EZ Sports Online Weblog: May 2005 Archives

« April 2005 | Main | June 2005 »

May 30, 2005

David Wells impresses against former team as BoSox beat Yankees 7-2

NEW YORK (AP) - David Wells had a different number on his broad back and new life in his left arm.
Wells emerged from an ugly slump by pitching into the ninth inning against his former team, and David Ortiz hit two long home runs to lead the Boston Red Sox over the New York Yankees 7-2 Sunday night. "Not bad for an old man," Wells said. Edgar Renteria also homered and got four more hits for the Red Sox, who took two of three at Yankee Stadium to leapfrog New York into second place in the AL East behind Baltimore. Boston hosts the Orioles beginning Monday night.

After the Red Sox got 27 hits in a 17-1 rout Saturday - their biggest blowout ever against their longtime rivals - they came out swinging again, piling up 14 hits against Mike Mussina (5-3) and three relievers.

Boston outscored the Yankees 27-9 in the series and outhit them 52-21.

Ortiz, the 2004 AL championship series MVP against New York, drove in four runs and matched a career high with four hits.

"It's nothing new. We've watched that for a couple of years. He's a very tough hitter," Yankees manager Joe Torre said. "Obviously, he has a lot of confidence in this ballpark. You look up there and he's hitting .280. I don't know who's getting him out - somebody is."

Renteria went 10-for-12 in the series with two homers, six RBIs and five runs scored. Manny Ramirez added three hits, giving him seven in two days.

All that offence made things easier for Wells (3-4), who swapped uniform numbers with Renteria this week. Wells, who had been wearing No. 3 in tribute to Babe Ruth, had No. 16 on his back Sunday night.

Renteria, who wore No. 3 before he joined the Red Sox, said the idea came from both players. He said he and Wells had been talking about the switch for a while, and Wells finally agreed about three or four days ago. Renteria wouldn't say how much he had to pay to get his favourite number back, but it was "a lot," he said.

"He wanted to do a swap. I wrote down a number, and that was it," Wells said. "I took a number I had years ago."

Wells was 0-2 with a 13.89 ERA in his previous three starts. After his last outing in Toronto, he said he didn't expect Boston to keep him around much longer if he didn't improve quickly.

Pitching nine days after his 42nd birthday, the left-hander gave up homers to Derek Jeter and Gary Sheffield in the first inning before settling down for his first win since April 20 in Baltimore - he missed three weeks with a sprained right foot.

Wells allowed six hits, walked none and struck out two in 8 1-3 innings before manager Terry Francona came out to take the ball from him.

"I didn't know if he was going to give it to me," Francona said.

It was a much better performance than opening night at Yankee Stadium, when Wells lost 9-2 to Randy Johnson.

Though he was a fan favorite during two stints with New York, the boisterous Wells again was booed by the crowd of 55,235.

"It's not good, I'll tell you that," he said. "I understand. It's nice to shut them up, that's for sure."

He did just that, improving to 45-19 at Yankee Stadium.

"The greats, man, they're shining down. If you don't want to pitch here, there's something wrong with you," Wells said.

Renteria singled in the first inning and Ortiz sent a 3-2 pitch into the right-field upper deck, but Boston's first lead didn't last long.

Jeter led off the bottom half with his fifth homer, and Sheffield lined a shot to nearly the same spot in the left-field stands, tying the game 2-2.

The Red Sox opened the third with four straight solid hits. Renteria hit his second homer in two days, and Ortiz drove the next pitch into the black batter's eye in centre for his 12th home run.

That sent about six or seven fans scurrying out of the bleachers after the ball, and police soon arrived to clear the area.

Ramirez then singled and scored on Trot Nixon's ringing double to left-centre, making it 5-2.

Mussina was lifted after throwing 83 pitches in three innings, his shortest start not cut short by injury since going 2 1-3 innings against Baltimore on July 1, 2003. He had won four decisions in a row and pitched 16 scoreless innings in his last two starts at home.

"The couple of good pitches I did make, they'd foul them off and then work until I made a mistake," Mussina said.

Chien-Ming Wang came on for his first major league relief appearance and gave up Ramirez's two-out RBI single in the fourth. That pushed the lead to 6-2 and gave Ramirez singles in seven consecutive plate appearances the past two days. It also made the 2-3-4 batters in Boston's lineup 9-for-9 in the game. They finished 11-for-15.

