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Obituary: Jochen Mass, racing driver

Obituary: Jochen Mass, racing driver

Jochen Mass. Photo: file
German racing driver Jochen Mass turned his back on a career in the merchant navy to ascend to the peak of motor sport. Mass drove in 105 F1 grands prix, winning the 1975 Spanish Grand Prix in a McLaren. Mass was on the podium a further eight times in a career which spanned from 1973 to 1980, with a brief comeback in 1982. That year Mass was involved in the crash in which Gilles Villeneuve was killed. After leaving F1, Mass established himself in long-distance sportscar racing with Porsche, and then Sauber-Mercedes. His victories included the 1989 Le Mans 24 Hours race. Mass then became a mentor to young drivers, including rising star Michael Schumacher, as well as a regular driver on the historic cars racing circuit. Mass died on May 4, aged 78. — APL/agencies
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F1: Liam Lawson's confidence just fine
F1: Liam Lawson's confidence just fine

RNZ News

time18 hours ago

  • RNZ News

F1: Liam Lawson's confidence just fine

New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / PHOTOSPORT New Zealand driver Liam Lawson said his confidence has never taken a hit. Lawson is preparing for the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend with the pressure remaining well and truly on his shoulders. He is 16th in the Drivers' Championship standings having scored points just twice in 12 races so far this season, while his Racing Bulls team is seventh out of 10 in the Constructors' Championship. The 23-year-old started the season alongside world champion Max Verstappen at Red Bull, but was demoted after just two GP's, replaced by Yuki Tsunoda. With a three week break, Lawson has had time to reflect on the first half of the season and spoke to "Obviously, the start of the year, [we had] the big shake-up with the team switch, and then not really having the time to get to grips with things, racing every weekend, and trying to be at the level that I need to be at. It's been a lot," Lawson said. He admits he hasn't really had a chance to process what has gone on so far, but hopes to do that when the calendar takes a four week break in August. "We all know we have a couple more races coming up before then. You're still in that mindset, you're still thinking about what just happened, how we're going to improve in the next couple of races, and how I'm going to improve myself. You're just in it." New Zealand F1 driver Liam Lawson of Racing Bulls, Austria 2025. Photo: ALBERTO VIMERCATI / PHOTOSPORT It has been a tough year for the young Kiwi with the difficulties of performing in the Red Bull car (which Yuki Tsunoda has struggled with also), adjusting to the new team and taking on new tracks. "It's been very heavily speculated that my confidence took a hit and stuff like this, which is completely false. From the start of the year, I felt the same as I always have." In his first two races for Racing Bulls, Lawson finished 17th in Japan and 16th in Bahrain, he also had DNF's (Did Not Finish) in Miami, Canada and Great Britain. Limited testing time has also been an issue for Lawson for has had to familiarise himself with the car in race mode each week. "I've just ignored everything that happened, and I've just focused on trying to drive the car - but I know there was a lot of stuff that went out that was speculation about how I was feeling. "My confidence hasn't changed since the start of the year to now," Lawson told Remaining F1 Grands Prix: July 27, Belgium August 3, Hungary August 31, Dutch September 7, Italy (Monza) September 21, Azerbaijan October 5, Singapore October 19, US (Texas) October 26, Mexico November 9, Brazil November 22, Las Vegas November 30, Qatar December 7, Abu Dhabi Racing Bulls F1 lineup (L to R) Iasck Hadjar, Liam Lawson and Laurent Mekies. Photo: ANTONIN VINCENT / AFP

Chch runner seeing the world one marathon at a time
Chch runner seeing the world one marathon at a time

Otago Daily Times

time21 hours ago

  • Otago Daily Times

Chch runner seeing the world one marathon at a time

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'You do it for long enough, you'll find it's two degrees, sideways rain, and you're up on the Summit Rd with four of your mates on a Sunday morning laughing at each other about how f***ing stupid you are.' Next up for Baynes is a marathon in Japan in February, with Frankfurt also in his sights for October. 'I'll be knocking on the door of 36 then, so we'll see how much patience my wife has.'

On The Up: In the palm of his hand – Hawke's Bay shot putter Nick Palmer closes in on world championships dream
On The Up: In the palm of his hand – Hawke's Bay shot putter Nick Palmer closes in on world championships dream

NZ Herald

time5 days ago

  • NZ Herald

On The Up: In the palm of his hand – Hawke's Bay shot putter Nick Palmer closes in on world championships dream

Palmer saved his best for last to snatch victory from German Eric Maihofer, who had thrown 20.09m, but has a career-best of 20.37m. Some of the world's best competitors in their events were at the meeting, including Olympic Games women's shot put champion and German idol Yemisi Ogunleye. Palmer's efforts lifted him from 62nd to 44th in the world rankings in just three days, and with each country allowed no more than three representatives, the Ireland win had elevated him to 23rd in qualifying for September's World Championships in Tokyo, for which the quota is 36. Among the criteria for New Zealand selection is the potential to finish in the top 16, and Palmer told Hawke's Bay Today he now needs to hit a New Zealand team selection standard of 20.50m. He says a place in the top 16 in the championships rankings is also in his sights. With a goal of joining Kiwi medal prospects Tom Walsh and Jacko Gill at the World Championships, Palmer has timed his form to the moment. He's heading straight to the World University Games in Rhine-Ruhr, Germany, where the shot put is contested on the weekend of July 23-24. Palmer developed his interest in the shot put after a flash of inspiration while fishing on the beach in Napier when he was 10. 'I picked up a rock on the beach and chucked it a long way,' he once said. 'My dad used to do athletics and he thought that I could be good at this.' He competed in the shot put and discus at the 2014 Colgate Children's Games and won the shot put, his 'first decent victory'. As a pupil of Karamu High School in Hastings, Palmer was the Hawke's Bay Secondary Schools Sports Awards Supreme award winner in 2017, heading off teams award winners and national schools rugby First XV champions Hastings Boys' High School and female sportsperson of the year and future national women's 200m sprint champion Georgia Hulls. He was at the time ranked No 6 on the World Under-18 men's shot put list, after winning the Under-18 title at the Australian Athletice Championships. Palmer is now based in Christchurch so that he can train with Walsh, and is also studying psychology through Massey University. Doug Laing is a senior reporter based in Napier with Hawke's Bay Today and has 52 years of journalism experience, 42 of them in Hawke's Bay, in news gathering, including breaking news, sports, local events, issues and personalities.

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