Classic Premiership Matches 81-100

In the past 18 seasons, football fans across the globe have been treated to some cracking Premiership matches.  On the eve of the 19th season beginning tomorrow, here is a look-back at some classics down the years.

81.           Arsenal                                    2-2           Chelsea                                    Sunday 12^th December 2004

This was Jose Mourinho’s biggest test so far and as Sky Sports referred it to as ‘JUDGEMENT DAY.’  If it was a test, his side passed it with flying colours in a blockbuster of a London derby.  Thierry Henry smashed the champions infront after only 90 seconds, but John Terry responded with a wonderful header.  Henry gifted Arsenal back the lead, with a controversial free-kick, but Chelsea showed they were ready to take the crown away from a deadly foe and scrambled back level through Eidur Gudjohnsen early in the 2^nd half.  This was a worthy point for the new Kings of London.

82.           Nottingham Forest                 3-2           QPR                                        Sunday 2^nd October 1994

Nottingham Forest’s unbeaten start to the 1994/95 season remained, after a goal-busting 2^nd half in the Nottingham rain.  After a tepid first half, the game sparked into life with a spectacular 2^nd half, due to a top corner buster by Kingsley Black.  Les Ferdinand, Bryan Roy & substitute Bradley Allen traded goals in the next half hour and it was left to Forest’s golden boy, Stan Collymore to net the winner in the 88^th minute. 

83.           Southampton                          3-2           Charlton Athletic                    Sunday 7^th December 2003

Normally, this type of game has 0-0 written all over it, but with two sides in such decent form, it wasn’t going to happen, especially as it was televised.  Southampton had been cruising at half-time, two goals to the good through Michael Svensson and Brett Ormerod.  Charlton roared back into the contest through their playmaker, Scott Parker with two fantastic strikes, making him a popular name throughout the whole of London.  It wasn’t enough for a point though, as Ormerod hit the winner in the 86^th minute.

84.           Manchester United                  2-3           Derby County                         Saturday 5^th April 1997

Once again, an easy home banker was turned on its head, especially by the leggy Costa Rican forward Paulo Wanchope.  Making his Premiership debut, he took on the whole of the United defence and left the backline dazed at his quite incredible solo effort.  Now that is some way to make your mark in England.

85.           Birmingham City                    2-2           Arsenal                                    Saturday 23^rd February 2008

This game was the utter defining moment in the season for Arsenal, as the young guns collapsed totally in the run-in.  The match is overshadowed for a sickening challenge by Martin Taylor on Eduardo in the first minute.  Eduardo was stretchered off with a double leg fracture and his football career in genuine doubt and quite rightly, Taylor was dismissed.  With Arsenal 2-1 up in the dying stages, Gael Clichy conceded a soft penalty, which James McFadden converted.  Captain William Gallas lost the plot afterwards and had to be controlled by Arsene Wenger; it had been a pivotal lunchtime crunch for the Gunners and showed true weaknesses.

86.           Norwich City                          4-4           Middlesbrough                        Saturday 22^nd January 2005

Trailing 4-1 to Champions League chasing Middlesbrough with just nine minutes to go, the last rites were being written for Nigel Worthington’s side.  However, Dean Ashton sparked a sensational finish with his first goal for the Canaries.  Leon McKenzie’s brave header gave real hope to the home supporters and Carrow Road exploded in joy when Adam Drury completed the remarkable turnaround in stoppage time.  It wasn’t a win, but it must have felt like it.

87.           Manchester City                     2-3           Tottenham Hotspur                                Monday 23^rd December 2002

Two sides managed by former England head coaches put on a pre-Christmas cracker.  Ali Bernarbia’s curling shot was the pick of the goals and Christian Ziege was sent off, but headers through Chris Perry, Simon Davies and Gus Poyet steered Glenn Hoddle’s side to victory in their last visit to Maine Road.

88.           Fulham                                    3-4           Blackburn Rovers                   Monday 12^th April 2004

This vital win sealed in a topsy-turvy game was essential to Graeme Souness’s Blackburn avoiding the dreaded drop.  The winning strike came from Jon Stead on the hour mark and despite two goals by new Cottagers signing, Collins John, he ended up on the losing side.

