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Ronaldo returns to training

Cristiano Ronaldo was able to return to training on Tuesday morning and could be involved in Manchester United's Champions League clash with Aalborg at Old Trafford on Wednesday.

The Portugal international had to be substituted after picking up a hip injury in Saturday's victory against Sunderland and had been thought to be a major doubt for the final Group E clash against the Danish side.

However, Michael Carrick, Patrice Evra and Daniel Welbeck did not take part in the training session, increasing speculation that John O'Shea, who has been struggling with a hamstring injury, could return to the starting line-up.

Meanwhile, veteran defender Gary Neville has admitted that his continuing injury problems are starting to frustrate him.

The 33-year-old has struggled to regain full fitness since injuring ankle ligaments against Bolton Wanderers in March 2007.

He made only one substitute appearance in the whole of the 2007-08 campaign and, despite returning to the first team this season, has not made a Premier League start for over a month.

He told United's official website: "To be honest, I've not been able to stay fit enough, or produce consistently good enough performances, to stay in the team, simple as that.

"You've got to be realistic and honest with yourself. The first thing you've got to do is stay fit.

"If you do that over a long period of time, you get the opportunity to get your level of performance to something that's acceptable for this club."

Source:
http://www.football.co.uk

FIA confirm S2000 future for WRC

The FIA today confirmed an S2000 based future for the WRC, which is thought to include a kit of a control turbocharger, rear wing and other small parts costing in the region of £25,000. The statement released today, from the December World Motorsport Council meeting, failed to give much explicit detail on the new formulae.

The statement from the FIA reads:
"As already announced, the 2010 World Rally Car will be S2000 based. However, the removable kit, already adopted by the WMSC, will be redefined with no electronic benefits, or similar upgrades, to ensure cost reductions. The new S2000-based World Rally Car will only be permitted for use on World Rally Championship events.

The FIA Production Car World Rally Championship will be retained for Group N cars, including the existing S2000 car."

Source:
http://www.rallye-info.com

Subaru withdraw from WRC

Subaru has announced its decision to withdraw from the 2009 World Rally Championship. This sudden decision was in response to the widespread economic downturn that is affecting the entire automotive industry, and follows Suzuki’s withdrawal announced yesterday.

After 20 years in the sport, during which time the Prodrive-run Subaru World Rally Team has won six World Rally Championship titles, this is not only sad news for Subaru and the team, but also for millions of rallying fans around the world. Thanks to its highly successful World Rally Championship programme, Subaru has developed into one of the world’s most widely recognised and evocative automotive brands.

Prodrive chairman, David Richards, said: “Subaru’s departure from the World Rally Championship is a great loss as it is one of the sport’s icons. The Subaru World Rally Team has created true champions such as Colin McRae and Richard Burns and its absence will be felt by many the world over. Although this decision closes a significant chapter in Prodrive’s history, our focus now turns to the future.”

For many, Prodrive and Subaru are synonymous, given the long-standing and close association between the two companies. However, while the Subaru World Rally Team historically represented a significant part of Prodrive’s business, today it accounts for no more than 20 per cent of the company’s turnover.

Prodrive will look to redeploy as many of the rally team as possible in other areas of its business operations, which have grown to span advanced engineering and manufacturing for the automotive, defence, marine and aerospace industries, in addition to other motorsport programmes.

Despite the current economic downturn, Prodrive’s automotive engineering business remains buoyant as it works with vehicle manufacturers to accelerate the development of next generation fuel-efficient vehicles and alternative fuel technologies.

Together with Subaru, Prodrive’s commitment to its customer rally teams will also continue unabated for 2009 and beyond. Over the past 15 years, Prodrive has sold close to 500 rally cars to more than 400 private competitors and independent rally teams in 47 countries. During this time, Prodrive’s customers have won five consecutive Production World Rally Championships and countless international rallies. In 2008, Prodrive-supported customer teams have claimed eight rally championship titles around the world.
Looking ahead, 2010 will see the introduction of new World Rally Championship technical regulations, which provide Prodrive with an opportunity to prepare for re-entering the championship with a new team and build on its 24 years of World Rally Championship experience and success.

Source:
http://www.rallye-info.com

Alex de Angelis Signs for 2009

From a season of up and downs, De Angelis has signed with the San Carlo Honda Gresini team for a second season. De Angelis has had mixed results over the course of the season with some crashes and some impressive results at Mugello and Sachsenring. The signing is a result of the commitment and confidence De Angelis has shown throughout this season.

De Angelis is now part of a list of riders signed up to continue with their current teams for next year. This list includes three yamaha riders; James Toseland, Colin Edwards, Valentino Rossi and the Rizla Suzuki Riders Vermuelen and Capirossi.

Alex De Angelis currently sits in 13th position in the MotoGP championship while team mate Shinya Nakano is 8th overall.

Source:
http://www.two-news.net

Kyalami Test: Michel Fabrizio finishes on top

By Michael Guy
Xerox Ducati man Michel Fabrizio maintained his dominance of the three day Kyalami test by topping the time sheets for the third consecutive day.

The young Italian has been in sublime form throughout the three days and clearly found an affinity with the fast and undulating South African circuit along with the latest specification 2009 Ducati.

American Ben Spies showed once again that he is the real deal and left the test in second position and fully satisfied with his progress throughout the three days. In only the second test on the all new R1 the team are confident that there is still a lot more to come from the new bike and by the next test in January the complete package will be even stronger.

