■MOTOGP
Lorenzo closes gap on Rossi
Spain’s Jorge Lorenzo, riding a Yamaha, moved to within 18 points of MotoGP championship leader Valentino Rossi after winning the Portuguese Grand Prix on Sunday. Australian Casey Stoner and another Spaniard, Dani Pedrosa, finished second and third respectively. Lorenzo’s fourth win of the season means he has closed the gap to Rossi, his teammate at Yamaha, with just three races left. Lorenzo overcame the early surges of Pedrosa to take control of the race on the first lap and went on to lead almost from start to finish, with Rossi coming in fourth. He finished 6.3 seconds ahead of Stoner and 10 seconds in front of Pedrosa, with Rossi a huge 23.4 seconds behind. “I didn’t expect to win with such a gap. It was a perfect weekend as we dominated in practice, feeling great on the bike and also in the race. I think it was one of the best performances in my life,” Lorenzo said. “At the beginning, it was a little bit difficult to open a big gap because I could only do it one 10th of a second at a time, but then Casey’s rhythm dropped and I was able to maintain my pace.”
■RALLYING
Loeb sets up tense finale
France’s Sebastien Loeb set-up a tense last race world title decider with Finland’s Mikko Hirvonen after the five-time world champion won the Catalunya Rally for the fifth year in a row on Sunday. In finishing one-two, Loeb and Spaniard Dani Sordo assured the constructors’ world title for Citroen. Loeb finished the weekend 12 seconds ahead of Citroen teammate Sordo and a massive 54 seconds ahead of title rival Hirvonen in a Ford Focus. It was Loeb’s sixth win of the season and the 53rd of his career. Hirvonen finished third to retain the championship lead, but he now has only a one-point lead going into the 12th and final race at the Rally of Britain in Wales from Oct. 23 to Oct. 25. “This one was tough because Dani was pushing very hard at the start, so we tried to fight, but we knew also that we mustn’t make any mistakes just fighting together — it was so important for us to finish, but we were really confident,” Loeb said. “It was really a pleasure to drive again on tarmac — for me it’s been a long time since we did it and the result now should be perfect. It was a fantastic weekend for the team and crucial both to win the constructors’ title and get closer to Mikko.”
■HORSE RACING
Sea The Stars wins the Arc
Christopher Tsui, Hong Kong owner of super-horse Sea The Stars, recalled another Parisian triumph after watching his colt seal a place in racing’s firmament of greats with a brilliant Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe win on Sunday. Sea The Stars is a son of Urban Sea, who won the Arc in 1993 for Christopher’s father David Tsui and French trainer Jean Lesbordes, before a highly successful career as a broodmare. Tsui, who runs a nightclub in Hong Kong, told a news conference after Sea The Stars’ decisive two-length win: “I was here for Urban Sea’s victory in the Arc in 1993 with Mr Lesbordes and my father, and was only about 12 at the time. This experience is very different, but does bring back good memories.”
■CYCLING
Farrar wins Franco-Belge
The Garmin team’s Tyler Farrar, of the US, won the Franco-Belge race after the fourth and final stage on Sunday. Farrar had held the overall lead after winning the first two stages. In Sunday’s last 147.1km run, between Mons and Tournai, Argentina’s Juan Jose Haedo of Saxo Bank finished in front of Yauheni Hutarovich of Belarus and Roger Hammond of Britain.
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