89.           Newcastle United                    2-6           Manchester United                  Saturday 12^th April 2003

Newcastle’s vague title ambitions were destroyed by a ruthless Manchester United side, determined to get their hands back on the Premiership crown.  Despite a genius strike from Jermaine Jenas to break the deadlock, Newcastle ended up 4-1 down by half-time and 6-1 adrift by the hour mark.  Paul Scholes hit a rare hat-trick and Ruud Van Nistlerooy scored another penalty, equalling a Premiership record for most converted penalties in the season.  In the battle of the knights, Sir Alex held all the top cards over Sir Bobby.

90.           Chelsea                                    2-4           Manchester City                     Saturday 27^th February 2010

This match will be remembered the most for the infamous non-handshake between former pals John Terry and Wayne Bridge.  Terry’s private life had been exposed in the papers, with allegations of him having an affair with Bridge’s former girlfriend.  He lost the England captaincy and at this point, his club form dipped too.  Chelsea had a day to forget, despite Frank Lampard putting them ahead before half-time.  By the time Lampard got his second, from the penalty spot, City had ran riot and gone into a 4-1 lead, courtesy of doubles from Craig Bellamy and Carlos Tevez.  Michael Ballack and Juliano Belletti were both sent off, this was a day of misery for the Blues and a joyous result for Wayne Bridge.

91.           Aston Villa                              3-2           Coventry City                         Saturday 5^th May 2001

To preserve their top-flight status, Coventry had to win this match at Villa Park and things were going well at half-time, with two corkers by Youssef Chippo.  Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, they were pegged back in the second half by old boys, George Boateng and Dion Dublin.  The killer was provided by Paul Merson in the closing moments to send Coventry crashing into Division 1.

92.           Manchester City                     3-1           Manchester United                  Saturday 9^th November 2002

The last ever Manchester derby at Maine Road produced a rare success for the Citizens half of Manchester.  A brace from Shaun Goater, culminating in 100 goals for the club gave Kevin Keegan’s side a memorable triumph to look back on forever.

93.           Chelsea                                    4-3           Tottenham Hotspur                                Sunday 27^th February 1994

Two down inside twenty minutes, Chelsea steamed back into the contest through Dennis Wise and a quickfire double from hotshot John Spencer.  Darren Anderton levelled matters in the second half, before a controversial penalty, slotted home by Mark Stein handed the West London outfit an improbable result.

94.           Charlton Athletic                    4-4           West Ham United                   Monday 19^th November 2001

A London derby full of drama thrills and spills.  The forgotten man of the Premiership, Paul Kitson hit an unlikely hat-trick and when Jermain Defoe scored his first ever Premiership goal against his former side, the Hammers were on course for a stunning win, having trailed the Addicks twice.  In injury time, a spectacular overhead kick from the charismatic striker Jonatan Johansson ensured a deserved share of the spoils.

95.           Manchester United                  2-2           Liverpool                                                Sunday 1^st October 1995

This was the day when the King of Old Trafford return.  Red No.7 returned on the grand stage and created a goal for Nicky Butt inside 60 seconds.  Liverpool’s own ace, Robbie Fowler rammed in an equaliser, smashing a Sky camera in the process.  He then took his second goal clinically, punishing Gary Neville for some slack defending.  In the 70^th minute, Ryan Giggs was tripped by Jamie Redknapp and a penalty awarded by David Elleray.  Cantona did the business, sending David James the wrong way, earning United a draw and announcing to the world: ‘I’m back.’

96.           Everton                                   2-3           Chelsea                                    Sunday 17^th December 2006

Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea weren’t involved in many pulsating Premiership classics, but this was an exception to that rule.  Missing John Terry through injury, the champions were trailing 2-1 with ten minutes to play on Merseyside.  Step forward Frank Lampard with a classic strike, then Didier Drogba with the goal of the season to record Chelsea a massive win in the race for the title. 

97.           Bradford City                         4-4           Derby County                         Friday 21^st April 2000

This was a Good Friday bonanza between two relegation stragglers.  Derby went 2-0 up inside ten minutes, were trailing 3-2 by the interval and needed two red cards and a couple of cool penalties from skipper Craig Burley to rescue themselves a draw at Valley Parade.