Ortiz added an RBI single off Mike Stanton in the eighth.

Notes: Mussina had allowed only four homers in 64 innings this season. . . . It was Ortiz's 13th career two-homer game, his second this season. The other was April 23 at Tampa Bay. . . . Ortiz entered 4-for-34 without a homer against Mussina in the regular season before connecting in consecutive at-bats.

Posted by admin at 03:03 PM | Comments (0)

Wade scores 36 as Heat beat Pistons 113-104 to take 2-1 series lead

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) - The final score showed that the Heat defeated the Pistons. The story of the game, however, was how the Pistons beat themselves.
On a night when Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O'Neal were better in the first half than they were in the final two quarters, the Heat didn't need either of them to be the key factor in their 113-104 victory over Detroit on Sunday night for a 2-1 lead in the Eastern Conference finals. Instead, Detroit got upset with the officiating and lost its cool, and Miami was more than happy to watch the Pistons self-destruct.
"We're too good of a team to have a meltdown like we had tonight," Detroit's Richard Hamilton said. "This late in the season, the Eastern Conference finals, we can't afford to have those types of letdowns. We let little ticky-tack stuff bother us, and we can't do that."
The Heat scored 11 points from the foul line during a 13-4 run that put them ahead for good midway through the fourth quarter, and the Pistons lost control to such a degree that Rasheed Wallace and Chauncey Billups drew technical fouls in the fourth quarter for screaming in disgust at the officials.
Pistons coach Larry Brown got in on the act, too, venting his displeasure with sarcastic shouts after the game had slipped away from his team.

Billups eventually fouled out, and Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace and Antonio McDyess all finished with five fouls apiece.

"It wasn't the Heat. They played well, but they aren't what got under our skin," Billups said.

The statistics did not show too much of a disparity in the calls - Detroit was whistled for 33 fouls to Miami's 29, and the Pistons went to the line 54 times to the Heat's 43.

But there was several moments that infuriated the Pistons and their fans, including a pair of very late whistles that sent Wade to the line in the first half, and numerous non-calls on the inside - one of which Billups emerged from with a bloody nose.

"We kind of lost our poise," Brown said, "and as a result of that we dug ourselves a hole with a chance to win."

Miami attempted 29 free throws in the fourth quarter alone, making 22. Jones was 6-for-6 in the period, and Wade was 6-for-8.

Wade scored 21 of his 36 points in the first half, getting limited in the final 24 minutes by Lindsey Hunter's defense and some foul trouble of his own.

But Wade was able to hit a jumper over Tayshaun Prince with 2:46 left, shortly after checking back in for the final time, to give Miami a 102-93 lead that made the crowd begin scurrying for the exits.

O'Neal finished with 24 points and Eddie Jones had 19. O'Neal made his first six foul shots of the fourth quarter and finished 8-for-12 from the line.

"I'm just getting better and better," O'Neal said. "It's just like a bunch of worker bees protecting the king bee, because I'm not a queen bee. I'm a king bee."

Hamilton led Detroit with 33, while Billups struggled from the field by shooting 6-for-19. The Pistons missed 15 of their 43 free throws.

"I told him before the game we really needed him," Wade said of O'Neal, who was slowed by a bruised thigh and was not a huge offensive factor for Miami in Games 1 and 2. "He knew we needed him and this is where we needed him the most - on the road in a hostile environment. And he stepped up big for us. He hit big free throws down the stretch.

"That's the kind of player he is, and it was a great win for us."

Game 4 is Tuesday night.

O'Neal hit his first four shots over the first 8 1/2 minutes of the first quarter, and he was visibly angry - waving his hand dismissively at coach Stan Van Gundy and yelling "No!" before relenting and going to the bench - when he was subbed out for the first time with the score 17-17.

O'Neal's first two fouls came in rapid succession midway through the second quarter, but the Heat lost nothing - thanks to Wade - when their big man went to the bench.

Wade knocked down two jumpers on Miami's first two possessions after O'Neal left, and the gasps from the crowd kept getting louder as Wade kept doing whatever he pleased on offence - whether by driving through traffic and scoring underneath, or pulling up from the outside for jumpers. He was 7-for-7 in the period before finally missed a shot with 8 seconds left before halftime.

