TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2016 SPORTS

Toure fit for Kiev Udinese sack Resta joins Williams game: Pellegrini Colantuono as reserve driver MILAN: Udinese coach Stefano Colantuono has been NORWICH CITY: Manchester City midfielder Yaya Toure is fit to face Dynamo sacked a day after fans clashed with players during a 2-1 PARIS: British driver Paul Di Resta said yesterday he will join the Williams Kiev in today’s Champions League last-16 second-leg clash at the Etihad defeat to Roma. The northerners’ 15th defeat of the cam- team as reserve driver for the season which gets under way in Stadium after missing Saturday’s 0-0 Premier League draw with Norwich City. paign left them in 16th place in Serie A, four points above Melbourne this weekend. “I am delighted to be joining Williams as reserve City are in prime position to reach the quarter-finals for the first time after win- the drop zone. A statement by the Serie A club said: driver and look forward to the 2016 season,” the 29-year-old former Force ning the first leg in Kiev 3-1, but manager Manuel Pellegrini warned his side not “Udinese announces that Stefano Colantuono and his staff driver told williamsf1.com yesterday. The Scot takes on the role behind to falter against opponents who have never won a game on English soil. “Yaya is have been relieved of their first team coaching duties. “We drivers Valtteri Bottas of and Brazilian Felipe Massa fit to play tomorrow. He has no problems,” the Chilean told would like to thank the coach and his staff for the commit- and initially will spend time getting accustomed to the reporters yesterday. City’s season has been marred by inconsis- ment and professionalism shown during these past months controls and procedures of the Williams Mercedes tency as exemplified by their failure to beat a Norwich side sit- and wish him all the best for his professional career.” FW38. Di Resta spent three seasons at Force India from ting 14 places below them in the standings. “The most impor- Udinese were being led 2-0 at their newly-refurbished Friuli 2011-2013, amassing 121 world championship points tant thing is to know we have not yet qualified. We play Stadium on Sunday when a group of hardline fans behind from 58 starts. The 2006 European Formula 3 champion against a team who know how to play this type of game,” the goal angrily took several Udinese players to task. It lost his seat the following season so re-joined the Pellegrini added. We’re not going to play with the score we got caused a brief interruption although club officials were Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) in Kiev, we’re just going to say it’s 0-0 and try to win the game quick to drag the players back to the pitch. Udinese forward series, where he raced early in his career, competing for tomorrow.” The manager refused to give up on the Bruno Fernandes hit a late consolation for the hosts, but it Mercedes, and he hopes to combine his role there with league title, although City trail leaders Leicester City was not enough to stop them from succumbing to a second the new one at Williams. The British team have had by nine points with both sides having nine games consecutive defeat having ended an eight-game winless two third-place finishes in the constructors’ to play. —Reuters streak with victory over Verona two weeks ago. —AFP standings over the past two seasons. —AFP

Emil Khneisser. Nissan to power Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge for 13th year

DUBAI: Nissan Middle East has pledged once we will again be sponsoring Emil Khneisser, this relationship for the next three years so again to back the Automobile and Touring reigning Emirates Desert Championship T2 that we can increase the event’s exposure in Club of the UAE in its continued drive to raise champion.” the future,” said Mohammed Ben Sulayem, the profile of the Abu Dhabi Desert Taking place under the patronage of HH President of the ATCUAE, the rally organizers, Challenge on the world stage. Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the and President of Emirates Motor Sports The 2016 Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge Ruler’s Representative in the Western Region, Federation. powered by Nissan sees the Patrol, the “Hero the Abu Dhabi Desert Challenge is also the “Nissan Middle East shares our enthusiasm of All terrain in Life”, positioned for the 13th first round of the FIM Cross Country Rallies for the Desert Challenge, as well as our com- year as the official vehicle of the event. World Championship for bikes and quads. mitment to its long-term success, and I’m Running from 3-7 April, the rally will form Each year the Nissan Patrol plays a crucial confident this partnership will guarantee that the second round of this year’s FIA World Cup role in the planning and staging of the the event continues to set the standard in the for Cross Country Rallies. event.Over the past years, the Nissan Patrol FIA World Cup for Cross Country Rallies.” Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan has carried the route planning team deep The Nissan Special Stage, taking place on Middle East, said: “The Abu Dhabi Desert into the UAE’s Western Region of Al Garbia, Wednesday, April 6, will be arguably the ral- Challenge is one of the most prominent crossing a sea of giant dunes to carve out the ly’s toughest section, stretching across some desert rallies in the world and we are proud competitive stages, which will test competi- 258.10 kms of the most testing ter- to be named the title sponsor of an event tors and their rally machinery to the limit rain available. with such global prestige. next month. More than 150competitors from around “Nissan Patrols plays a key role in the Throughout the event, a fleet of Nissan the world will tackle the 25th Abu Dhabi desert challenge, not only being used by the Patrols will be at the disposal of the organiz- Desert Challenge. The action begins on April organisers to scout out the course and as ers to ensure the event runs smoothly to its 2 with a spectator stage at Al Forsan Off-Road support vehicles, but as strong competitors. conclusion. Race of Champions Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Last year Nissan Patrol drivers secured all top “Nissan has become an invaluable partner which is also the finishing point for the rally four positions in T2.1 Class and Third and in our work to promote and develop the on April 7, following five days of cross coun- Samir Cherfan Managing Director Nissan Middle East signs the new agreement with Fourth place in T1.1This year we can confirm Desert Challenge, and I’m pleased to extend try rallying at its best. Mohammed Ben Sulayem President of the ATCUAE. Gawker swings back in Feuding Rossi, Marquez Hulk Hogan sex trial

ST PETERSBURG: The former Gawker fired up for 2016 editor who posted a sex tape of celebri- ty wrestler Hulk Hogan will stand wit- PARIS: Valentino Rossi and Marc Marquez MotoGP champion Lorenzo and Marquez, a ness in a Florida courtroom this week, renew their bitter rivalry as the 2016 world two-time winner of the elite title, have also Thomas developing as the website argues it exercised its motorcycling championship gets underway attracted the attention of legendary 15-time press freedom in the 2012 release of in Qatar yesterday with accusations of betray- champion Giacomo Agostini. into next Team Sky excerpts of the secretly recorded video. al and intimidation still dominating the pad- “I would like to see a bit more respect dock. Nine-time world champion Rossi was between them because for me this is the grand tour rider A.J. Daulerio, Gawker editor at the within touching distance of a 10th title on his most important thing,” Agostini told time, has emerged as the face of the Yamaha last season only for an ill-judged kick motogp.com, reflecting on the Rossi-Marquez PARIS: Geraint Thomas secured his biggest road victory in former professional wrestler’s con- at Honda rival Marquez at the penultimate spat. “I don’t think that true friendship can the Paris-Nice race on Sunday but there could be much tention that the company had few lim- race in Malaysia. exist between rivals in our sport, but the more to come for the Briton who is developing into anoth- its in using sexual content to encourage He was punished by being forced to start important thing is to have respect for each er Team Sky-shaped grand tour champion. web traffic. Gawker, which begins pre- the title-decider in Valencia at the back of the other as that leads to great racing and this is The Welshman, who like Bradley Wiggins made his senting its defense in the $100 million grid, a penalty which allowed his Yamaha what I hope we will see.” name on the track, showed his improving climbing ability lawsuit Monday, has said Daulerio is teammate Jorge Lorenzo to take the champi- Marquez, the 2013 and 2014 champion, at last year’s Tour when he finished 15th overall after riding onship by just five points. saw his hopes of a third successive triumph mainly to help team leader Chris Froome. expected to testify. Rossi finished fourth but accused Marquez undone midseason when he fractured a fin- Hulk Hogan In the week-long Paris-Nice race, he beat seven-times The one-minute, 41-second edited of deliberately