Scuderia Ferrari scored its first one-two finish of the season at the Bahrain Grand Prix this weekend, with Brazilian driver Felipe Massa and Finnish team-mate, reigning World Champion Kimi Räikkönen, taking first and second respectively. BMW Sauber driver Robert Kubica joined the podium in third. The result sees Räikkönen move into the FIA Formula One Drivers’ World Championship lead on 19 points, ahead of BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Nick Heidfield on 16 and Lewis Hamilton of Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes on 14. Massa moves into sixth on 10. In the Constructors’, BMW Sauber F1 Team takes the lead on 30 points, ahead of Scuderia Ferrari on 29 and Vodafone McLaren-Mercedes on 28. McLarens Lewis Hamilton failed to score points after running into the back of former team mate Fernando Alonso. Hamilton had to pit for repairs and dropped down to 10
place start on the grid. He failed to make any ground and finished outside of the points zone. The first race of the European season will take place in Spain on Sunday 27 April 2008.
Drivers' championship 2008
|
Name
| Car
| Nat
| Points
|
1 Kimi Raikkonen
| Ferrari
| Fin
| 19
|
2 Nick Heidfeld
| BMW Sauber
| Ger
| 16
|
3 Lewis Hamilton
| McLaren-Mercedes
| GB
| 14
|
4 Robert Kubica
| BMW Sauber
| Pol
| 14
|
5 Heikki Kovalainen
| McLaren-Mercedes
| Fin
| 14
|
6 Felipe Massa
| Ferrari
| Brz
| 10
|
7 Jarno Trulli
| Toyota
| Ita
| 8
|
8 Nico Rosberg
| Williams-Toyota
| Ger
| 7
|
9 Fernando Alonso
| Renault
| Spa
| 6
|
10 Mark Webber
| Red Bull-Renault
| Aus
| 4
|
11 Kazuki Nakajima
| Williams-Toyota
| Jpn
| 3
|
12 Sebastien Bourdais
| Toro Rosso-Ferrari
| Fra
| 2
|
13 David Coulthard
| Red Bull-Renault
| GB
| 0
|
14 Jenson Button
| Honda
| GB
| 0
|
15 Nelson Piquet Jr
| Renault
| Brz
| 0
|
16 Giancarlo Fisichella
| Force India-Ferrari
| Ita
| 0
|
17 Rubens Barrichello
| Honda
| Brz
| 0
|
18 Anthony Davidson
| Super Aguri-Honda
| GB
| 0
|
19 Takuma Sato
| Super Aguri-Honda
| Jpn
| 0
|
Constructors' championship 2008
|
Team
| Points
|
| | |
1 BMW Sauber
| 30
|
2 Ferrari
| 29
|
3 McLaren-Mercedes
| 28
|
4 Williams-Toyota
| 10
|
5 Toyota
| 8
|
6 Renault
| 6
|
7 Red Bull-Renault
| 4
|
8 Toro Rosso-Ferrari
| 2
|
9 Honda
| 0
|
10 Force-India Ferrari
| 0
|
11 Super Aguri-Honda
| 0
|
Positions after Bahrain Grand Prix
RACER WILLIAM STARTS SEASONThe Costa’s British racing driver William Zollo, 17, from Benidoleig starts his 2008 season with three championship races at Donington, Leicestershire on Sunday April 13.
2007 Regional Formula Ford Champion William will be making his debut in the powerful 350 h.p. turbocharged Formula Palmer Audi single seater series. He took delivery just 2 weeks ago of this new all-white racer No. 99.
Twenty-two drivers from seven nations will be competing in the championship which includes experienced Jolyon and Alex sons of former Grand Prix drivers Jonathan Palmer and Martin Brundle.
Says William realistically “I have never raced such a powerful car before and have never driven at the first three circuits – Donington, Brands Hatch Grand Prix and Spa in Belgium – or against such strong opposition. I shall therefore be on a learning curve and will be well satisfied to finish in mid-field.”
The Question of Discipline
I wrote a few months ago about the changing trends in football; and the need for the media to latch onto any controversial topic that it can get its teeth into. At this particular moment, it’s all the rage for the holier than thou members of the footballing world to get on their high horses about the lack of respect shown to referees by some of the more overzealous players. Everyone seems to have their own answer as to how to eradicate this particular problem.
