Team WRT seal GT Challenge victory with fast pit stop in race 2 in Zandvoort
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News.com.au
4 hours ago
- News.com.au
Liverpool spend big to hold off Arsenal, City in Premier League title fight
Liverpool have splashed out to defend their Premier League title as champions but face stiff competition from an Arsenal side desperate to shake off their tag as nearly men and a rejuvenated Manchester City. After storming to a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title in Arne Slot's first season in charge, Liverpool have looked to build from a position of strength during a summer marked by tragedy. Portuguese forward Diogo Jota was killed in a car accident alongside his brother last month, plunging the club into mourning. Tributes to Jota will continue throughout the season with "Forever 20" -- his shirt number, which the club have now retired -- printed on Liverpool's jerseys. The Reds have already spent £260 million ($350 million) on Florian Wirtz, Hugo Ekitike, Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong. However, after the departures of Luis Diaz and Darwin Nunez, they are not yet done in strengthening their forward line and are expected to launch a fresh bid for Alexander Isak, with Newcastle demanding a British transfer record fee for the Swedish striker. Liverpool's rivals will hope Wirtz and Ekitike take time to adapt to the rigours of the Premier League after shining in Germany's Bundesliga, while there are defensive doubts for Slot's men to answer. The Dutch coach said his side need to defend better after leaky performances in pre-season were followed by defeat in the Community Shield to Crystal Palace on Sunday after twice blowing the lead. - Can Gyokeres fire? - After finishing second for the past three seasons, Arsenal are longing for their first title in 22 years and have backed Mikel Arteta with another near £200 million investment in the transfer market. Spanish international Martin Zubimendi will be the new anchor of the midfield, while the signings of Christian Norgaard, Cristhian Mosquera, Noni Madueke and Kepa Arrizabalaga add depth to the squad. But Arsenal's season is likely to be defined by whether Viktor Gyokeres proves to be the answer to their need for a prolific striker. The Swede struck 97 times in 102 games during two years at Sporting Lisbon, but the 27-year-old failed to make a breakthrough in the Premier League during his previous experience in England. After coming up short at Brighton, Gyokeres scored 41 goals in 121 games in England's second tier with Coventry and Swansea. "He's a player that, when you leave him with the space one against one, he's going to destroy you," said Arteta of his new striker. City were dethroned last season after an unprecedented run of four consecutive titles as the wheels came off for Pep Guardiola's men without Ballon d'Or winner Rodri. The Spaniard has been ruled out till September due to a setback in his return from a serious knee injury, but City have refreshed their squad with the additions of Rayan Ait-Nouri, Tijjani Reijnders and Rayan Cherki. After a first trophyless season since 2016/17, City expect to be back in the fight for the title. - World champions Chelsea - Chelsea were the last side other than City and Liverpool to lift the title back in 2017 and showed they are a coming force once more by winning the Club World Cup in the US last month. The Blues finished fourth, 15 points behind Liverpool last season, but their transfer policy of investing heavily in scores of young prospects is beginning to bear fruit. Joao Pedro made an instant impact with three goals in three games at the Club World Cup after a £55 million move from Brighton and could solve Chelsea's need for a world class goalscorer. Manchester United have transformed their forward line with the signings of Benjamin Sesko, Matheus Cunha and Bryan Mbeumo after finishing 15th last season. Beating United in the Europa League final was not enough for Ange Postecoglou to keep his job as Tottenham manager and former Brentford boss Thomas Frank has taken over in north London. Promoted trio Leeds, Sunderland and Burnley are aiming to avoid a worrying trend for the competitive balance. For the past two seasons all three promoted clubs have gone straight back down as the gap between the riches of the Premier League and the second tier continues to grow. kca/nf/gj
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Supercars Ipswich Super 440: Broc Feeney confirms status as qualifying king
