Estoril - some good like my first 250cc win in 2005 and a podium in 2007, some not so good like when we had a problem with the on-board camera in 2008. Then we were back on the podium again in 2009,” said the 25 year-old. “I was fast there last year but Jorge (Lorenzo) was a little faster. He is very strong at this circuit and I think we can expect him to be so again next Sunday.”

Stoner continued: “We just have to focus on the job of setting the bike up. We know that there are a lot of bumps here and our bike usually reacts quite aggressively over bumps, so we will have to see if we can adapt the set up. The GP10 has worked well in all kinds of conditions over the last few races so we're pretty confident.”

Across the garage team-mate Nicky Hayden was on the pace all weekend at Phillip Island and missed out on a podium place by less than four-tenths of a second. The American is hopeful that he can mark the end of his 2010 campaign with a strong finish and improve on his Championship position of seventh in the last two rounds.

“The end of the season is on the horizon but we have two races left to do well in so it's now or never as far as this season is concerned,” he said. “Estoril is pretty normal, there's nothing really special about the track apart from a very fast section onto the back straight and then towards the end of the lap there's a chicane which I think is the slowest in MotoGP. The track is very tight, which makes it demanding, and given that the circuit is close to the ocean, like Phillip Island, you usually get wind and changeable weather. In any case we are ready for any conditions and looking to finish the season in a positive way."

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Checa confirmed for last two rounds with Pramac

Pramac Racing today (Monday, October 25th) confirmed that Carlos Checa will ride for them in the final two rounds of the 2010 MotoGP World Championship at Estoril and Valencia. The 38 year-old Spaniard replaces Finnish rider Mika Kallio, who decided following the previous round in Australia to end his partnership with the team early as he continues to recover from a shoulder injury.

Checa, who last rode in the World Championship in the 2007 Valencia GP and who finished third in this year’s WSBK championship on a Ducati 1098R, told motogp.com of his excitement at his participation in the upcoming two races.

“I’ll take it as an opportunity. I want to use this to gain experience and enjoy it too. My sole aim is to adapt as quickly as I can,” said Checa, who tested the Desmosedici GP10 at Mugello a fortnight ago. “It’s a great challenge. I’ve only been able to do a small test at Mugello and the people I will be up against in these two races will have had 16 races this season. They’ll know the tyres, which I won’t, and obviously the bikes they’re riding.”

Comparing his previous experience in MotoGP to the development of the current 800cc machines, Checa said of the GP10: “The bike has great power, the tyres have improved greatly especially the rear ones. And of course the electronics now play a bigger role. It’s very rewarding to be able to ride one of the best bikes in the World Championship after riding one of the best in superbikes this season.”

He continued: “I don’t know what level I’ll be at or what I’ll find. I just want to feel like I’ve given my maximum whatever happens. But we will take as much as possible from it and I’m sure we’ll take something good.”

Team Manager Paolo Campinoti added: “After Mika Kallio’s decision to not take part in the last two races we decided to call on a rider with experience and talent that could give us a good end to the season. Thanks also to consultations with Ducati, we decided on Carlos Checa. Of course it will be important for him to get as much time as possible on the Estoril track during the free practice sessions so that he can improve his feeling with the bike. We know about his undoubted talent and potential, and this is why we expect a good result in both races.”

Checa will ride with the number 71 on his livery for the remaining rounds of the campaign.

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Davydenko beaten, Sick Youzhny pulls out

Moscow - The Kremlin Cup suffered a double blow on Wednesday when top seed Nikolay Davydenko was beaten in his opening match while champion Mikhail Youzhny was forced to pull out with a virus infection.

"I had made a decision to withdraw after losing my doubles match," Youzhny, seeded second, told reporters.

"I don`t feel well at all and I don`t think I would have been able to play the singles in such condition.

"I will now have to take a break from training for a few days and see how I feel," added the world number nine, still with a chance to qualify for the World Tour Finals in London next month.

"I`m scheduled to play next week in St Petersburg but right now I`m not sure if I`ll be able to be there. I`ll have to make a decision by the end of the week."

Davydenko, who like his Russian compatriot Youzhny had a bye in the first round, lost his opening match for the second week in a row, going down to Uruguay`s Pablo Cuevas 7-6 7-6.

Davydenko has recently struggled to find the kind of form that helped him to win the season-ending World Tour Finals in London last year.

Wednesday`s double setback has added to the disappointments of the home crowd and local organisers of the annual ATP and WTA tournament that had been decimated by the withdrawals of high-profile players, particularly on the women`s side.

Russians Vera Zvonareva, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova and 2009 champion Francesca Schiavone all pulled out. Serbia`s eighth seed Janko Tipsarevic, who lost to Youzhny in last year`s final, was bundled out in the first round on Wednesday by Horacio Zeballos 4-6 6-4 6-3.

On the women`s side, second seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus beat Germany`s Andrea Petkovic 6-4 2-6 6-1 and eighth-seeded Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez saw off Ukraine`s Alona Bondarenko 6-4 1-6 6-1 to reach the last eight. (A008/F005/S026)

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