Miami led 53-51 at the break behind 21 points from Wade and 14 from O'Neal on 7-for-8 shooting.When O'Neal fed Udonis Haslem for a jumper that gave Miami its largest lead to that point, 73-63, O'Neal had five assists - more than anyone on either team.

Detroit pulled to 78-75 by the end of the third quarter, and Billups hit a free throw after a technical foul against Alonzo Mourning to produce a 79-79 tie with 10:56 left. The run in the quarter reached 9-0 and gave Detroit an 84-79 lead, but Miami responded by scoring 10 of the next 14 points.

"We kept our poise, man. We didn't lose it," said Jones, who was Miami's leading scorer in the fourth quarter with 11 points.

"We got some techs, too," Wade said, "but we just didn't get them at the end."

Notes: Brown would not comment on a report out of Cleveland that he must decide by Monday whether to accept the position of Cavaliers team president. The Cavs received permission earlier this month to speak to Brown's representatives, but Brown had said he'll wait until 2-3 days after Detroit's season ends to decide whether he'll return as coach of the Pistons. . . . Van Gundy acknowledged "it probably wasn't" the best idea to call Pistons fans (along with Knicks fans) "the absolute nastiest people. They're not just loud. These people will say and do anything."

Posted by admin at 02:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 29, 2005

Hot 100

To find out who's No. 1. Get a taste of the action here.

Posted by admin at 08:51 PM | Comments (0)

May 28, 2005

Sports-aholic!!

Posted by admin at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)

May 19, 2005

STAR WARS, EPISODE 3: REVENGE OF THE SITH

Release Date: May 19, 2005

After three years of fighting in the Clone Wars, Anakin Skywalker begins his journey towards the Dark Side of the Force, putting his friendship with Obi Wan Kenobi and his marriage at risk.

Official Site

Posted by admin at 09:36 PM | Comments (0)

May 17, 2005

BRAD AND ANGELINA'S SECOND SECRET TRYST

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have had two African trysts within 13 days, proving to the world that they're madly in love with each other.

The National Enquirer revealed last week that the couple sneaked off to a secluded resort in Kenya on April 19. Now we can disclose that Brad and Angelina traveled to Morocco for a second secret escapade beginning on April 30. Their decision to lock themselves away in a hotel suite for more than 24 hours there made a mockery of their denials that they're lovers.

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have had two African trysts within 13 days, proving to the world that they're madly in love with each other.

"Any man would lust after a woman with the beauty of Angelina. I don't know why they bother hiding their love," said airport worker Muhammed Dhabi, who saw them arrive by private jet at a desert military base near Marrakech, in Morocco.

"It is so silly. The whole world now knows they're lovers but they got off the plane separately as though they were ashamed. You could see they are a couple in love. They got into their car together and they're so obviously crazy about each other."

Another observer who saw Angelina follow Pitt from the jet told The National Enquirer: "Angelina came down the steps a couple of minutes behind Brad. I guess they were trying to stay apart in case any photographers happened to be around. But this game of hide and seek is becoming a joke. It's so obvious they're in love and can't stay apart."

Within a couple of hours of landing, they had checked into the luxurious Amanjena Hotel, situated near the Paramount studios at Ouarzazate where Brad is filming his new movie Babel. Pitt is a regular at the hotel which has 34 pavilions and six private gardens in its huge grounds.

One source at the hotel joked: "I don't think there will be any requests for camel rides or dinner reservations from Brad and Angelina. They are said to have stayed in their retreat all of Saturday night and all of Sunday. They were ordering bottles of red Moroccan wine and having a fantastic time." Throughout their second romantic meeting, the couple went to extreme lengths to avoid being seen.

"I don't know why they hide," the source added. "They should come out into the open and let the world know they're in love."

Posted by admin at 08:46 PM | Comments (0)

Thorpe gets playoff win in Blue Angels, Barr finishes tied for seventh

MILTON, Fla. (AP) - Maybe it was the putting tip from Lee Trevino that got Jim Thorpe on a roll.

Thorpe took his second straight Champions Tour victory Monday, hitting a 4 1/2-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to beat Morris Hatalsky in the Blue Angels Classic at the Moors Golf Club. Thorpe, coming off a victory two weeks ago in the FedEx Kinko's Classic in Lakeway, Texas, said his improved play followed a phone call from Trevino at that event.

