Jari-Matti Latvala of Finland yesterday took a 2.2-second lead in Rally Australia after an opening day marred by protesters who pelted cars with rocks and attempted to block race routes in the World Rally Championship event.
Environmental activists forced the cancelation of two of 15 scheduled stages yesterday that marked the international circuit’s return to Australia after a three-year absence.
Frenchman Sebastien Ogier, in a Citroen, was in second place overall with a further 20-second break to five-time world champion Sebastien Loeb.
PHOTO: AFP
They were followed by the Citroens of Spaniard Dani Sordo and Mikko Hirvonen of Finland.
Hirvonen has a three-point lead in the championship standings over Loeb with two rallies to go after the Australian event.
Latvala, behind the wheel of a Ford Focus, won the opening stage yesterday and finished no lower than third in the day’s other stages.
Hirvonen was driving with a look in the rearview mirror at Loeb, whose championship hopes will be improved if he finishes ahead of the French veteran.
“I am keeping my eye on Loeb,” Hirvonen said. “It’s interesting to see what the boys are doing. I am trying really hard and pushing as hard as I can.”
Police, meanwhile, continued investigations into the protesters.
New South Wales state police said they received reports yesterday morning of boulders placed on the roadway near the Byrill Creek stage of the rally and officers from the riot squad were called in to remove them.
Police said that midmorning, the first car to drive along the stage — Hirvonen — was hit by a number of rocks.
“While the driver of the car was not injured in the incident, organizers of the rally stopped the stage due to concerns for the safety of the drivers and spectators,” a police statement said.
The “No Rally” and Peacebus groups had staged a campaign leading up to Rally Australia, condemning the event for disrupting the environment in the hinterland site and frightening wildlife.
One local government official unsuccessfully attempted to get a court injunction last week to stop the rally, which is being held in this part of Australia for the first time. The last Rally Australia was held in 2006 in Western Australia state.
“Some people don’t like us in front of their house, but I didn’t ask to come here. I can understand why some people don’t like the rally, but I have to do my job,” Loeb said.
Bayer 04 Leverkusen go into today’s match at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim stung from their first league defeat in 16 months. Leverkusen were beaten 3-2 at home by RB Leipzig before the international break, the first loss since May last year for the reigning league and cup champions. While any defeat, particularly against a likely title rival, would have disappointed coach Xabi Alonso, the way in which it happened would be most concerning. Just as they did in the Supercup against VfB Stuttgart and in the league opener to Borussia Moenchengladbach, Leverkusen scored first, but were pegged back. However, while Leverkusen rallied late to
If all goes well when the biggest marathon field ever gathered in Australia races 42km through the streets of Sydney on Sunday, World Marathon Majors (WMM) will soon add a seventh race to the elite series. The Sydney Marathon is to become the first race since Tokyo in 2013 to join long-established majors in New York, London, Boston, Berlin and Chicago if it passes the WMM assessment criteria for the second straight year. “We’re really excited for Sunday to arrive,” race director Wayne Larden told a news conference in Sydney yesterday. “We’re prepared, we’re ready. All of our plans look good on
The lights dimmed and the crowd hushed as Karoline Kristensen entered for her performance. However, this was no ordinary Dutch theater: The temperature was 80°C and the audience naked apart from a towel. Dressed in a swimsuit and to the tune of emotional music, the 21-year-old Kristensen started her routine, performed inside a large sauna, with a bed of hot rocks in the middle. For a week this month, a group of wellness practitioners, called “sauna masters,” are gathering at a picturesque health resort in the Netherlands to compete in this year’s Aufguss world sauna championships. The practice takes its name from a
When details from a scientific experiment that could have helped clear Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the leader of the organization’s reaction was unequivocal: “We have to stop that urgently,” he wrote. No mention of the test ever became public and Valieva’s defense at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) went on without it. What effect the information could have had on Valieva’s case is unclear, but without it, the skater, then 15 years old, was eventually disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics after testing positive for a banned heart medication that would later