Jorge Lorenzo extended his lead at the top of the world championship after a dominant performance at Sunday’s British MotoGP.
The Fiat Yamaha rider started from pole and lead all the way to finish ahead of Italian Andrea Dovizioso on a Honda, with Ben Spies of the US third for Yamaha.
Nicky Hayden of the US finished fourth, ahead of Australian Casey Stoner.
PHOTO: AFP
“This was an important day for me and an important win, because I felt so strong and I enjoyed riding my Yamaha so much,” said Lorenzo, who now leads Dovizioso by 37 points in the championship standings. “I had a different feeling today. I felt it was going to be a good race. I never dreamed of taking three wins from five races, but here we are and I am feeling very strong mentally at this moment. I want to thank my team, Yamaha, and Bridgestone for this victory.”
Lorenzo had built up an eight-second lead at the halfway point with the battle more for second place behind him.
Spies managed to overtake Hayden right at the end of the race to grab the final podium spot, his first ever in MotoGP.
“I didn’t expect to get my first podium so quickly, especially after yesterday, which wasn’t the best for me,” Spies said. “I got a decent start, but once I got by Dani [Pedrosa] and [Marco] Simoncelli, I just tried to stay on the back of the group battling for the podium. Once I realized I could stay in contention, I just tried to save the rear tire as much as I could and it all worked out.”
Taiwan’s men’s table tennis team won bronze on Saturday at this year’s International Table Tennis Federation World Team Table Tennis Championships in London, matching the country’s best-ever finish at the regular tournament. Consisting of Lin Yun-ju, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7, Feng Yi-hsin, Kuo Guan-hong, Hong Jing-kai and Hsu Hsien-chia, the team won bronze after losing 0-3 to Japan in the semifinals. In the opening match, 24-year-old Lin played the first game against world No. 3 Tomokazu Harimoto 11-5, but ultimately lost the next three closely contested games 9-11, 10-12 and 10-12. Feng then faced world No. 8 Sora Matsushima in
Lin Yun-ju on Thursday handed Taiwan two key victories as they advanced to the semi-finals of the ITTF World Team Table Tennis Championships Finals in London. The Taiwan men’s table tennis team beat Sweden 3-2 in five singles matches. The 24-year-old Lin, Taiwan’s top-ranked player at world No. 7 and nicknamed the “Silent Assassin,” opened the tie by defeating world No. 2 Truls Moregard 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 13-11) before clinching the deciding fifth match with a 3-0 (11-8, 11-9, 11-5) win over Anton Kallberg to hand his team the overall victory. Kuo Guan-hong put Taiwan up 2-0 with a 3-2 (4-11, 11-8, 8-11,
Taiwanese fire dancer Yang Li-wei advanced to the final of Britain’s Got Talent this weekend after receiving a Golden Buzzer during her live semi-final performance. Yang, a member of Taiwan’s Coming True Fire Group, awed judges and audiences with a high-intensity fire performance featuring flaming umbrellas, fire swallowing and spinning metal structures balanced with her legs. Judge Simon Cowell praised Yang as a star, while guest judge KSI reacted with amazement before pressing the Golden Buzzer, sending her to the finals. The dance group wrote on social media that the Golden Buzzer was “the highest honor” on the talent show, adding: “Twenty-three years
As Super Rugby fast approaches its playoff season it finds itself racing toward a reckoning with many issues that threaten the southern hemisphere tournament. A group of stakeholders met in the New Zealand city of Christchurch late last month to address problems that are making the future of the 31-year-old competition increasingly tenuous. The discussion was made more urgent by the decision by the owners of Moana Pasifika to fold the Auckland-based club for financial reasons. That followed the closure of the Melbourne Rebels at the end of the 2024 season, likewise because of financial difficulties. Problems addressed included player retention as more
RSS