Firstly, we have the `no-go´ zone around referees, as used in rugby, where only the respective captains are allowed to approach a referee in order for the official to explain his reasoning. This is unworkable. Regardless of the captains´ position on the field, they would have to charge toward the referee, listen to his account of what he believed happened, then try to return to their original position. Why bother! The ref´s not going to change his mind anyway. Plus the player will to have to be super fit to keep this up for the full ninety minutes. What if the goalie happens to be the captain? It´d be farcical.
Then we have the idea of an automatic booking for anyone that questions a refereeing decision. How many times have we seen a player go over, from the slightest of touches, in order to con the referee into mistakenly giving a free-kick? Far too often to expect the victim to simply accept it as part and parcel of the game. Anyone who is cheated upon would want to protest in this situation. Sure, an official body could rescind any wrongful punishment after reviewing video evidence at a later date; but only the top matches use state of the art slo-mo, which would need to be the minimum requirement in order to make an educated decision. You surely couldn’t adopt this approach to all the lower leagues as well. It´d be a logistical nightmare.
Now some bright spark reckons we shouldn’t even consider bookings and/or financial punishment to serious offenders, as most top pro´s, and clubs, earn too much to see it as a deterrent. Oh no, he reckons offending clubs should have points deducted instead. Great! So now even we, the supporters, get to be punished as well. The solution is quite simple really.
As I see it, it’s only the feelings of the referees that are being hurt by the barrage of abuse that they are receiving from the players. If they couldn’t understand the actual words that are being directed at them, they could hardly be upset. So bring in officials that don’t speak the lingo; say from Uzbekistan or Kazakhstan. That way they wouldn’t have a clue what was being said to them, and their tender little egos couldn’t possibly be dented. Players can then shout and swear to their hearts content, while the officials look on blankly. The quality of refereeing might even improve. Problem sorted!
Unfortunately, no-one ever listens to me.
Rod Tursy.
FC BARCELONA INSIST WITH ALVES & EYE BERBATOV
Local daily "Mundo Deportivo" announce that FC BARCELONA has gone back a third time to convince SEVILLA FC to let go of its star Brazilian player & defender DANI ALVES. The paper claims that both clubs may have an agreement after Barça presented a 30 million euro offer. Earlier Barça attempted to lower the price putting in the deal
Giovani Dos Santos, but Sevilla has both wings well covered with Navas &Capel.
To end, lets not discount Real Madrid who are in there as well & may seduce the player. Stay tuned! Staying at FC Barcelona, English paper "Sunday Mirror" hint that Barça have TOTTENHAM HOTSPURS Bulgarian forward DIMITAR BERBATOV on their agenda as a possible signing for next season. Barça will be competing with Real Madrid, AC Milan & Inter, but the big hurdle for everyone is the price tag his English club as placed on their player: a staggering 50 million euros. Stay tuned!
REAL MADRID TO RECOVER DE LA RED
Liverpool FC, Arsenal, Everton & Aston Villa are all interested in GETAFE midfielder RUBEN DE LA RED, but its going to be REAL MADRID that will recover the player for next season, according to sport daily "AS". The paper claims that coach Schuster
has given the OK for the club to exercise its buy back option. That buy back option will cost the club 4.5 million euros, after being sold to Getafe this season because the player could not find a permanent place in Real´s current team. His fantastic season with Getafe has shown his talent & midfield security, qualities that Real Madrid look for as Diarra & Gago are not living up to full expectations. Great news for the young man who began his
football career at Real Madrid. Do not be surprised if Real Madrid use De La Red for a
future transfer buying deal, it’s a common practice in the "meat
market" of Football
SPANISH FOOTBALL - LA LIGA - ROUND 31
A big afternoon of Spanish football with Round 31 in play, & after a draw by Real Madrid, we were awaiting to see if Villareal could get closer to them & it was not the case. Atletico won in a high scoring match to create a gap for 4th place against Racing who lost their match & Real Zaragoza go into relegation zone with their loss. Best get straight into all the other details with the results & scorers.
