A great weekend of sport but clearly marred by Felipe Massa's serious crash in qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix, freakishly six days after the death of Henry Surtees.
Firstly, I hope that Massa makes a quick recovery and look forward to seeing him back in the cockpit of his Ferrari as soon as he is fit. The Grand Prix itself while not a classic did show the part money has to play in this sport with a McLaren and Ferrari on the top two steps of the podium. It's almost as if the Brawn and McLarens have swapped liveries in the last few weeks as the decline of one marque has been matched with the improvement in the other, but it does promise to be a hugely exciting climax to the season as Button's seemingly dominant championship lead is being whittled away. Great to see Hamilton back at the front and he matched my prediction of being on the podium though I had not expected him to win.
The Moto GP also had more than it's fair share of excitement that eventually led to a debut win for Dovizioso but only after Edwards and De Puniet had expended their best efforts to gain their first win in the class. Rossi may not have had his most memorable race but then again I don't ever recall seeing a rider fall off his bike and then charge back through the field to come fifth which showed immense character. The Ducatis had a race to forget having opted to race on wet tyres assuming it would save them a pit-stop in the race but it was a far from inspired decision as the rain never arrived (at least not to the extent they expected) and both riders ended up being lapped and finishing at the back of the race. No correct predictions but superb entertainment.
I also didn't have any joy with the cricket having plumped for Sussex and ignored a certain Dominic Cork who rolled back the years and put in a match-winning performance for Hampshire. Thankfully the Springboks didn't squander their home advantage in the tri-nations match and withstood a second-half comeback from the All Blacks to start their campaign with a win as I'd predicted.
Another who didn't disappoint was Usain Bolt who strolled(!) to victory in the London Grand Prix Athletics but what in today's sprinting terms was the relatively slow time of 9.91 which matched my prediction, as I had suspected, because of the weather. What was more amazing was the scratch team he anchored to success in the 4 x 100 metres relay in the fourth fastest time ever.
Finally there was the climax to the Tour de France which produced a number of records as well as proving that Alberto Contador is currently the best cyclist in the world. By finishing third Lance Armstrong equalled Raymond Poulidor's record of eight podium finishes in this great race but I do wonder if this is the best he will be able to hope for next year even with a team built around him. The Brits also had their fair share of records this year with Bradley Wiggins equalling Robert Millar's feat of finishing fourth a quarter of a century ago. However, with the support of his Columbia team, Mark Cavendish underlined his reputation as the sport's best sprinter with his six wins climaxing with the superb win on the Champs Elysees by the biggest margin I can remember on the final stage as well as matching my prediction. Whilst it is unlikely he will come close to challenging Merckx's record of 34 stage wins, at the age of 24 he should potentially have his best years in front of him and he should be the man to beat for the Green Jersey in the foreseeable future.
It was probably one of the best tours in recent years, obviously helped by the showing of the two British riders mentioned above, but also by the returns of Contador and Armstrong and I for one look forward to the recommencing of battle in Rotterdam next July. Just one suggestion for the organisers would be to abandon the team time trial.
In all I had four correct predictions from nine which left me all square on the week meaning I am still £10 down.
No comments:
Post a Comment