98.           Chelsea                                    2-3           Arsenal                                    Sunday 21^st September 1997

At a new look Stamford Bridge, fans and neutrals were treated to an attacking feast of football from two championship contenders.  Gus Poyet tapped Chelsea into the lead, but two dodgy pieces of defending by Michael Duberry allowed Dennis Bergkamp in to hand the Gunners the lead.  Almost immediately, Gianfranco Zola responded in kind and despite Franck Lebouef seeing red for two bookable offences, the game looked set for a draw.  Then, in the 89^th minute, Nigel Winterburn produced a real rabbit from the hat to stun the Blues into silence.  A key win for Arsene Wenger’s side, this highlighting their push towards a maiden championship.

99.           Arsenal                                    1-3           Newcastle United                    Tuesday 18^th December 2001

November 1997 had been the last time Newcastle had won in the capital before this crunch meeting at Highbury, but they ended the jinx in some style.  Robert Pires gave Arsenal a half-time lead, but Ray Parlour was sent off for two yellow cards.  Andy O’Brien headed home an equaliser early in the second half, before Graham Poll’s second dodgy dismissal saw Craig Bellamy heading for an early shower.  He then should have sent off Sol Campbell with five minutes to go for hauling down Laurent Robert by being last man.  Only a penalty was given, but Newcastle didn’t mind as Alan Shearer banged the ball past Richard Wright.  Robert sealed a famous win for the Magpies in the closing stages, overshadowed by a late Thierry Henry rant that left him with a fine and one-match suspension for violent conduct.

100.         Manchester United                  1-4           Liverpool                                                Saturday 14^th March 2009

Liverpool had to win this game to stand any hope of winning their first championship in nearly two decades and they tore the European champions to shreds in their own backyard.  Things didn’t look good for Rafa Benitez when Pepe Reina fouled Ji-Sung Park and Cristiano Ronaldo blasted the penalty home.  Moment’s later, Fernando Torres capitalised fully on a rare Nemanja Vidic error to level the scores.  When Patrice Evra fouled Torres on the stroke of half-time, Steven Gerrard’s penalty gave the host an unlikely lead.  Vidic was later dismissed and from the resulting free-kick, Fabio Aurelio curled in a beauty to wrap up the outcome.  To add insult to injury, Liverpool misfit Andrea Dossena produced a golden moment by lobbing Edwin Van Der Sar in stoppage time to compound United’s misery and highlight Liverpool’s glee.  The title race was back on.

   

FA Barclays Premier League Preview 2010-11

Two days to go now until Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City get the ball rolling on the 2010/11 FA Barclays Premier League campaign, which could turn out to be the most compelling and competitive seasons in the league’s history.  Here is a brief round-up of what we can expect between now and the end of May.

The Leading Contenders

Chelsea won the double last season and starts the season as the favourites with most pundits and bookmakers.  Carlo Ancelotti has stuck with the same formula from last season, with the exception of acquiring Ramires and Yossi Benayoun.  The squad may be ageing considerably, despite getting rid of the likes of Deco, Belletti and Ballack.  I can’t see them being a main force in the Champions League, but they remain the best domestic side on paper, so don’t be too surprised if they become the team to beat.  Sir Alex Ferguson will be desperate to bring the title back to Manchester United.  Their impressive performance at Wembley last week in the FA Community Shield will have raised a few eyebrows.  United have a nice blend of experience and youth, which could see them become England’s most successful club for league titles this season.  Much will depend on the form of Wayne Rooney.  Can he bounce back from his miserable summer?  He should be supported really well by a formidable attack line of Nani, Ryan Giggs, Antonio Valencia, the returning Michael Owen and new signing Javier Hernandez, who could turn out to be a real surprise package.  They certainly have all the ingredients to snatch the Premiership back from West London.