SFS was invited to attend the ATLETICO DE MADRID - ALMERIA match, an important game for Atletico as they are in a fierce battle with Racing for the last Champions League position on the table. Atletico won 6-3 Almeria & grabbed the 3º points, while Racing in its game lost creating a cushion.
My impressions are the following; Atletico are lucky, & they have a terrible defence. So many mistakes, so much confusion & no understanding. They won thanks to the fact that Almeria lost 2ºmen to red cards, because if they had not, Atletico would have lost & that´s for sure. Pernia, Pablo, Abbiati, Perea...absolutely terrible. Atletico really need to fix this serious problem, it is embarrassing to watch !
Relegation zone team REAL MURCIA put more mud into VALENCIA CF face with its 1-0 win, thanks to IVAN ALONSO (above) who scored in the 35th min. This win allows Murcia to dream about escaping relegation & makes Valencia´s suffering more intense.
Big clash, important for Villareal to cut Real Madrid´s lead at the top & important for Sevilla FC in its fight for the European table positions. The end result, a great & decisive win by SEVILLA FC 2-0 over VILLAREAL. LUIS FABIANO (above) scored a brilliant goal in the 18th min to put his team ahead & take his personal season tally to 23 goals. Then in the 2ºhalf KANOUTE sentenced with a converted penalty in the 87th min.
Beijing asthma fears
Paula Radcliffe Believes that the heat and humidity in Beijing's will be more of a threat at the Olympics this summer than the Chinese capital's pollution. The air quality in Beijing is considered to be a potential problem for athletes taking part in endurance events like the marathon. Radcliffe, who has asthma, believes the risks have been exaggerated, "I need the right dosages of my asthma medication but after that I don't think it's something you can worry about too much," she told BBC Sport. "It might not even be as bad as everyone thinks because I'm sure the Chinese will do everything they can to reduce the problem. "And the effects of pollution are usually felt after a race. "Will I really care if I wake up the next morning with a sore throat and feeling a bit sick if I have got what I want the day before? No, probably not. "But heat and humidity are a different kettle of fish because they are things you can prepare for. I'm concentrating more on those factors than the pollution." Radcliffe's comments follow the withdrawal of world record marathon runner Ethiopian, Haile Gebrselassie over fears for his asthma.
FA Cup Cardiff
Cardiff fans can rest assured that they will get a ticket for next months FA Cup Final as chairman Peter Ridsdale says the club will try ensure all their loyal fans receive FA Cup final tickets. Ticket allocation for the May 17 tie with Portsmouth will be 25,000 for each club. This is 10,000 less than the number allocated to Cardiff for the semi-finals but Risdale has told true fans not to worry about getting a ticket. "We will try and reward the people who have been loyal to us," he said. "The one thing I do know in football is that there isn't such thing as a fair ticketing policy.”
Murray out of top 20
Andy Murray has dropped out the world top 20 following his second round defeat at the Sony Ericsson Open. It is the first time since August 2006 that Murray has slipped out of the top 20. The British number one's loss to Mario Ancic in Miami means he drops nine places to 22nd in the world rankings. However, the 20-year-old is ranked in eighth place in the ATP Race, which is based on his performances in 2008.
