The end of the road for Nicole and Lewis

THEY were one of the closest and famous partnerships in the world of showbiz, but after four years together, time has been called on the relationship between Nicole Scherzinger and Lewis Hamilton.

      McLaren Formula One ace Hamilton, 25, confirmed the frenzied speculation of the past week was true and that the pair had gone their separate ways.  Speaking to reporters in the build-up to this weekend’s inaugural Indian Grand Prix, he said; “We’re friends at least and we can move forward.  It’s never easy going through tough times.  These times are sent to try you, and it’s about how you pull through them.” 

      The Brit, who has had a tough season on the track, has spent some time away from the fast lane with his family and he seemed to be in more positive spirits on arrival at the Buddah International Circuit.  At the last event in Korea two weeks ago, he looked miserable and downbeat all weekend, which had already suggested that the relationship with his popstar princess had already, ran into trouble.  Despite the behind the scenes turmoil, Hamilton broke the Red Bull run of pole positions in South Korea last time out and finished second to reigning champion Sebastian Vettel in the race.  It will be interesting to see how the separation affects or benefits his driving.  He has won two races this season and is hoping to close up on the likes of Jenson Button, Fernando Alonso and Mark Webber this weekend in the drivers’ championship.

OVER: Lewis Hamilton and Nicole Scherzinger's relationship has hit the skids

     There were times when it looked like Hamilton and Scherzinger were the perfect match, despite the age gap between them.  The American singer is currently in London, preparing for a performance of her latest new single ‘Try with Me’ in Sunday night’s live results show of the X-Factor.  She is also booked in for an appearance on Alan Carr’s chatshow programme, Chatty Man on Channel 4, due to also be screened on Sunday.  Nicole has not commented on the spilt, with close friends just saying that the decision had been very amicable last week.  It is believed that the reason for the parting of ways was because of the long-distance working pressures between the pair.

      Scherzinger, 33, is currently judging on the US version of the X-Factor, with certain sources of the media suggesting that she is seeking comfort from Welsh presenter of the show, Steve Jones.  She has had immense success in the UK with her debut solo album ‘Killer Love,’ soaring to the top of the charts with hit singles such as ‘Right There,’ ‘Poison,’ and ‘Don’t Hold Your Breath.’  Her relationship with Hamilton has gone down rocky roads in the past, as they did have a brief separation in January 2010.  Her role in Lewis’s life has also been seen as a catalyst in the decline of the racing driver’s close relationship with his Dad, Anthony.  They first got together in Monaco in 2008, with the former Pussycat Doll cheering for her boyfriend when he sensationally won the 2008 F1 championship on the final corner of the Brazilian Grand Prix.  They were last seen together in public at a Grand Prix event back in Monaco in May.  During the summer, both denied a possible engagement through the social networking site, Twitter.

       It is a sad ending for one of the most well-known and well-liked celebrity couples.  Let’s hope both can put aside the difficult time in their private lives at the weekend and produce electric performances in London and India.  

A reminder of motorsport's dangers

IT SAYS it on all the paddock passes and race tickets, motorsport is dangerous.  It’s a fact of life and nothing can be done about that to remove the risk element away.  However, when the unthinkable happens, it still gives the community both a massive shock and a chilling reminder of the dangers in competing at the highest level.  Dan Wheldon’s tragic death in Sunday’s IndyCar finale has not only sent a worldwide feel of loss and remorse, but raised questions about the safety of motorsport in general and what can be done to prevent these sorts of accidents from happening more frequently.

THE SAFETY OF INDYCAR RACING

WRECK: The Las Vegas circuit was too tight for so many cars

INDYCAR’s safety record is good, but not great.  Both Gonzalo Rodriguez and Greg Moore were killed within six weeks of events in 1999.  Paul Dana was the last driver to lose his life at an IndyCar event, five years ago.  Open-wheel racing has always carried significant risks and will continue to do so.  As Mark Blundell summed it up yesterday, the events of Sunday were a ‘recipe for disaster.’  Cars going side-by-side at 220mph has a real fear of danger if something goes wrong.  Plus, it doesn’t have to be driver error; mechanical failure in these cars is still possible in this day and age.  There is no doubt that IndyCar has worked extremely hard with safety organisations to improve its track record, which frankly, was diabolical in the 1990s.  Plus, there are a lot of dedicated marshals and medical facilities are better than ever before.  However, the risks will always remain and in the light of the recent events at the weekend, more has to be done to make the cars stronger to absorb the impacts of a big accident.  1979 Formula One world champion, Jody Scheckter has told BBC that he wants his son, Tomas to quit because it is too dangerous.  Scheckter Jnr was involved in the 15-car pile-up in Las Vegas and Jody said “It is the most dangerous form of motor racing at the moment.  Hopefully this will knock some sense into him and realise there is more to life.  It really isn’t worth it.”