The Challengers

Much will be expected of Manchester City this time around, so the pressure will be on Roberto Mancini from the word go.  He has spent £77million in the summer, desperate to end a very lean period of no silverware at Eastlands.  David Silva, Yaya Toure, Jerome Boateng and Aleksandar Kolarov are the latest on the payroll and it will be interesting to see how Mancini can keep the squad all happy, especially with the new squad regulations for the Premiership.  The top four is a minimum requirement.  Arsenal need to show the real guile and spirit this season, otherwise it could be another frustrating season for the North London fans.  Arsene Wenger must get the best out of his youngsters and no excuses can be made now, especially as it has been six long years since any silverware made the Emirates trophy cabinet.  It has been a distracting summer for the Gunners, as Cesc Fabregas has dithered over his future.  Not the best preparation then, but if Marouane Chamakh can smash in the goals like Ian Wright and Thierry Henry used to, then Arsenal can never be discounted.  Liverpool had an awful time last season, and Rafa Benitez paid the price with his job.  This is Roy Hodgson’s big chance, as he finally gets a deserved shot at the big time.  Joe Cole’s signing is quality, especially on a free, as is the signature of hard-working Dane Christian Poulsen.  Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres have committed their future and the boardroom struggle could also be coming to a swift conclusion too.  The Reds are still probably slightly short of a title challenge, but they should be in the mix a bit more this season.  Their Merseyside rivals Everton have barely spent, but don’t have the injuries that crippled the beginning of last season for David Moyes side.  It will be interesting to see Jermaine Beckford perform at the top level, and with the likes of Louis Saha, Tim Cahill, Leon Osman, Yakubu, Maroualine Fellani and Mikel Arteta around to back him up, Everton could turn out to be a very formidable opponent this season.  Tottenham may have finished 4^th last season and deservedly so, but Harry Redknapp has really struggled to use his position of Champions League football to acquire new blood in the transfer market.  Although Tottenham are still a very dangerous side and can beat anyone on their day, I don’t see them being a title contender, as they still lack the modern consistency needed for a proper title tilt.  Aston Villa has been rocked by Martin O’Neill having walked out on the club just five days before the start of the campaign.  There is a lot of uncertainly around at Villa Park at the moment, they need a new manager and fast. 

Surprise Packages

If anyone can break into the European places, don’t look much further than UEFA Europa League finalists Fulham.  Mark Hughes has a chairman who loves him, the funds to splash and a managerial reputation to restore.  Fulham are serious dark horses to break into the top seven.  Birmingham City was a revelation last season and despite being very quiet in the summer, Nikola Zigic will cause fear and tremors through Premier League defenders, due to his towering height.  If Zigic can provide the cutting edge that Alex McLeish missed last season, then Birmingham could become the best of the Midlands sides.  This is Steve Bruce’s second season at Sunderland and improvements are required, as the Black Cats have underachieved massively for far too long.  They need support for Darren Bent in the goal scoring department to move up the order significantly, but should be luckier than they were last season with injuries.  Both Blackburn Rovers and Stoke City have solid sides, without many world-class players, but have lots of team spirit in abundance.  Both need major improvements in diabolical away records to reach the next level.  With Avram Grant onboard and a more settled approach from David Gold and David Sullivan, West Ham United must improve on last year’s narrow miss with relegation.  They should do so, with Grant having pulled off some impressive captures in the transfer market over the summer.

Relegation Candidates

Blackpool surprised everyone with their shock promotion last season.  Ian Holloway deserves a shot at the big time, but the club have not strengthened at all of note, and could be in for a very tough struggle at the basement of the Premier League.  West Brom returns to the top flight and is the biggest yo-yo club around.  Like Blackpool, they haven’t spent much and are relying on the side that got promoted last season, which I think shows some real naivety from Roberto di Matteo.  Their Black Country neighbours Wolves have added Steven Fletcher to their strike ranks and did well to beat the drop last season, but it could be tougher for Mick McCarthy this time around.  Unless they manage to shore up the leaky defensive that shipped a bunch of goals last campaign, it could also be a very tedious and frustrating campaign for Wigan Athletic.  I would expect these four to fight it out for the relegation places, though Bolton Wanderers & Newcastle United could also be in the shake-up at the wrong end of the table come the end of the season.  

Crozier Laughs Off Desmond's Ambitious Plans

ITV boss Adam Crozier has laughed off the plans of Richard Desmond, as the Northern & Shell owner begins to stamp his authority on five.  Desmond has made cheeky bids to poach Coronation Street and the X-Factor.  When asked about this, Crozier said the following:

“Richard thanks for trying.”  “There’s a very short answer to that and it’s a very large no.”

Crozier was responding on the day when ITV announced its recent figures, as they try and bounce back from testing times, due to the recession.  ITV’s audience share stands at an average of 24.1%, compared to Five’s meagre audience share of 4.2%.  Crozier, the former chief executive of the FA during Sven-Goran Eriksson’s dismal reign as England coach and the figurehead of crisis-hit Royal Mail took over in March this year, after the departure of Michael Grade.  Grade labelled the recent recession as “the worst recession in living memory,” which saw slump in advertising revenues and cutback made in ITV’s regional news output.  Crozier insists that ITV are making a very strong recovery and hints that the recently poaching of former BBC stars Adrian Chiles, Jonathan Ross anc Christine Bleakley signal changing times ahead.  He also aims to oversee the launch of 3 new HD channels which will available exclusively to customers who subscribe to Virgin Media and BSkyB.  The first of these should be available to consumers this October.