helping fellow Spaniard ger in a dirt bike accident. The 23-year-old grand tour winner Alberto Contador by four seconds after sex clip features Hogan having sex with Denton, is also likely to testify in the civ- Lorenzo to the finish line at his expense by again sees Lorenzo, Rossi and Honda team- surviving the Spaniard’s onslaught in the final hilly stage, the wife of his then-best friend, radio il trial in St. Petersburg, Florida, near the acting effectively as a bodyguard. mate Dani Pedrosa as being the major title showing great composure and resilience. “shock jock” personality Bubba the Love wrestler’s home. Hogan, whose legal “I allowed myself to be tricked by rivals. “The strength of Lorenzo is his speed; He still has a lot to learn to become the third Briton to Sponge. name is Terry Bollea, took the stand last Marquez. He really betrayed me. He said he the guy is fast and once he’s far ahead on win the world’s greatest race, however, after Wiggins in Hogan, 62, said he did not know the was a fan but it was all lies, bullshit,” said Rossi track it’s very hard to beat him. Valentino has 2012 and Froome in 2013 and 2015. week in his signature black bandana, to on the eve of his 21st season as a professional a lot of experience and Dani’s comprehensive consensual encounter, which took place tell jurors he was still suffering from “One step at a time,” said Thomas, who also won the rider. The Italian added: “It would be hypocrit- understanding of a situation is his strong week-long Tour of Algarve last month. “This year is all about five years earlier in Bubba’s home, had humiliation following the tape’s release. ical to say that it’s over and shake his hand, point,” he summarised. been recorded. one-week races. I think riding with Froomey, living (on the His appearance kicked off a case that because it’s not true. Our relationship can “But you never know who else could sur- French Riviera) near him, I learnt a hell of a lot. His record The celebrity, one of the wrestling so far has addressed topics from jour- never be recovered. I like to do real things, prise you, especially seeing how the Ducati speaks for itself.” Thomas has been following a path similar world’s lead figures in the 1980s and nalism ethics and website analytics to not to pretend.” team are getting stronger with a lot of techni- to Wiggins’s, starting his career on the track, with both men ‘90s, is asking for damages in the priva- Hogan’s statements about his penis Rossi and Lorenzo will be teammates cal improvements.” The 2016 championship clinching the team pursuit Olympic title in in 2008. cy-invasion suit that could financially size. again in 2016 but they are far from friends, a starts under the lights in Qatar on Sunday He finished his first Tour de in 2007 in 140th posi- factor which adds to Yamaha’s conundrum at and ends in Valencia in November with 21 rid- destroy New York-based Gawker, known Daulerio has received some of the tion-out of 141 finishers. But Team Sky, which he joined in for pushing the role of the media in the the end of the year when both men will be ers-nine of whom are Spanish-battling over 2010, started his transformation into a one-say classic rider most searing scrutiny from Hogan’s out of contract. 18 races. Rossi won in Qatar 12 months ago digital era. attorneys. During a videotaped deposi- although several coaches and sports directors lauded his “What happened (last year) took a toll, so but endured mixed fortunes in pre-season ‘huge engine’, hinting he had the qualities to become a The website has argued that Hogan tion, he called celebrity sex tapes news- whatever happens, it seems tricky to consider testing at the desert track, twice coming off grand tour rider. The development started last season made his sex life a public matter and its keeping Lorenzo and Rossi at Yamaha in his machine. worthy unless they involved a child. when Thomas lost considerable weight-at least eight kilos- post was protected under the First 2017,” Yamaha Tech 3 boss Herve Poncharal The championship also has a different tyre When pressed on an age, he drew the and the all-rounder now believes he could mount a Tour told .com. “If Lorenzo stays, I don’t supplier with Bridgestone giving way to Amendment of the US Constitution. line at under four, which Gawker later challenge in two years, just before Froome’s contract with know if Rossi will want to stay, and vice versa.” Michelin while a new control electronics sys- Gawker’s high-profile founder, Nick called a “flip” reference. — Reuters Team Sky comes to an end.—Reuters The public disputes between Rossi, triple tem has also been introduced. — AFP