Brazilian veteran Rubens Barrichello claimed his 10th Formula One victory yesterday when he drove his Brawn GP car through a perfectly judged race in searing heat to win the European Grand Prix.
It was his first win this season and his first triumph in five years since the 2004 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai for Ferrari.
Barrichello’s win lifted him from fourth to second in the drivers’ championship standings. Briton Jenson Button, his Brawn teammate, now leads with 72 points ahead of the Brazilian on 54, with Australian Mark Webber third on 51.5.
PHOTO: AFP
The 37-year-old driver from Sao Paulo delivered one of his finest races of modern times as he came home ahead of defending drivers champion Lewis Hamilton in a McLaren and Finn Kimi Raikkonen for Ferrari. Hamilton had started from pole but his hopes of victory were dashed by a muddled second pitstop when the McLaren team had not prepared his tires.
Another Finn, Hamilton’s McLaren teammate Heikki Kovalainen, came home fourth ahead of German Nico Rosberg of Williams and the local hero, two-times world champion Fernando Alonso of Renault, who was sixth. Button came home seventh to improve his place in the title race with Pole Robert Kubica finishing eighth for BMW Sauber.
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was