Latest Sport News: Vettel Wins Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix

The Turkish Formula 1 Grand Prix was won today by Sebastian Vettel. It was his 3^rd win of the 2011 season and he led the race from start to finish. His team-mate, Mark Webber overtook Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) with just five laps to go and made it a one-two finish for the Red Bull team. Alonso’s 3^rd place finish was the first podium finish of the season for the Ferrari team.

Both British drivers, Lewis Hamilton and Jensen Button (McLaren team-mates) finished in 4^th and 6^th places respectively after overtaking each other several times during the race. "I don't remember drivers in the same team getting past each other so often without mistakes being made," commented David Coulthard, a  BBC TV sport's commentator.

The Mercedes GP driver, Nico Rosberg finished in 5^th position, 7 places in front of his team-mate, 7 times former world champion Michael Schumacher who lost his front wing on the second lap after a coming together with Vitaly Petrov (Renault).

Britain’s only other driver, Paul Di Resta (Force India) was forced to retire from the race due to a problem with his car.

As a result of today’s race, Vettel is now leading the drivers championship with 93 points followed by Hamilton with 59 points. Webber is currently 3^rd with 55 points, Button is 4^th with 46 points and Alonso is 5^th with 41 points.

Red Bull are leading the constructors championship with 148 points followed by McLaren with 105 points and Ferrari in 3^rd place with 65 points.

The next race for the Formula 1 Grand Prix is due to take place in Spain in two weeks time.

A Sad Day For Sport-The News of Sir Henry Cooper's Passing

It was a sad day for sport to hear the news that Sir Henry Cooper, the Heavyweight boxing legend, died aged 76 on Sunday May 1^st at his son’s house in Oxted in Surrey.

He was born in London in 1934 and in 1952 at the age of 18 he appeared in the Helsinki Olympics. Both he and his twin brother George (who died last year) turned professional boxers at the age of 20.

 

Cooper’s most famous fight was in 1963 at Wembley when he knocked down Cassius Clay who was later to be known as Muhammad Ali. Cooper’s trademark left hook, known as “Enry’s Ammer” is what floored Ali in the fourth round of this fight but Ali eventually went on to win it.

Cooper, the former British, Commonwealth and European champion had a successful career and he actually fought 55 times in total although he never won a world title. He retired in 1971 at the age of 36 after he lost to Joe Bugner (another boxing legend), a year after he was named as the first person to become a two time winner of the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Award.

After his retirement he had a successful career in TV as a pundit and also became a popular team captain on the BBC’s quiz show “A Question Of Sport”.

Upon hearing of the death of Sir Henry Cooper, Muhammad Ali said that he was “at a loss for words” over the death of his friend. "Henry always had a smile for me; a warm and embracing smile", he said. "It was always a pleasure being in Henry's company. I will miss my old friend. He was a great fighter and a gentleman."

Barry McGuigan, a former world featherweight champion from Ireland also paid tribute to Cooper. He told the BBC "He was a lovely fella, and I was a personal friend of him and his wife.

"It really is tragic news for the world of boxing. What a great man he was."

Sir Henry Cooper will not be forgotten and will always remain a true ambassador for the sport.

Latest News On The Speedway Grand Prix-A Sport That's Not For The Faint-Hearted

Motorcycle speedway is a sport commonly known as “Speedway” and is a form of motorcycle sport which consists of 4 riders racing 4 laps anti-clockwise on an oval track made of dirt or loosely packed shale. Typically the tracks are between 300-500 metres long. The bikes are of specialist design and run on a 500cc single cylinder engine, have only 1 gear and have no brakes. The riders are highly skilled and powerslide their machines sideways in order to navigate the bends. The riders have a metal plate on the base of their left boot and they put their left foot down as they go round the bend to help balance themselves and the metal plate allows the foot to slide across the surface. They reach speeds of approximately 70 miles per hour (110 km per hour) on the straight sections of the track.
A typical race consists of 4 riders, 2 from each team and the whole race from start to finish is normally about 1- 1 minute 30 seconds long.

Speedway, as a sport, originated in Maitland, New South Wales, Australia in the 1920’s but there are now both domestic and international competitions in many countries. It is most popular in central and northern Europe although it is quite popular in Australia and North America. The Federation Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) is the controlling body for international speedway. The Speedway World Cup is one of the larger events which takes place each year. Top riders from 8 countries compete in 2 qualifying heats and the 2 winning teams are placed directly in the final. The 2^nd and 3^rd teams from each qualifying heat take part in a “race off” and the 2 winning teams join the other 2 teams that are already in the final. The winning team receives the World Cup Trophy.

There is also a Speedway Grand Prix series comprising of 11 meetings which are hosted in different countries.16 riders compete in this, 15 of which are regulars and the 16^th is a ”wild card” nomination. There are also 2 reserve riders at each meeting numbered 17 and 18. The rider accumulating the most points over the whole Grand Prix season is crowned the World Champion.

The 2011 Speedway Grand Prix season kicked off on Saturday 30^th April at Leszno, Poland. Three-times former world champion Nicki Pedersen scraped through into the semi finals and eventually went on to win the final ahead of defending World Champion Tomasz Gollob, Emil Sayfutdinov, and Jaroslaw Hampel. Pedersen admitted that he couldn’t have won if he hadn’t had the support of his team of mechanics behind him. 

It wasn’t such good news for another three-times former world champion Jason Crump, who failed to reach even the semi finals. He admitted that his performance wasn’t up to scratch. He tried 3 different bikes during the event in the hope of getting the right set up but said that the choices he made were wrong and that he didn’t race well.