Broc Feeney has ensured a bumper Triple Eight Christmas party with a $50,000 pay day after sealing the season's pole position award with nine races still to run this year. Confirming his status as the series' new qualifying king, the championship leader claimed his 13th pole for the year in 25 races after blitzing the field with a blistering top-10 shootout lap. Feeney put his car at the front of the grid for Sunday's finale at Queensland Raceway to sweep all three poles for the Ipswich round. The 22-year-old finished almost half a second clear of Walkinshaw Andretti United's Ryan Wood with his brilliant 1:08.349 lap to bounce back after his false start penalty in Saturday's second sprint race when he finished to teammate Will Brown. Feeney indicated on Saturday night the prize money would go into the kitty for the team's Christmas party at the end of the year if he sewed up the award on Sunday. 'I'm pretty pumped. I knew we've had a fast car all weekend and I always love these shootout, I think that's four in a row now this year,' Feeney said. 'It's bloody awesome and to do it by nearly half a second around here at QR is fantastic in front of all my friends and family, I've got my Nan upstairs watching and everyone here. 'It's fantastic to wrap up the Boost pole award already this year, 50 grand is pretty awesome. 'I was obviously a little bit gutted yesterday, throwing away that race win, I just wanted to really execute and do a really good job today and I know how important it is to qualify up front. 'I've just got so much confidence in the car and also myself, I can really back myself in qualifyings. It's something I'm really thriving on. 'To think that I've got 13 poles this year is absolute insanity.' The Pole King ðŸ'' @brocfeeney93 secures @BoostAus Pole for Race 25 as well as clinching the 2025 @BoostAus Pole Award! #RepcoSC #Supercars — Supercars (@supercars) August 10, 2025 Brown will start third on the grid for the 63-lap finale with Team 18's Anton De Pasquale and Triple Eight wildcard Zach Bates, who has impressed in his first Supercars hitout this weekend, rounding out the top five. Brodie Kostecki, James Golding, Cameron Hill, Chaz Mostert and David Reynolds completed the top 10. Reynolds was the first driver out in the top-10 shootout and received a nice present on his windscreen. 'You wouldn't believe it, something happened like a bird shat on my window at the last corner as I was coming up to start my lap and it put me off,' Reynolds told the broadcast after his lap. It started off as a miserable day for Tickford star Cam Waters ahead of his 300th race after he struggled in qualifying and missed the top-10 shootout. The Ford ace, who was 17th and fifth in Saturday's two sprint races, will start from 19th on the grid for Sunday's Ipswich finale. Waters started off the year as the qualifying pacesetter with three straight poles - and three straight victories - in Sydney, but has not had a pole since then. His Tickford teammate Thomas Randle didn't fare much better and will start 23rd. Brown upstages Feeney after Sprint Cup success Championship leader Broc Feeney became the first driver to book his ticket to the Supercars finals with a Sprint Cup win before he was later upstaged by his teammate Will Brown in a Triple Eight one-two after being hit with a costly penalty at Queensland Raceway. After Feeney continued his hot streak to claim his 11th win of the year in Saturday's opening sprint battle at the Ipswich circuit to clinch the inaugural Sprint Cup, it was Brown who took the honours in the second race as he secured a drought-breaking victory. The defending Supercars champion claimed his first win since the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park in March and his second for the year as he capitalised on a rare Feeney error. Pole sitter Feeney looked to have made a blistering start to the race, but it proved to be a little too good and he was soon under investigation by the stewards. The stewards ruled Feeney had jumped the gun off the start line and he was hit with a five-second time penalty for a false start. The changing of the guard ðŸ'° @brocfeeney93 is your @RepcoAustralia Race 23 winner at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440! #RepcoSC #Supercars — Supercars (@supercars) August 9, 2025 After both Triple Eight drivers had pitted and Feeney had served his time penalty, there was little separating the pair, but Brown held off his teammate for a confidence-boosting win. Brown and Feeney finished ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United's Ryan Wood, who claimed his second podium of the day. 'It's great to get a win finally, it's been a fair while now,' Brown said after the race. 'To be honest, it's not really the way we want to do it, but unfortunately Broc got a jump-start there. 'But I'm a race car driver and I'm selfish, so I'll take that win. 