Desmond paid £103.5million to buy Five last month from the German company, RTL.  Having made his money through adult television channels, plus his ownership in OK! Magazine and the Daily Express, Desmond has had to make significant and expected cuts at the channel, including the departure of seven senior members of staff, which was confirmed this afternoon.  Nevertheless, he plans to expand on the possible potential of Australian soaps Neighbours and Home & Away, both struggling to compete with the major UK soap opera players.  He has also signed exclusive deal with Warner Brothers to produce films for the channels, aims to improve on Five’s radical coverage of the UEFA Europa League and has plans to poach the highly controversial Panorama show and the doomed Big Brother, which is due to leave Channel 4 screens at the end of this month.

This move to poach some of ITV’s top shows was never ever going to be a reality, but it already shows Desmond’s commitment and desire to turn the fortunes of five around.  

BP Finally Plug The Gulfing Oil Leak

There was massive relief for the under-fire petrol company BP last Wednesday, when they managed to finally plug the ruptured oil well off the Gulf of Mexico.  News quickly filtered through that most of the oil spill has now been cleaned up or been broken down by natural forces.

The White House claim that the majority of the remaining oil off the Gulf has now evaporated, been collected or has burnt off.  Even the fiercest critic of all, US president Barack Obama has hailed the fact the operation and the ordeal was coming to an end. 

Five million barrels of oil have spewed into the ocean since the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20^th, killing 11 oil rig workers.  Local businesses and wildlife have been seriously affected by this environmental crisis, in the worst oil disaster since the Exxon Valdez oil spill off Alaska in 1989.  BP have taken some significant hits in the markets, both in the UK and in the United States, with their chief executive stepping down at the beginning of October.  Their handling of the spill has given the worldwide company some very troubled and distressing times.  However, it now appears that like Toyota, who have recorded handsome profits since their disastrous worldwide recall in February, BP may be about to turn the corner.

Twitter vs Facebook - The Facts & Milestones

The debate is bound to rage on: Which social networking giant is really the best?  Some will prefer to Tweet, others prefer Farmville; tastes will depend on whoever you associated yourself with.  However, with Twitter having recently celebrated its 20^th billionth tweet – just days after Facebook notched up its 500^th millionth member, here are some interesting facts about the two dominant leaders in social networking.

Facebook

Facebook was founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerburg – whilst he was studying a Psychology course at Harvard University.  In 2006, Zuckerburg rejected a $1billion takeover offer from Yahoo.  One year later, he sold a 1.6% stake to Microsoft for £117million.  This year, figures suggest that Facebook is estimated to make $1billion.  Users post videos, pictures, status updates and pictures on their own personal profiles.  They connect with their friends via Facebook Chat and can have total control on who has access to personal information.  Facebook makes most of its money by targeting advertising to certain individual’s likes and dislikes.  Statistics suggest that Facebook users will spend around eight billion minutes on the site every day, and they send about a billion messages via Facebook chat.  It is almost impossible to tell whether famous people are using the site – fan pages are more likely to pop up.  Recently, a tribute page to the UK’s most wanted man, Raoul Moat was set-up.  ‘RIP Raoul Moat You Legend!’ attracted 30,000 fans and received serious condemnation from David Cameron.  It has since been removed.  A campaign to get the 1992 song ‘Killing in the Name’ by Rage against the Machine was successful in December 2009 for the coveted prize of Christmas No.1.  It beat ‘The Climb,’ by UK X-Factor winner Joe McElderry, in a bid to put an end to Simon Cowell’s domination of the Xmas No.1.

MY VIEW OF FACEBOOK: I joined Facebook back in July 2007, after being sent a friend recommendation.  Honestly, I didn’t think it would catch on, I hadn’t even heard of it before then.  However, I spend a load of time on Facebook and despite receiving some criticism of late – some of it deserved, it will remain king of the social networking world in my view.

