Taylor to face Wade again
July 26, 2008
Phil “the power” Taylor will face James Wade again after both men came through easy semi-finals at the World Match play. Taylor defeated old foe Dennis Priestly 17-8. Taylor was in fine and in the match he twice had 7 perfect darts and had a dart at double 12 for that elusive nine darter. It didn’t come but Phil was just happy to beat Dennis.
Phil said…
“Dennis doesn’t give in. He just keeps going and going. Even when you look at the score and I am 14, 15-6 up he comes back at you all the time. Most people would give in.”
His opponent James Wade had an even easier ride against Wayne Mardle, the “machine” raced to a 17-6 win in what was a completely one sided match. Mardle was maybe tired after that epic match with Barney but nevertheless he never looked like challenging Wade.
Afterwards Wade said…
“If I can find another gear tomorrow night, which I can do, hopefully I can and it will be an entertaining night for people watching. Phil gives me inspiration. We all look up to Phil. I am not nervous, just excited, really excited and I just want to get it on.”
Hamilton wins German GP
July 21, 2008
Lewis Hamilton won a thrilling Grand Prix in Hockenheim to take the Championship lead. The young Brit was sitting in 3rd with just laps to go but managed to overtake both Felipe Massa and Nelson Piquet and win the German Grand Prix.
Afterwards Lewis said…
“I didn’t plan on making it so exciting. I would have much preferred an easy and comfortable afternoon out in front. But it didn’t work that way.”
Grand Prix Results…
1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 1hr 31mins 20.874 secs
2. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault +00:05.586 secs
3. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 00:09.339
4. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 00:09.825
5. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 00:12.411
6. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 00:14.483
7. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 00:22.603
8. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 00:33.282
9. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 00:37.199
10. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 00:37.658
11. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 00:38.625
12. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso-Ferrari 00:39.111
13. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault 00:54.971
14. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India-Ferrari 00:59.093
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 01:00.003
16. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Ferrari 01:09.488
17. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 1 lap
r. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 17 laps
r. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 27 laps
r. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 35 laps
Hamilton wins British GP
July 7, 2008
Lewis Hamilton won his home Grand Prix to keep alive his chance of winning the Championship. In treacherous conditions, Hamilton pulled away from the field and eased to victory.
Hamilton said…
“It is definitely by far the best victory I’ve ever had,” assessed Hamilton. “It was one of the toughest races I’ve ever done. As I was driving I was thinking, ‘if I win this it will definitely be the best race I’ve ever won’. That’s not only because of its history, but also because I’m on home ground and I drove one of my best races ever. I was coming to the last lap and I could see the crowd beginning to stand up and I was just praying, praying, praying, ‘keep it on the track and just finish’. You could not believe the emotions inside. I wanted to push, get it round, and we did. The team did a fantastic job.”
It was an unbelievable race, cars were flying all over the place as the rain came down. Lewis did well to win by so far he was the only person who looked in control of his car throughout the race. This win puts him on level terms with both Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa.
Van Barneveld out of the Classic
July 5, 2008
Raymond Van Barneveld has been sent crashing out of the Las Vegas Classic after losing comfortable to Alan Tabern. Barneveld has been in poor form this year and has not won a major title for a year.
After the match Tabern said…
”This is the biggest win of my career. I kept scoring well and finishing consistently which you have to against the big players - you can’t give them an inch. And then I managed to hold my composure when it mattered at the end to win the tie. It’s an awesome night for me.”
Alan Tabern now faces Peter Manley who dispatched of Adrian Lewis 8-6. Also Phil Taylor and James Wade are still going strong and won both their games easily.
Massa wins French GP
June 23, 2008
Felipe Massa won the French GP finishing in front of his teammate Kimi Raikkonen and Jarno Trulli who both got on the podium. Kubica came in fourth to keep his title challenge alive.
Bad weekend for Hamilton…
After incurring a 10 place penalty in qualifying it was always going to be hard for Lewis. It looked a good start and on the first lap he was going through the field. He got up to 9th but incurred another penalty after incorrectly passing Vettel, that meant he had to drive through the pits, there was no way back for Lewis and he ended in 10th. He is now 10 points off new Championship leader Felipe Massa.
Race Times…
1. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Ferrari 1 min 31:50.245 secs
2. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari +00:17.984
3. Jarno Trulli (Italy) Toyota 00:28.250
4. Heikki Kovalainen (Finland) McLaren 00:28.929
5. Robert Kubica (Poland) BMW Sauber 00:30.512
6. Mark Webber (Australia) RedBull - Renault 00:40.304
7. Nelson Piquet (Brazil) Renault 00:41.033
8. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Renault 00:43.372
9. David Coulthard (Britain) RedBull - Renault 00:51.072
10. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) McLaren 00:54.521
11. Timo Glock (Germany) Toyota 00:57.738
12. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 00:58.065
13. Nick Heidfeld (Germany) BMW Sauber 01:02.079
14. Rubens Barrichello (Brazil) Honda 1 lap
15. Kazuki Nakajima (Japan) Williams - Toyota 1 lap
16. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Williams - Toyota 1 lap
17. Sebastien Bourdais (France) Toro Rosso - Ferrari 1 lap
18. Giancarlo Fisichella (Italy) Force India - Ferrari 1 lap
19. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Force India - Ferrari 1 lap
r. Jenson Button (Britain) Honda 54 laps
Raikkonen on pole in France
June 21, 2008
Kimi Raikkonen will lead the way in France tomorrow after narrowly pipping Felipe Massa to pole. Lewis Hamilton qualified in third place but after crashing last race he has incurred a 10 place deduction so will start in 13th. That moves Fernando Alonso up to third and Jarno Trulli in fourth.