CIRCUITS IN THE US; THE DANGERS

THE officials at the Las Vegas circuit should be prepared for some serious stick over the coming weeks.  The circuit is far too narrow for these types of cars to go racing.  Principally, this track has been used mainly for NASCAR racing, not open-wheel combat.  Drivers raised their concerns during testing for the event, including the defending champion, Dario Franchitti.  If they did this and the track officials ignored their requests for more safety considerations or even to cancel the event, they are going to be in a whole lot of hot water.  A prime example will be Formula One’s fateful trip to Indianapolis in 2005.  Michelin failed to bring suitable tyres to the Brickyard, which saw a farcical six-car race take place.  Two weeks later, Max Mosley said on the Official 2005 F1 DVD; “You can’t just build a chicane at the team’s request, because if an accident happens, an American judge wouldn’t care about the safety consequences.  It is unfortunate what happened, but we couldn’t allow it to happen.”  It is unlikely, but if Franchitti can prove his comments were valid through transcripts or audio recordings, then this tragedy could have been prevented.  I don’t know the full implications of American law, but the Las Vegas track officials could be facing some tough and testing questions from higher forces should this happen.  Although oval racing is popular in the States, maybe it is time to restrict this form of racing to the classic Indianapolis 500.  The risks of racing on ovals are far greater than both street and road circuits.  The thrill may disappear, but at the safety of the championship’s future integrity, it might be the safest option, if not the most plausible option.

WILL IT HAPPEN IN FORMULA ONE?

SAFE: The FIA has done immense work in the safety department

DEATH in Formula One is possible.  It has happened before and without wanting to sound callous, it will probably happen again at some stage.  However, it has now been 17 years since that horrific weekend at Imola, when both Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna were killed.  The last fatality at any Grand Prix event was Marshal Graham Beveridge; killed by flying debris from a serious crash at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.  The introduction of the HANS (Head and Neck Safety) system in 2003 has restricted the potential possibility for fatal neck and head injuries.  Ironically, the HANS device came in after successful testing in American racing.  Professor Sid Watkins, Dr. Gary Hartstein and the FIA can take immense satisfaction for the work they have done in recent years.  Who can forget Robert Kubica’s aeroplane shunt in the 2007 Canadian Grand Prix, which would have probably been a fatal shunt ten years earlier, saw Kubica only suffer a sprained ankle and that is down to HANS and the vigorous safety cells and crash tests each car has to pass in pre-season.  1993 IndyCar champion Nigel Mansell praised Formula One’s safety record and told BBC Radio 5 Live, that IndyCars could learn from the premier competition in motorsport; “In Indy racing, there is simply nowhere to go.  When an accident happens, you are into the wall in a split second.  This is why Formula 1 does an exemplary job.  The tarmac runs off so the driver has time to decelerate the car.”

THE COCKPITS: SHOULD THEY BE CLOSED?

NO IS the simple answer to this.  Dan Wheldon’s death will understandably trigger this debate again, which was raised in 2009 when Henry Surtees died in an F2 race at Brands Hatch after being struck by debris, then Felipe Massa received life-threatening injuries in a similar, freakish incident during qualifying for the 2009 Hungarian Grand Prix.  There is talk of a canopy being installed around the driver and yes, it would be better for a safety issue.  However, there is no guarantee of this being the breakthrough to prevent incidents like those that have happened in the past.  Remember, it was the impact with the wall and the resultant fire that was Dan Wheldon’s downfall on Sunday, not a result of the flying debris.  Like I’ve said, motorsport is dangerous, but I think a real element would be taken away if the cockpits became closed within the driver area.  It isn’t a regular occurrence and any action like this would be seen by me as a desperate action.  IndyCar need to look at better racetracks, safer barriers at these tracks and the structure strength of the cars, rather than changing cockpit levels.

HOW IT HAS AFFECTED ME?

PEOPLE who know me will understand the love of motor racing I have.  I don’t follow American racing, but of course, I want the Brits to do really well in any motorsport they take part in.  First indication of potential trouble came when I saw Jonathan Legard’s status on Twitter, about a big IndyCar accident.  Curious, I checked out YouTube to see how big it was and I wished I hadn’t.  When I saw the crash, it felt like my heart stopped beating and you don’t want to hear the words that muttered out of my mouth when I witnessed it online for the first time.  When I saw another of Legard’s tweets in the evening, which said that Dan Wheldon’s condition was serious, with no word on injuries, I knew the situation looked very bleak and sadly, the news came through just before midnight of his death.