English Football Fixtures and Tables
Barclays Premier League Table
|
| P
| GD
| PTS
|
1
| Man Utd
| 33
| 53
| 77
|
2
| Chelsea
| 33
| 35
| 74
|
3
| Arsenal
| 33
| 36
| 71
|
4
| Liverpool
| 33
| 32
| 63
|
5
| Everton
| 33
| 22
| 60
|
6
| Portsmouth
| 32
| 13
| 53
|
7
| Aston Villa
| 33
| 12
| 52
|
8
| Blackburn
| 33
| 4
| 51
|
9
| Man City
| 33
| -2
| 49
|
10
| West Ham
| 32
| -4
| 44
|
11
| Tottenham
| 33
| 6
| 40
|
12
| Newcastle
| 33
| -18
| 38
|
13
| Sunderland
| 33
| -18
| 36
|
14
| Middlesbrough
| 33
| -17
| 35
|
15
| Wigan
| 33
| -17
| 34
|
16
| Reading
| 33
| -24
| 32
|
17
| Birmingham
| 33
| -13
| 30
|
18
| Bolton
| 33
| -22
| 26
|
19
| Fulham
| 33
| -26
| 24
|
20
| Derby
| 33
| -52
| 11
|
Premier League Fixtures
12 April
Birmingham v Everton, 15:00
Bolton v West Ham, 15:00
Derby v Aston Villa, 15:00
Portsmouth v Newcastle, 17:15
Reading v Fulham, 15:00
Sunderland v Man City, 15:00
Tottenham v Middlesbrough, 15:00
13 April
Liverpool v Blackburn, 13:30
Man Utd v Arsenal, 16:00
14 April
Chelsea v Wigan, 20:00
17 April
Everton v Chelsea, 20:00
19 April
Arsenal v Reading, 12:45
Blackburn v Man Utd, 15:00
Fulham v Liverpool, 15:00
Middlesbrough v Bolton, 15:00
West Ham v Derby, 15:00
Wigan v Tottenham, 15:00
20 April
Aston Villa v Birmingham, 12:00
Man City v Portsmouth, 16:00
Newcastle v Sunderland, 13:30
Championship Table
|
| P
| GD
| PTS
|
1
| Bristol City
| 42
| 0
| 70
|
2
| Stoke
| 41
| 12
| 69
|
3
| Hull
| 41
| 18
| 68
|
4
| Watford
| 41
| 12
| 68
|
5
| West Brom
| 40
| 27
| 67
|
6
| Wolverhampton
| 40
| 2
| 61
|
7
| Ipswich
| 41
| 7
| 60
|
8
| Charlton
| 42
| 6
| 60
|
9
| Plymouth
| 42
| 8
| 59
|
10
| Crystal Palace
| 41
| 7
| 59
|
11
| Burnley
| 42
| -2
| 58
|
12
| Cardiff
| 40
| 3
| 56
|
13
| Sheff Utd
| 41
| 2
| 56
|
14
| QPR
| 42
| -2
| 54
|
15
| Preston
| 42
| -2
| 54
|
16
| Norwich
| 42
| -8
| 52
|
17
| Blackpool
| 41
| 1
| 50
|
18
| Coventry
| 42
| -12
| 49
|
19
| Southampton
| 42
| -16
| 49
|
20
| Leicester
| 42
| -2
| 47
|
21
| Sheff Wed
| 41
| -5
| 47
|
22
| Barnsley
| 40
| -14
| 46
|
23
| Scunthorpe
| 42
| -23
| 39
|
24
| Colchester
| 42
| -19
| 36
|
Championship League Fixtures
12 April
Bristol City v Wolverhampton, 15:00
Burnley v Sheff Utd, 15:00
Cardiff v Blackpool, 15:00
Charlton v Southampton, 15:00
Coventry v Stoke, 15:00
Crystal Palace v Scunthorpe, 15:00
Hull v QPR, 15:00
Leicester v Colchester, 15:00
Preston v Barnsley, 15:00
West Brom v Watford, 17:20
13 April
Ipswich v Norwich, 12:00
14 April
Sheff Wed v Plymouth, 20:00
15 April
Barnsley v Hull, 19:45
Wolverhampton v West Brom, 19:45
19 April
Barnsley v Leicester, 15:00
Blackpool v Sheff Wed, 15:00
Colchester v Coventry, 15:00
Norwich v West Brom, 15:00
Plymouth v Preston, 15:00
QPR v Charlton, 15:00
Scunthorpe v Cardiff, 15:00
Sheff Utd v Hull, 15:00
Southampton v Burnley, 15:00
Stoke v Bristol City, 17:20
Watford v Crystal Palace, 15:00
Wolverhampton v Ipswich, 15:00
22 April
Wolverhampton v Cardiff, 19:45
El CID BOWLS CLUB REPORT
Over the past two weeks El Cid has been winding down our League Season with just 1 game left for each of our three Northern Teams. On Monday 7th April the Swords played their final game away at Benitachell against the Lions who had already amassed enough points to
become Northern League champions. Well done Lions. The Swords put up a tremendous performance running neck and neck on all rinks and at one point leading on all four. Unfortunately this effort could not be sustained and on three rinks the Lions managed to pull away on the last couple of ends. It's an old cliche but the score and the points did not reflect the closeness of the game which was played in a good competitive spirit. Swords 60 shots Lions 71 Swords 1 point Lions 9 points. This result meant the Swords finish third overall in the league. Sabres have had a disappointing end to the season. On 3 April away to Javea Green Opals they came away with a creditable 4 points. But at home to Javea Green Onyx on 7 April they could only get 2 points, even though they lost on two rinks by only 1 shot. The Star Rink of the Week for both matches was Ron Jones, Margaret Gill and June Mountford. This makes it 11 times this season they have been the top-performing rink. Well done you three. On Wednesday our Scimitars team plays against Albir. We have also completed our Club Championships and all our Champs will go down to Torrevieja to play in the Costa Blanca Champion of Champions.
