Bourdais and Conway Win in Indycar Doubleheader
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p17 2_Layout 1 7/21/14 9:02 PM Page 1 TUESDAY, JULY 22, 2014 SPORTS NZ seek to extend Photo of the day rugby stranglehold GLASGOW: New Zealand will seek to respectively, while other World Series regu- extend their stranglehold on the lars in Samoa, England, Kenya, Wales and Commonwealth Games rugby sevens for a Canada will be determined to challenge fifth successive time when it gets under the dominance of the mighty Sevens All way at Ibrox Stadium, their bid boosted by Blacks. The beauty of the Commonwealths the absence of arch-rivals Fiji. means there are also places for the unher- The All Blacks have won all four previous alded likes of Malaysia, Nigeria, Trinidad Commonwealth sevens tournaments, dat- and Tobago, and Uganda. ing back to the Jonah Lomu-inspired tri- Stalwart DJ Forbes, along with Sherwin umph in Kuala Lumpur in 1998, and have Stowers and Tim Mikkelson plus World Cup since dominated the IRB Sevens World winners Declan O’Donnell and Pita Ahki, Series of a sport which will be included in headline the New Zealand team coached the Rio Olympics in 2016. by veteran Gordon Tietjens. “For 16 years now Rugby Sevens has “Winning a gold medal at a enjoyed being a key part of the Commonwealth Games is very special,” said Commonwealth Games,” said Bernard Tietjens. “There is nothing better than see- Lapasset, president of rugby union’s world ing a player being presented with a gold governing body, the IRB. medal and listening to the anthem. “To compete alongside their compatri- “I am confident if these guys can per- ots in a multi-sport environment is a matter form to the best of their ability and be on of huge pride and honour for our rugby top of their game we can go very well. “To players, who are making giant strides in win, it’s all about consistency, accuracy, this new Olympic era. We wish our rugby strong defence and dominating posses- athletes all the best in this magnificent sion. If we can play consistently well, and international event.” having a strong bench will help, then that The Fijians will not be in Scotland, how- plays a big hand in being successful.” ever, having missed qualification after the For Scottish full-back Hogg, the tourna- late inclusion of their country in the multi- ment will all be about impressing in sport event. Despite their absence, there is Glasgow, not a traditional rugby heartland a formidable line-up of teams that turn out in a country where football is king. on the IRB world circuit. There is also the added aim of home Reigning champions New Zealand have union players trying to sparkle ahead of Jamie Whincup of Red Bull Racing Australia on track while practicing for the V8 Supercars Sky City Triple Crown 2014 at Hidden been drawn in Pool A alongside Canada, selection of a British team for the Rio Valley Raceway in Darwin, Australia.— www.redbull.com Nigeria and tournament hosts Scotland, Games. who have named star international British “The Ibrox crowd will be massive, up to and Irish Lion full-back Stuart Hogg and 45,000, and it is exciting,” said Hogg, whose veteran winger Sean Lamont in the squad. last sevens appearance was four years ago Bourdais and Conway win Silver medallists four years ago in New for club side Hawick. “We want to put in a Delhi, Australia, and bronze medallists performance that makes the whole nation South Africa are top seeds in pools D and B proud.”—AFP in IndyCar doubleheader Wiggins and Aussies TORONTO: IndyCar ran two races Kanaan, third in the first race of in Toronto on Sunday, where rain the day, was the only IndyCar driver target cycling gold wreaked havoc on both the sched- to finish on the podium in both ule and driver strategy. events. Will Power finished third as GLASGOW: Cycling gets underway at the individual pursuit titles. The series had planned to run Chevrolet swept the podium in Commonwealth Games on Thursday with a The 30-year-old Australian is a reigning one race Saturday and one on both races. Bourdais led points large number of world class riders spread Olympic and triple Commonwealth Games Sunday until rain washed out the leader Helio Castroneves and across track, road, mountain bike and the gold medallist and will compete in the first event. It instead began Sunday Kanaan in the first race. new games discipline of para-cycling. Track sprint events. morning, roughly five hours before Bourdais, who scored his first cycling will be one of the highest