      Yesterday, I kept seeing the crash on news broadcasts and I felt there was no need for that, especially for Dan’s devastated family.  In this situation, I would stick to images and videos of the wrecked cars and driver reactions.  It made me sick watching it everytime.  All day at Uni yesterday, it was a talking point with a lot of the journalism students and I just didn’t want to be there.  It was on my mind all day and maybe some will say; ‘Why does it affect you?’  Well it does and I can’t help that.  I had to show the crash to one of my friend’s yesterday afternoon and seeing it again made me feel like, well rubbish in the politest term possible.  As Dan was British, plus he grew up in my hometown of Milton Keynes, it made it even worse to think about.  Thankfully, I don’t remember Ayrton Senna’s death vividly, so this is the first real motorsport tragedy I have seen and it puts perspectives into life.  We still have the basics, can move around and look forward to a potential promising future.  I won’t stop watching motor racing, such as Formula One, but I will certainly appreciate the risks far more than I did and actually, I will probably feel more different when watching the next event on TV because I fully understand the risks and consequences of what might happen if it goes horribly wrong.

Motorsport is dangerous and Sunday’s tragedy in Las Vegas is a reminder for everyone; drivers, fans, marshals, racing organisations etc to not take anything for granted.  It is a wake-up for the whole community and safety must continue to advance in all forms, so these sorts of tragedies such as Dan Wheldon’s accident can be prevented more in future.

Dan Wheldon – 22 June 1978 – 17 October 2011, RIP

Indianapolis MotoGP 2011: Supreme Stoner marches on

CASEY Stoner continued his seemingly supreme routine march towards the 2011 MotoGP championship, with another dominant victory at Indianapolis last weekend.  It was his seventh win from 12 starts, his third in a row and extended his point’s advantage over his only title rival, Jorge Lorenzo to 44 points.

     On a baking day at the home of American motorsport, Stoner began on pole position and showed his supreme machinery advantage over the Yamaha of Lorenzo.  Unsurprisingly, he fell behind team-mate and traditional fast-starter Dani Pedrosa into the first corner.  Lorenzo briefly took second, but the first lap was a nightmare for American hero Ben Spies.  Spies, starting on the front row of the grid bogged down and got squeezed out of the first few bends, first by fellow American Nicky Hayden and then by Marco Simoncelli.  Spies dropped to tenth and his victory hopes were dashed from there.

     The Honda power of Stoner saw him coast past Lorenzo on lap three and four laps later, had reeled in Pedrosa, completing the pass into the first corner.  After that, it was a demonstration performance from the two Repsol Honda bikes.  Meanwhile, Spies provided most of the overtaking action as he recovered to produce forceful passes on Hayden and Andrea Dovizioso.  With 11 laps to go, the local man was fourth and closing in on a lonely Lorenzo.  Team-mates they may be and Lorenzo might be the one going for the championship, but nothing was going to deny Spies, as he overhauled the reigning champion to take the final spot on the podium.

DOMINANT: Casey Stoner continues his rich vein of form

    With pole position and the lap record to boot, Stoner secured his 30^th MotoGP victory to win by over four seconds.  Further back, both Hayden and Simoncelli fell back drastically with tyre problems.  Hayden had to retire, whilst Simoncelli slipped from a promising fourth to an unwelcome twelfth.  Dovizioso had a clean race on the third of the works Hondas to finish fifth and there was a very encouraging performance from Alvaro Bautista to record a sixth place finish for Suzuki.  Valentino Rossi finished a very distant tenth for Ducati and there was a long overdue finish for Britain’s Cal Crutchlow, who came home in eleventh.

     With only six events remaining, it is looking more and more difficult for Jorge Lorenzo to close the gap, which is becoming more like an avalanche.  Casey Stoner is looking impossible to beat, and now has one hand on the MotoGP crown.  Can anyone stop him in the remaining races?  On the evidence of Indianapolis, it’s hard to see how anyone can.

Atlantis blasts off for last time

THE American space shuttle programme which has been running for 30 years has had its last flight takeoff.  Atlantis blasted into the sky from its base at Cape Canaveral in Florida on Friday afternoon.  This will be the 135^th mission, which has seen the reusable spacecraft go through periods of triumph and tragedy.  Sadly, the programme won’t be remembered very fondly with space experts, nor American astronauts. 

Below are ten random facts about the space shuttle and ten moments from its 30-year timeline.