Twitter

Twitter was created in 2006 by work buddies Evan Williams, Biz Stone and Jack Dorsey.  It started initially as a side project to a blogging website.  There is no source of revenue so far for Twitter, with many waiting to see how it will generate profit.  People write short updates called ‘Tweets,’ of 140 characters or less.  These are posted to your profile/blog and sent to all of your followers.  In 2007, about 5,000 tweets were sent a day, with that increasing to 300,000 messages per day in 2008.  Famous celebrities who regularly tweet for their millions of fans include Jamie Olivier, Alan Carr, Dannii Minogue, Amanda Holden, Tony Blair, Kaya Scodelario, Stephen Fry, Lily Allen and Barack Obama.

MY VIEW OF TWITTER: I joined Twitter last October, as it was an expected requirement of my first year Journalism course at The University of Northampton.  To be honest, I rarely use it, although I will pop on from time-to-time to see what my friends and celebrities I’m following, and post the occasional updates, normally about this website.  Twitter is not my favourite site, but is a nice back-up to have, should I require it and it is one hundred times better than my MySpace account, which I closed down this summer due to lack of activity.   

British Success At The Euros

So, England has had a miserable sporting summer so far, but recently, our athletes managed to lift the doom and gloom with their outstanding performance at the European Athletics Championships in Barcelona. 

Team GB arrived back at Heathrow airport on Monday 2^nd August with their best ever haul of medals at the Euros, 6 gold’s, 7 silver and 6 bronze.  That is seven more than the previous overall best, set in Munich in 2002.  With this success, hope will undoubtedly rise for the Olympics in London, now just two short years away. 

The heroes of the championships from a British perspective with Mo Farah, who after years of suffering, clinched a spectacular double gold in the long-distance events (5,000m and 10,000m).  The Kenyans may not be too frightened by Farah, but at least we now have someone who can compete against them at the highest level.  Another success story was that of team captain and Sheffield’s golden girl, Jessica Ennis.  Ennis, who cruised to World Championship glory in Berlin last summer, beat the Olympic champion on her way to another record-breaking gold in the woman’s heptathlon.  There was also a very surprising gold for Andy Turner in the men’s 110m hurdles and a Welsh 1-2 in the men 400m hurdles, Di Greene leading home Rhys Williams.

As ever, there was the odd failure that letdown the team’s overall performance.  4^th in Berlin in 2009, William Sharman was amongst the favourites to win the men’s 110m hurdles, but whilst Turner clattered his way to the gold, a false start in the semi-finals put paid to Sharman’s dreams.  Diabolical and unacceptable changeovers saw both 4x100m relay teams miss out on final berths.  Although the men have a history of dropping the baton (Sydney 2000, Edmonton 2001, Gothenburg 2006), the women’s failure was something of a surprise.  The main international star was France’s Christophe Lematre, who charged to three gold medals, in the men’s 100m, 200m and part of the French squad triumph in the 4x100m relay. 

The likes of America, Jamaica and Kenya may have been missing, but Team GB rose to the fore, and alongside Russia, has proved to be the best that Europe has to offer.  With the Commonwealth Games in India likely to be decimated by withdrawals due to security threats, athletics attention will now turn to the 2011 World Championships in Seoul, Korea.

London 2012 is getting ever closer and our athletes have shown what they can do, and made us all proud to be British. 

Van der Drift Fortunate To Escape Fiery Brands Smash

The dangers of motorsport were once more highlighted on the Brands Hatch circuit in Kent on Sunday August 1^st.  Just two weeks after Francisco Carvalho’s accident in a SEAT Eurocup Series event, which saw the Portuguese flip over the barriers and narrowly miss track officials, an even worse accident took place in the Superleague Formula event.

Superleague Formula is a rapidly improving series, which features ex-Grand Prix drivers Sebastian Bourdais, Robert Doornbos and Narain Karthikeyan, as well as budding rising talent that haven’t been able to make the grade in Formula 3 or GP2.  The winning prize is £2million for the driver who triumphs at the end of the season and they race underneath the banner of top European football sides such as Liverpool, AC Milan and Olympiakos.

It was Olympiakos driver Chris van der Drift who was involved in this fiery smash at Brands Hatch ten days ago.  Van der Drift, who was in contention for the title tried to snatch fifth spot from AS Roma’s Julien Jousse when he clipped the rear of the Frenchman’s car exiting Surtees.  The New Zealander flew through the air at some 20ft, hitting an underside bridge, then landing on the track with some excessive force which crushed his helmet against the track.  Van der Drift slid upside down for approximately 100 yards and as the car disintegrated, it even burst into flames.  Medics have since admitted that when they arrived at the trackside, they braced to pull his body out of the wreckage.  Instead, they found him conscious, though in severe discomfort.