MILTON, Fla. (AP) - Maybe it was the putting tip from Lee Trevino that got Jim Thorpe on a roll.

BILL KACZOR
Thorpe took his second straight Champions Tour victory Monday, hitting a 4 1/2-foot birdie putt on the third playoff hole to beat Morris Hatalsky in the Blue Angels Classic at the Moors Golf Club. Thorpe, coming off a victory two weeks ago in the FedEx Kinko's Classic in Lakeway, Texas, said his improved play followed a phone call from Trevino at that event.

"I give Lee credit for it because he didn't have to call me," Thorpe said. "My left shoulder was just too low. Basically, I couldn't rotate the shoulders. I was slapping one right and one left."

Hatalsky and Thorpe each parred the first hole of the playoff Sunday night before play was suspended because of darkness following a pair of rain delays that totalled four hours, 18 minutes.

They parred the second playoff hole Monday, but Hatalsky opened the door for Thorpe's winning birdie when he hit his second shot into a bunker on the approach to the par-4 No. 18.

"When there's two warriors out there, one of us got to go down, and it was his turn to go this time," Thorpe said.

Thorpe forced the playoff with a 10-foot birdie putt on the final hole of regulation. He closed Sunday with a 3-under 67 and Hatalsky had a 66 to complete 54 holes at 16-under 194.

"I had ample opportunities out there, and I just wasn't making putts when I needed to," Hatalsky said. "I was playing really good, but I just didn't close the deal. I'm disappointed because I should have finished first."

He had a chance to win on the second playoff hole, No. 10, but his 12-foot birdie putt was just short.

"I thought I had a line on it," Hatalsky said. "I just hit it too easy."

But he also credited Thorpe.

"He's got all the shots," Hatalsky said. "He can drive the ball well. He's got great iron play. His short game is excellent. He's the whole package."

Don Pooley (63), Fuzzy Zoeller (64), Peter Jacobsen (65) and Tom Jenkins (66) tied for third at 13 under. Dave Barr of Kelowna, B.C., carded a 63 to finish tied for seventh.

Craig Stadler, tied for ninth after matching the tour record with a second-round 60, shot a 70 to tie for ninth at 11 under.

When tournament officials handed Thorpe his $225,000 US cheque for winning, he noted that he donated the $247,500 he earned from his victory in Texas to the Community Crossing Church in Heathrow, Fla., his hometown.

"It seems like since then I sleep better at night, I wake up early in the morning, my food taste better," Thorpe said.

But then he added, "I think the wife might hold on to this one a little bit."

Posted by admin at 08:00 PM | Comments (0)

MLB gives June 9 deadline for Marlins ball park financing plan

MIAMI (AP) - Major League Baseball told the city of Miami and Miami-Dade County that they have until June 9 to revise financing plans for a new Florida Marlins ball park now that the state Legislature has refused to chip in.

The letter from MLB chief operating officer Bob DuPuy to local government leaders also said baseball won't issue a letter of credit to cover cost overruns on the project, and reiterated that the Marlins can't stay in the open-air Dolphins Stadium for the team to have long-term success in South Florida.

The letter doesn't say what the consequences are for missing the deadline, but team officials met in Las Vegas with Mayor Oscar Goodman five months ago, and Goodman is trying to lure a franchise to his city.

"The Marlins are one of the only teams currently expected to continue losing money through 2006," the letter dated May 12 states. "We must collectively provide (commissioner Bud Selig) with the Marlins' path to financial stability."

The two-time World Series winners want to build a $420 million US, 38,000-seat retractable roof stadium next to the Orange Bowl near downtown Miami. The team insists that their proposed park would mean no more delays caused by Florida's rainy summers, possibly leading to better attendance, increased revenue and a higher payroll.

The Marlins have played at Dolphins Stadium - formerly known as Pro Player Stadium - since their founding in 1993, but they have said they might move without a new ball park.

City and county officials pledged $166 million toward the ball park, and Marlins owner Jeffrey Loria agreed to pay $192 million rent. A $32 million parking garage was expected to pay for itself, leaving a $30 million funding gap to be plugged by the state.

The Marlins lobbied lawmakers to get a $60 million tax rebate that would provide the money needed to complete the plan, but the state Senate refused to hear the measure before the Legislature's session ended May 6.

DuPuy's letter asks the team, city and county to report by June 9 on a completed financing plan and provide a "detailed critical path" for the project, which would include a construction timeline, land acquisition plans and other details.