FACTS

• 1.       Five space shuttles were built.  Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Endeavour and Atlantis.  Endeavour was the most recent spacecraft to be built, in 1992.
• 2.       The oldest astronaut to fly in the space shuttle programme is John Glenn.  He was part of a Discovery flight in 1998 at 77 years old. 
• 3.       The space shuttle has spent 1,320 days in space.
• 4.       Despite initial plans that there would be 50 shuttle flights a year, it turned into only five/six regular flights per year, yet the programme still cost £120billion.
• 5.       In just under nine minutes, the shuttle goes from 0mph to 17,500mph.
• 6.       Before the final Atlantis flight, the space shuttle has travelled almost 537million miles.
• 7.       In 1983, Sally Ride became the first US woman in space on a Challenger space shuttle mission.
• 8.       The most number of flights that a single astronaut has carried out on the space shuttle flight is seven.
• 9.       All of the space shuttle launches have taken place at the Kennedy Space Centre at Cape Canaveral in Florida.
• 10.   In its 30 year history, the space shuttle has been grounded for nearly five years altogether, due to the Challenger and Columbia disasters.

SIGNIFICANT MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE SPACE SHUTTLE

1981: Columbia becomes the first spacecraft to make a mission successful.  It is a two day launch on April 11, 1981 and starts a new era for space exploration.

1983: Challenger’s first flight carries the first black astronaut in space, Gulon Bluford and the first American woman in space, Sally Ride.

1986: Space shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds into a mandatory flight on January 28, 1986.  All seven astronauts were killed, included teacher Christa McAuliffe, who was chosen as the first US citizen into space.  The shuttle was grounded until September 1988.

1988: The space shuttle is relaunched with Discovery.

1990: Quite possibly the best year in the history of the space shuttle, with the launch of Jupiter probe Galileo and the launch also of the Hubble Space Telescope.

1992: The replacement for Challenger, Endeavour makes its first flight.

1995: The ‘Space Race’ as it was affectionally known is officially over, as space shuttle Atlantis makes a famous docking with the Russian space station, Mir.

1999: Eileen Collins, who became the first female pilot in 1995, becomes the first ever female shuttle commander.

2003: Space shuttles are grounded for two years after Columbia was blown apart into the skyline on re-entry.  All seven crew members were killed.

2011: Discovery, Endeavour and now, Atlantis make their final flights as the space shuttle is put into retirement.

  

New Hope Or Another Catastrophe: The Drama In The Anfield Boardroom

Last Sunday was the nadir for Liverpool FC.  Another demonstration by the Spirit of Shankly group at the club’s hated American owners was followed by another performance that lacked spirit and passion on the pitch.  The Reds dismal 2-1 defeat to Premiership new boys Blackpool at Anfield has left Roy Hodgson’s side in the bottom three, with a meagre total of six points from seven games.  Already twelve points behind leaders Chelsea, with less than a fifth of the season gone; there has even been talk of Liverpool being relegated, which is almost unthinkable.  Defeat in next Sunday’s Merseyside derby at Goodison will probably cost Hodgson his job.

However, it is the drama upstairs in the Anfield boardroom which is causing the biggest unrest of all.  The reluctance to sell from disgraced American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks has threatened to take Liverpool to the brink of annihilation.  Debts of over £200million, failed promises over a new stadium and a lack of transfer funds to strengthen the side have paralysed the club in the last eighteen months, with the latest humiliation, being dumped out on penalties by lowly Northampton Town in the Carling Cup.

Hicks and Gillett bought Liverpool for £218million in February 2007 from former chairman, David Moores.  They made grand promises to the fans, including the creation of a new 60,000 capacity stadium on Stanley Park, which simply never looked like materialising.  Liverpool’s current debt stands at £237.4million, the sort of figure that caused the downfall of Leeds United from Champions League semi-finalists to Premiership relegation in three short years (2001-2004).  Liverpool’s main creditor, RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland) has given the club several extensions to pay off the debt, but has set a final deadline for next Friday; otherwise the club may end up with a nine point deduction from the Premier League for entering administration.  Several takeover bids have been rejected since Hicks and Gillett put the club up for sale in April this year, including strong investment bids from the Hong Kong government and the Middle East.  On Tuesday night, a deal was agreed by New Sport Ventures to buy the club for £300million, though that is well short of the overpriced £600million price that Hicks & Gillett have placed on the club.  Gillett and Hicks are thought to be considering legal options.

So, what do we know about New Sport Ventures, which is another American owned company.  Consequently, the fans reluctance can be seen well and truly.  It owns baseball team the Boston Red Sox and a high-profile NASCAR racing team.  The company was formed by John Henry in 2001 and today, is worth £943million pounds.  Henry is still on the NSV board, so he would become the new chairman.  Although he wouldn’t have the spending power to match the likes of Chelsea and Manchester City, his wealth would bring the chance to make Liverpool some form of a player in a transfer market and more importantly, it would clear the damaging debt. 

As a Liverpool fan, the whole saga has turned into a desperate mess and has left me worrying about the short-term future, never mind the long-term proposals.  This is set to run on and on, so despite the news of a new owner, the future remains well and truly a dark place on the red side of Merseyside.