Chris Van der Drift’s injuries were limited to cuts, bruises and a broken ankle.  To be honest, he is extremely lucky to be alive.  

2010 Hungarian Grand Prix - Webber Accepts Seb's Hungaroring Gift

Mark Webber won the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday August 1^st, to reclaim the lead in the drivers world championship, before Formula 1 headed for its four-week summer break.  The Aussie accepted a gift from his team-mate Sebastian Vettel, who was awarded a drive-through penalty for ‘sleeping,’ on a Safety Car restart.  Mark’s fourth win of the season sees him now lead a group of five drivers, covered by a mere twenty points.

Vettel had started the race from a dominant pole position, and drove away from the rest of the opposition with alarming ease.  Any thoughts of a walk in the park for the German disappeared when Vitantonio Liuzzi dispensed with some debris from his front wing in the middle of the circuit at Turn 11.  As a result, the Safety Car was scrambled and only a late call from his race engineer saw Sebastian head for the pits.  Webber opted to stay out and try and gain a tactical advantage on Vettel and Fernando Alonso, the Spaniard having jumped Webber off the startline. 

He didn’t need the pace against Vettel, as on the restart, he followed the Safety Car closely.  Vettel backed up the pack, but was caught out by the quick decision to restart the event under green flag conditions.  Consequently, he fell ten car lengths behind Webber and the Safety Car, meaning his fate was ultimately sealed.  After receiving the drive-through, his frustration out of the cockpit could be there for all to see.  Afterwards, he was seething with rage, and at a loss to what happened.  Third place was not what he was expecting, especially after Red Bull’s annihilation of the rest, which saw them a full second quicker than anyone else all weekend.

Alonso took full advantage on Vettel’s misjudgement and held off the erratic German with the widest Ferrari possible.  He couldn’t match Webber’s hot mid-race pace and had to settle for 2^nd.  Nevertheless, it was more than what he could have hoped for going into the race.  Felipe Massa was a quiet figure in the background, in a lonely drive to 4^th.  On his first return to the circuit that nearly claimed his life in 2009, the Brazilian failed to capitalise on Vettel’s issue and punish him completely.  Ferrari will be disappointed that he didn’t, costing them valuable constructors points.

The talking point of a race that provided a lot of drama, but a lack of overtaking on the tight Hungaroring layout was the cynical chop by Michael Schumacher that his ex-Ferrari team-mate Rubens Barrichello called ‘the worse manoeuvre anyone has tried on him in his career.’  On a radical strategy, the Brazilian had dropped to 11^th and was lapping three seconds quicker than the ailing Schumacher, who having his customary drive in the midfield.  Out of the last corner, the Williams had better traction, allowing Rubens to pull alongside.  Michael refused to give up, and pushed Barrichello millimetres away from the Budapest pitwall.  Barrichello made the move stick, and Michael has since apologised for the incident.  However, he has landed a 10-place grid penalty for the Belgian Grand Prix and received more hostile calls for him to walk away from the sport he truly loves.  

Mercedes awful day was capped by a $50,000 fine, for releasing Nico Rosberg back into the pits when his rear wheel was loose.  Unsurprisingly, the wheel flew off and bounced down the pitlane, causing minor bruising to a mechanic from Williams.  As Rosberg slithered to a halt on the pitlane exit, Adrian Sutil and Robert Kubica had frighteningly connected in the pitlane, ending the race for both drivers and earning Renault a similar fine for an unsafe pit release.

There were career bests for Vitaly Petrov and Nico Hulkenberg, with both rookies finishing in the top six after fine weekends.  Pedro de la Rosa produced a season’s best in 7^th, whilst team-mate Kamur Kobayashi came through from the back row to finish an impressive 9^th; Sauber’s first double points finish of the season.  However, it was a weekend to forget for McLaren, with Jenson Button lapped six laps from the end, finishing in a dismal 8^th and Lewis Hamilton retiring from 4^th place on Lap 24 with transmission failure. 

As Grand Prix racing enters its summer hiatus, Mark Webber has put himself in the pound seat, but with seven races still to go, anything can happen in Formula One and on the evidence of the 2010 season so far, it normally does.