'Stoked for our side of the garage to get a win, everyone in the team did a fantastic job. The cars were super fast and we were able to gap a lot of the field and work with our strategy. 'We knew Broc had a five-second penalty, but he's super fast and he's hard to beat this weekend and he's been hard to beat all year but he's doing a fantastic job. 'I wasn't going to let him pass, that's for sure. He's had enough wins this year.' Brown sits 232 points behind Feeney in the championship standings with one more 63-lap race at Ipswich on Sunday before Supercars moves into the Enduro Cup. Feeney had been targeting a pair of sprint wins after grabbing back-to-back poles amid wild weather earlier in the day and said he was 'gutted' he cost himself the win in the second race. 'I obviously didn't do anything different, just hence the question at the start, but they said I was moving at the start,' Feeney. 'Fair enough, if you're moving, you get a penalty. We'll go back and have a look at why. I didn't feel like I was moving as such. 'But obviously a great job for a one-two and obviously gutted I slipped up there and cost us a win, but overall we still had a really fast car.' An Ipswich victory on his 150th race! @will_brown87 is your @RepcoAustralia Race 24 winner ðŸ�† #RepcoSC #Supercars — Supercars (@supercars) August 9, 2025 It was a dramatic start to the second sprint race when a safety car was deployed on the opening lap after multiple cars got caught up in a turn-one skirmish. Brodie Kostecki, Jack Le Brocq and Jaxon Evans were among those to come off second-best and were forced back to the pits for repairs. Kostecki was able to rejoin the race after his car was patched up, while Le Brocq and Evans' races were over. Earlier, Feeney became the first driver to book his place in the Supercars finals after he clinched the Sprint Cup when he converted from pole in the opening sprint race. After the Triple Eight star enhanced his status as this year's qualifying king with two more poles, Feeney claimed his 10th win from the past 13 races to win ahead of Grove Racing rookie Kai Allen and Kiwi Wood. Last year's championship runner-up was surging to the victory in his Red Bull 'rocket ship' before a late safety car, which was deployed after David Reynolds skidded off the track, saw the race finish under the yellow flags. The Sprint Cup gives Feeney a ticket straight to Supercars' end-of-season finals, which start at the Gold Coast 500 in late October, and 25 bonus points for the start of the three-round play-offs. In a sign of the changing Supercars guard, the Feeney (22) Allen (20) and Wood (21) podium was the youngest ever.
News.com.au
a day ago
- News.com.au
Hugh Bowman secures second Silver Saddle on Shergar Cup day
Champion jockey Hugh Bowman has once again stood up on the world stage when claiming his second Shergar Cup Silver Saddle. The Australian hoop won the opening race on the Ascot card with Vintage Clarets before piloting two other gallopers to top three finishes and it was enough to give him the edge as leading rider of the international riding series. 'We've had a good afternoon,' Bowman said. 'Obviously we won the first race and have a had a couple of others who ran very well. 'It's my second Silver Saddle in three attempts. 'It's good fun and a more relaxed environment than a normal raceday, particularly when you're riding against different jockeys from different corners of the world. 'It's usually in a major race when the stakes are very high and it's very important for everyone. As important as this is, it's a little more relaxed.' Hugh Bowman wins the 2025 Alistair Haggis Silver Saddle @HugeBowman ðŸ'� — Ascot Racecourse (@Ascot) August 9, 2025 It was the third year straight the opening race went to Rest of the World with the team also picking up points with Venture Capital running third in the race. 'I'm very appreciative of the opportunity to ride here this year, representing the Rest of the World team, and to be back at the Royal Ascot track, it's hallowed ground, it's an honour,' Bowman said. 'It certainly helps, because it is a unique track. When you ride here, regardless of the occasion, there's a sense of pride and a sense of occasion. 'So it's a very testing track for horse and rider, and having been here before certainly helps.' Bowman's second Shergar Cup Silver Saddle came 18 years after his winning debut in 2007 and he joins a handful of jockeys to win the medal on multiple occasions, including Fran Berry, Gerald Mosse and Richard Hughes. A total of 32 points was enough to give Bowman the victory with Melbourne Cup-winning jockey Robbie Dolan finishing equal third on 25 points. The team riding series was won by the Asian team comprising of Suraj Narredu, Ryusei Sakai and Mirai Iwata.