Noriyuki Haga rectified his three crashes on day one in the best possible way by upping his pace dramatically on the final day to post the third fastest time. The factory Ducati team now leave the circuit with a list of changes they need to make to the bike which they believe will provide a massive boost to Haga in time for the opening round of the championship in Phillip Island.

Britain Jonathan Rea had a sensational first test onboard the Ten Kate Honda Superbike and ended the final day in fourth place having held second spot for the majority of the day.

Behind Rea was Ten Kate team-mate Carlos Checa who upped his pace significantly on day three to move into the top five.

Max Neukirchner and Yukio Kagayama didn’t improve as much as expected on qualifying rubber but finished the test an impressive sixth and seventh onboard the 2009 specification GSXR-1000.

Aprilia men Max Biaggi and Shinya Nakano overcame a number of technical problems on the final day, which left them with only one bike each to post times just over a second off the pace in only their second ride on the bike.

Ryuichi Kiyonari completed the most laps of anyone including a 23 lap race run in the final hour of the test, but was unable to post that one single fast lap time, which meant he finished the test in a disappointing tenth spot.

Troy Corser was satisfied with his and BMW’s performance throughout the three days. Despite a crash today, the Australian finished just 1.4 seconds off pole and was as fast on race rubber as he was when he used a qualifying tyre.

Tom Sykes improved his time again today, but also suffered a big crash that left him limping. The Yamaha Italia rider is still feeling the effects of the sickness and flu bug, but remains fully confident in his bike and team.

Ruben Xaus rounded off the field with a lap time of 1m 41.996 set on race rubber.

WSB
1. Michel Fabrizio (Ducati) 1m 39.714
2. Ben Spies (Yamaha) 1m 39.978
3. Noriyuki Haga (Ducati) 1m 39.984
4. Jonathan Rea (Honda) 1m 40.035
5. Carlos Checa (Honda) 1m 40.170
6. Max Neukirchner (Suzuki) 1m 40.394
7. Yukio Kagayama (Suzuki) 1m 40.657
8. Max Biaggi (Aprilia) 1m 40.768
9. Shinya Nakano (Aprilia) 1m 40.968
10. Ryuichi Kiyonari (Honda) 1m 41.067
11. Troy Corser (BMW) 1m 41.102
12. Tom Sykes (Yamaha) 1m 41.562
13. Ruben Xaus (BMW) 1m 41.996

Kenan Sofuoglu proved he could be unstoppable next year with an incredible 1m 42.872 lap time on the final day. The young Turk is clearly delighted to be back on a Supersport bike and his lap time is a warning shot to the rest of the WSS paddock especially considering that he was over a second faster than newly crowned WSS champions and team-mate Andrew Pitt.

WSS
1. Kenan Sofuoglu (Honda) 1m 42.872
2. Andrew Pitt (Honda) 1m 43.908

Source:
http://www.motorcyclenews.com

Ducati boss confident in Mika Kallio

By Mattehw Birt
Factory Ducati boss Livio Suppo believes Finnish rider Mika Kallio could be one of the surprise packages of the 2009 MotoGP world championship.

The Pramac Racing rookie was in dazzling form at the recent Jerez test session in Spain, springing a major surprise when he clocked the seventh fastest overall time.

That saw the KTM rider beat a host of established MotoGP stars including Colin Edwards and James Toseland, and he was only 0.1s adrift of 2008 Rookie of the Year Jorge Lorenzo.

His early performances have already convinced Ducati’s hierarchy that he could have a big impact in 2009 when he partners fellow MotoGP novice Niccolo Canepa in Ducati’s satellite squad.

Suppo added: “He is a guy who has a very good approach. He is not trying to go fast just to be fast. He is trying to learn and understand the bike and the engineers and when he feels good the time arrives.

"The performance he showed in the 250 class was impressive. People seem to forget in 2007 he was a rookie in 250 and at times he was able to beat Jorge and Andrea (Dovizioso) who have shown in 2008 they are very strong in MotoGP. I think Mika can do a very good job for us.

Source:
http://www.motorcyclenews.com

James Toseland eager to test 2009 Yamaha

By Matthew Birt
British rider James Toseland is confident that reigning world champion Valentino Rossi will make Yamaha’s factory YZR-M1 an even more formidable package in 2009.

Rossi has been conducting in-depth evaluation of Yamaha’s 2009 prototype in tests at Valencia and Jerez last month, with the complete new bike poised for its track debut on February 5 when testing resumes in Sepang, Malaysia.

After a humiliating defeat at the hands of Ducati and impressive Australian Casey Stoner in 2007, Yamaha responded with 10 victories last season - nine going to Rossi on his way to reclaiming the world title for the first time since 2005.

The YZR-M1 was not only more reliable but it was considerably faster in a straight line, with outright horsepower being a major weakness in 2007.

And now Toseland is eager to benefit from Rossi’s considerable skills when his Tech 3 Yamaha squad receives the ’09 YZR-M1 in Sepang.

The double World Superbike champion told MCN: “One thing that was on the top of my list when I was thinking about signing for Yamaha was having Valentino develop the bike. And having that team that is around him to work on the bike is massive.
To make the changes they did as well as winning the title is quite remarkable and what they do can only help us in our garage. I can’t wait to get on the new bike in Malaysia because I have heard nothing but good things about it from Yamaha and some of the guys in the team.”

Source:
http://www.motorcyclenews.com