The letter also mentioned three solutions to overcome the shortage: additional contributions by the team, city and county; holding a city-or county-wide referendum to raise more public funds; or trying to persuade the state to offer millions more dollars. Those options appear to be long shots.

The letter also discussed a $45 million gap in stadium funding, which differed from previous statements from politicians and the Marlins that they needed $30 million. The additional $15 million apparently comes from officials' concerns that the cost of the property could surpass initial estimates.

In a memo dated Monday, Miami-Dade County Manager George Burgess wrote that he wasn't comfortable in recommending a referendum for the county to increase its contribution from tourism-based bed taxes.

"At this point, none of the parties have indicated a willingness to increase the level of their current contribution for the project," Burgess wrote. He added that an alternative may be to "reduce the cost and scope of the project."

Burgess also said that a $10 million cost overrun guarantee is key to the deal's final approval. Burgess wrote that he was "not pleased to learn MLB appears unwilling" to provide the letter of credit.

The Marlins declined comment Tuesday. City manager Joe Arriola didn't immediately return a call seeking comment.

Posted by admin at 07:58 PM | Comments (0)

With golden egg on its face, Marquette searches for new nickname

MILWAUKEE (AP) - Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade was stumped, along with thousands of other outraged Marquette fans, students and alumni, when the university declared it was ditching the Golden Eagles moniker and forever burying the old Warriors nickname in favour of Gold.

What kind of name was that? And what kind of mascot could represent an inert metal?

There's never been a gold rush in Milwaukee, unless you count the colour of the suds that flow from the city's breweries.

Gold? Instead of digging it, the public panned it.

Critics said it was a symbol of greed that conflicted with the school's Jesuit principles. They called it uninspired, unnecessary, unacceptable.

It made the school a laughingstock.

Wade, who led Marquette to the 2003 Final Four, called the campus to get an explanation. He wasn't satisfied to hear the decision was handed down out of the blue by a 38-member board of trustees that got together to reconsider the school's decision to drop Warriors in the early 1990s.

"I'll always be known as a Golden Eagle," Wade insisted. "And the people before me, they'll always be known as the Warriors. And the new class coming in, unfortunately, they're always going to be known as 'The Gold.'

Not anymore.

The nickname lasted barely a week before the school made a stunning about-face.

After getting hammered by more than 4,000 e-mails and countless phone calls, on the airwaves and across the Internet, the red-faced trustees met in emergency session and reversed field.

While still insisting that Warriors was out, in part because of the name's connection to the cartoonish Willie Wampum mascot of the 1960s, the board decided to put the issue into the hands of students, faculty, staff and some 100,000 alumni worldwide via Internet voting next week.

The list of 10 names is being finalized, but four former school nicknames - Golden Eagles, Golden Avalanche, Hilltoppers and Blue and Gold - will be among the choices. Write-in votes will be allowed, but Warriors votes will be discarded.

The top two finishers will be put up for another vote in mid-June and the winning moniker - the school's fourth nickname in 11 years - will be announced by July 1, when the school joins the reconfigured Big East Conference.

The outcry over the university's nickname started a year ago at graduation when two trustees offered the school $1 million US each to go back to Warriors, which it dropped in favour of Golden Eagles because the name and logo offended some American Indian groups.

Among those advocating a return to Warriors - a nickname used by 27 universities across the country, including Wisconsin Lutheran College in Milwaukee - was university President Robert A. Wild.

In conversations with American Indian tribes and bands over the last year, however, Wild realized it was impossible to divorce the nickname from its ugly past.

"We're dealing with a human dignity issue, and that's real basic stuff for a Catholic and Jesuit university," Wild said.

He believes much of the firestorm over the Gold nickname grew out of anger from those who supported a return to Warriors. Many alumni across the country still think of themselves as Warriors - 92 per cent of them, according to an online survey conducted by the university.

At a rally after Gold was announced as the new nickname, one student held a sign that read: "Exodus 15:3: 'The Lord is a warrior."'

When trustees realized that Warriors wasn't going to make a comeback, they decided to ditch Golden Eagles, too.

"It seemed like a bright idea at the time," Wild said. "When we saw where we were headed with Warriors, we said, 'Look at what Syracuse has done. They went from Orangemen to Orange. Hey, one of our oldest traditions really has been our school colors, blue and gold.' We had the Golden Eagles. We had the Golden Avalanche when we had a football team. We tried to tap into that."