standard One of her main challengers could be the start of the second race, and win since returning to the US in competitions held at Glasgow with world team-mate Steph Morton, who has previ- won by Sebastien Bourdais. He 2011, was 11th in the second race. championship level fields in many of the ously found success at the Paralympics, broke a 52-race losing streak dating The rain during Race 2 caused one events. winning gold as a sighted guide in London to 2007 in claiming a dominating frightening moment when drivers Some of the world’s fastest men and in 2012, win on the dry street course at began to slide on the track when women on two wheels will line up on the New Zealand’s men will be hoping to Exhibition Place. the shower first started. Juan Pablo 250m track at the Sir Chris Hoy Velodrome break a 12-year gold medal drought. One But the rain returned for the sec- Montoya slipped off course into a to pedal for individual and team suprema- of the favourites to bring this run to an end ond race, and IndyCar officials tire barrier, and was hit from cy. for the Kiwis is Simon van Velthooven, who moved the start up 10 minutes in behind moments later by rookie Although six-time Olympic champion Sir has a good chance in the keirin, in which he an attempt to run as much as possi- Mikhail Aleshin. Chris Hoy will not compete on the track won Olympic bronze in 2012. ble in dry conditions. The sky even- The contact lifted Montoya’s car that bears his name, there will be plenty of The New Zealander’s time trial form is tually did open, the track became off its back wheels, Aleshin slid top class competitors on display in the 17 also strong and he is rated as one of the slick and drivers darted to pit road under the car, and Montoya’s car events the venue plays host to. top prospects for gold. In the individual for rain tires. landed on top of Aleshin. Montoya’s The Glasgow Games were given a boost pursuit veteran Marc Ryan remains a quali- When the track began to dry, car had to be lifted by a tow truck when England’s Bradley Wiggins ty performer shown by his bronze in the Mike Conway gambled and made off of Aleshin, and it dangled in the announced he will compete in the track World Championships in Colombia in an early stop to remove his rain air with the Colombian still in the and road events. February and he is likely to be joined by tires. A caution minutes later sent cockpit. The 2012 Tour de France winner and New Zealand youngsters Patrick Bevin and the bulk of the field to pit road to An uninjured Aleshin returned Olympic champion will be the favorite to Dylan Kennett who are tipped as ones to change their tires, and Conway shot to his pit stand and showed off his win his first ever Commonwealth Games watch. up the leaderboard. helmet, which was marred by visi- gold medal in the road time trial. The road Time Trials take place on July Conway was fifth on the restart, ble tire marks. “It was not nice at all Wiggins hasn’t competed on the track 31, only four days after the Tour de France but his dry tires were far superior to because I was sitting under the car,” since 2008 but will have a point to prove in ends, and the Road Race is on August 3. the drivers still racing on rain tires, the Russian driver said. “It was get- the individual and team pursuit events. The proximity to the Tour predictably has and he quickly moved through the ting so hot from (Montoya’s) car, I England’s golden couple Jason Kenny and impacted on who will compete in the field and into the lead. The race, couldn’t breathe at all because the Laura Trott will prove hard to beat on the men’s road race. which had been scheduled to run car is very hot. ... It was not a nice track. Double Olympic champion and However, Australia will still have plenty 65 laps or 80 minutes, whichever feeling at all.” recently crowned 2014 British National of muscle to flex in the men’s cycling event, came first, then became a timed Race 1 had its own harrowing Road Race champion Trott will be targeting despite missing several big names. race. moment. It came to an almost the endurance track events, including the Rising star Caleb Ewan, lead-out special- A multicar accident stopped the immediate halt when a multicar individual pursuit, points and scratch races. ist Mark Renshaw and all-rounder Simon clock for a cleanup with 4 minutes, crash led to a red flag on the open- Olympic champions Dani King, Joanna Clarke will be the main riders in the seven- 32 seconds remaining, and set up ing lap.