Here are the qualifying times…
01 K. Räikkönen Ferrari 1:16.449
02 F. Massa Ferrari 1:16.490
03 L. Hamilton McLaren 1:16.693
04 F. Alonso Renault 1:16.840
05 J. Trulli Toyota 1:16.840
06 H. Kovalainen McLaren 1:16.944
07 R. Kubica BMW 1:17.037
08 M. Webber Red Bull 1:17.233
09 D. Coulthard Red Bull 1:17.426
10 T. Glock Toyota 1:17.596
11 N. Piquet jr. Renault 1:15.770
12 N. Heidfeld BMW 1:15.786
13 S. Vettel Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:15.816
14 S. Bourdais Scuderia Toro Rosso 1:16.045
15 N. Rosberg Williams 1:16.235
16 K. Nakajima Williams 1:16.243
17 J. Button Honda 1:16.306
18 R. Barrichello Honda 1:16.330
19 G. Fisichella Force India F1 1:16.971
20 A. Sutil Force India F1 1:17.053
Phil Taylor nine dart finish
June 18, 2008
Phil “the power” Taylor hits his 6th televised nine darter at Uk Open.
Boston Celtics win NBA Championship
June 18, 2008
Boston Celtics won their 17th NBA Championships with a stunning win over LA Lakers. It was the also the biggest thrashing in a deciding game since 1968 when they beat LA Lakers by 33 points. Boston won the game 131-92 and won the series 4-2.
Boston stars outgun Lakers…
The likes of Kevin Garnett who got 26 points and 14 rebounds, Ray Allen who also got 26 points, Paul Pierce who got 17 points and 10 assists all had a night to remember, it was the first time in the finals they had all come together and played well. Lively Rajon Rondo got 21 points and had six steals and just added to Boston’s class. Kobe couldn’t handle it and although he had a good start he could not maintain the standards that the Celtics were doing.
Afterwards Paul Pierce said…
“This means everything. I’m not living under the shadows of the other greats now. I’m able to make my own history with my time here. This is something that I wanted to do, if I was going to be one of the best Celtics to ever play I had to put up a banner and today we did that. To work so hard, and for ten long years with the Boston Celtics, going through my ups and downs, this is what makes those other moments so sweet. Knowing that you were at rock bottom a year ago today and to climb all the way to the top. This is a dream come true.”
Lakers will have to rebuild for next season and their star man Kobe Bryant believes they can, he said…
“We’re fine. What we have to do is continue to work and the key is understanding this isn’t guaranteed to anybody. There’s people who have got here before and never got back so it’s important for us to understand that, to work hard and come back next year ready to go.
Lakers fight back
June 11, 2008
LA Lakers pulled back into the series with an 87-81 win over Boston Celtics. Kobe Bryant scored 36 points and inspired his team to victory.
Boston stars have night off…
Paul Pierce who had inspired his team in the first two matches had a very poor game and looked exhausted in the final stages. He only managed 6 points while Boston’s other star Kevin Garnett only managed 13 points.
LA rely on Bryant…
The Lakers were poor again and star players Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom only managed 13 points between them. Luckily enough for the Lakers Bryant scored 36 points and won the game on his own.
The Lakers know they will have to improve but at least they are still in the best of seven series. With Bryan back in form LA will hope some of their other players step up and help out Kobe.
Boston are still in control of the tie but worryingly big players began to look tired and with Bryant in form they have to be at the top of their game.
Wade Wins UK Open
June 9, 2008
James Wade claimed his third major title after defeating Gary Mawson 11-7 in the final of the UK Open. Wade collected £35,000 for winning the competition.
Afterwards he said…
“I’m not a big show off. I’m a quiet sort of guy and didn’t want a big fuss after winning. Seriously though, it’s a massive win for me, I’m a young bloke and I want to make myself secure while I’m winning.
Mawson was gracious in defeat and afterwards he talked about his nickname Rafael Benitez…
“Thanks to my beard the crowd nicknamed me Rafael Benitez throughout the tournament and that support really spurred me on. “Rafa is also very successful in cup matches, perhaps that was my lucky omen. ”I’m disappointed to have gone so far and lost though.”
Mawson had a great tournament, he defeated Barney in the semis after the Dutchman had defeated Taylor so I’m sure it isn’t the last we will se of “Rafael Benitez”.