It turned out to be fool's gold.

Wild said he didn't think alumni would withhold donations to the university and he insisted the school won't have golden egg on its face for long.

"This is a blip on the radar screen," he suggested. "The board of trustees had the good sense to say, 'All right, clearly the alumni were affected. Let's move on.' That's what we're trying to do."

Posted by admin at 07:56 PM | Comments (0)

BARCELONA (AP) - Narain Karthikeyan has Fernando Alonso as his role model.

Not a bad choice. The Formula One season leader after five races, Alonso didn't score a point with Minardi as a rookie four years ago. Since then, he's won four times and finished second in last weekend's Spanish Grand Prix.

Karthikeyan finished ...

Karthikeyan finished three laps behind Alonso on Sunday, far out of the points, driving a car that was 4 to 5 seconds slower per lap than Alonso's. But he finished, which is almost as good as winning for drivers on some of the also-ran teams.

The first Indian driver in F1, Karthikeyan doesn't expect to score a point in his rookie season with Jordan. He just hopes to get noticed, keep learning and justify his sponsorship from the Tata Group, one of India's largest conglomerates, and state-run Bharat Petroleum.

"The driver is only as good as his equipment," Karthikeyan said at the Spanish GP. "Alonso didn't do that much at Minardi, but people knew he was talented and he got the right opportunity."

So far this season, Karthikeyan has finished 15th, 11th, 14th and 13th. He's only failed to finish one race - in Bahrain, his car went out after two laps with electrical problems.

It's unclear if Karthikeyan has Alonso's talent, but he did have 12 years of driving experience before moving to Jordan in February shortly after the team was bought by Canadian billionaire Alex Shnaider. He made a quick impression, completing the Australian Grand Prix a few days later with barely any practice in his new car.

"It's been hard, I've had a lot to learn," said Karthikeyan, 28, who drove last season in the Nissan World Series, a top feeder circuit for F1. He also had test drives with Minardi and Jaguar (now Red Bull) before joining Jordan.

"With what I have, I'm trying to do the best I can," said Karthikeyan, who is hoping for a faster car from Jordan this summer. "The learning curve is pretty high. So it's one step at a time, but it's going OK."

The Tata Group signed Karthikeyan several years ago, hoping to capitalize on the face of a young Indian sportsman who is not a cricket player. Cricket in India dominates sports coverage.

"There are few international sports stars in India," said Karthikeyan, who was born in Chennai and now lives in Coimbatore. "Only cricket is big, and now to a certain extent tennis, is coming up. We've never had a Formula One driver, so to represent India I feel happy."

Karthikeyan says he was never any good at cricket. However, at the Spanish GP it was India's No. 1 cricket star, Sachin Tendulkar, who was the team's guest in the paddock.

"I know him very well," Karthikeyan said of Tendulkar. "He likes racing and he follows Formula One. I'm India's top racing driver, so we got to know each other. It's great for me because he's such a big hero in India."

Asked to compare his profile to Tendulkar's, Karthikeyan laughed.

"The gap is huge," he said. "Everyone knows him."

In signing an Indian driver, Jordan was aware of the potential market of 1 billion people. Formula One's commercial director, Bernie Ecclestone, has said he expects India to have an F1 race within three years - probably in Bombay, although Calcutta and Hyderabad also have been mentioned.

If it gets a race, India would join other nontraditional F1 nations that have been awarded races - Bahrain, China and Turkey most recently.

Weighing only 140 pounds, Karthikeyan is probably the smallest driver in F1. "I think the weight is just right," he said. "And I think my strength is very good."

He acknowledges he has no hope of winning this season. Even finishing on the podium - top three - "would take a lot of luck, to be honest," he said. His goal is to crack through to the top 10, and wait until Jordan enters a new car this summer. The team is now running last year's Jaguar model, which is unsuited for new engine and aerodynamic regulations introduced this season.

"My dream was to be the first Indian Formula One driver, and now the dream is to be the very first Indian to win a Formula One race," said Karthikeyan, who was coaxed into the sport by his rally-driving father.

"I see my future in Formula One if it's with Jordan or somebody else, but I know I will be here for a couple of more years."

Posted by admin at 07:04 PM | Comments (0)