Our overall singles winner is Paul Trunchion. Ladies singles, Brenda Price, who won the Champion of Champions last year. The Mixed Pairs are Clive Scott & Connie Pope. Mixed Triples, Jean McLaughlin, John & Mavis Dugdale. The fours winners, Judith & Derek Pursey, Monica Stansmore & Pat Johnston. We wish them all good luck. Our Presentation evening was a great success with all the above Champs receiving their just rewards. We danced the night away with Double Impact. On Sunday 5th April we held our annual “Ashes” day. The El Cid Bowls club plays against the El Cid staff. The trophy is a Jar of Ashes from our old carpet that was replaced 4 years ago. The Bowls Club retained the “Ashes”.
If anyone is interested in learning how to play Bowls, please contact Pat Metcalfe on 966474312. We are offering a free coaching session + 1 months reduced fees. If after that time you wish to join the Club, you will be made most welcome. We have bowls for you to use. All you need is a flat pair of shoes. We don’t just play Bowls, there is a great Social side as well. What better way to spend the summer making lots of new friends along the way. The Club is at Benidoleig just along the road from the Caves.
Spanish Football Fixtures
Group 6
18/03/2008
PUZOL 1 v 0 CATARROJA
Group 6
20/03/2008
UTIEL v PEGO
ALZIRA v LA NUCIA
OLIMPIC v ELDENSE
BURJASSOT v ONDA
ALONE v VILLARREAL C
J. BARRIO CRISTO v CASTELLON B
Group 6
21/03/2008
TORREVIEJA v CREVILLENTE
Group 6
23/03/2008
ELCHE ILICITANO v JOVE ESPAÑOL
NOVELDA v VALENCIA MESTALLA
Valencia Group 2
13/04/2008
MISLATA v RIBARROJA
ALMASSERA v CRACK´S
TORRE LEVANTE O. v PUEBLA FARNALS
AT. BENAGUASIL v CUART POBLET
LLIRIA v SP. REQUENA
ALBORAYA v BUÑOL
MASAMAGRELL v EL PUIG
PATERNA v FOYOS
CHIVA v LORIGUILLA
Valencia Group 2
20/04/2003
LORIGUILLA v MISLATA
RIBARROJA v ALMASSERA
CRACK´S v TORRE LEVANTE O.
PUEBLA FARNALS v AT. BENAGUASIL
CUART POBLET v LLIRIA
SP. REQUENA v ALBORAYA
BUÑOL v MASAMAGRELL
EL PUIG v PATERNA
FOYOS v CHIVA
Valencia Group 3
20/04/2008
LORIGUILLA v MISLATA
RIBARROJA v ALMASSERA
CRACK´S v TORRE LEVANTE O.
PUEBLA FARNALS v AT. BENAGUASIL
CUART POBLET v LLIRIA
SP. REQUENA v ALBORAYA
BUÑOL v MASAMAGRELL
EL PUIG v PATERNA
FOYOS v CHIVA
Valencia Group 3
20/04/2008
MURO v CARCAIXENT
BENIGANIM v BENIFAIO
TAVERNES v LLOSA
ALGINET v CD TORRENT
CANALS v MASSANASSA
Sport 
