Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/306555
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 MAY 2014 45 SNOOKER FORMULA 1 MOTOGP Sport Borg clinches title for the 12th time 2013/14 National Snooker Championships ALEX Borg is the Malta National Snooker Champion following a 6-4 victory in the final over Dun- can Bezzina of La Vincitrice Band Club, Senglea. The final, at the Jes- mond Sporting Club, Hamrun was played on Friday evening and was under the control of referee John Cauchi. This is the 12th National title for Borg who plays for Juventutis Domus of Zejtun. It was Bezzina who took the first three frames of the final but Borg won the next two with breaks of 47 and 104 to make the score 3-2 in favour of Bezzina going into the mid-session interval. When play resumed Borg quickly won the sixth frame helped by a break of 56 to level the match. Bezzina made it 4-3 by winning the seventh but it was Borg who took the next three frames with breaks of 55 and 67 for a final score of 6-4 and the title of National Champion. Frame scores: (Borg first) 19-61, 14-72, 36-66, 58(47)-19, 109(104)- 20, 120(56)-7, 9-84, 56-34, 63(55)- 25, 68(67)-54. After the final, MBSA Secretary Mr. Ivan Attard presented the tro- phy to Alex Borg. Highest break of the champion- ships was won by Simon Zammit with a break of 137. Alex Borg and Duncan Bezzina together with referee John Cauchi before the Final Former Ferrari engineer Nigel Stepney dies Marquez grabs pole in sunny Jerez NIGEL Stepney, a former engineer with Ferrari and one of the men at the centre of the 'Spygate' scan- dal back in 2007, has died. The 56-year-old was killed in a road traffic accident this morning. He leaves behind his partner, Ash and daughter, Sabine. Stepney, who began his F1 career with Shadow in the late 1970s, had spells with Team Lotus and Ben- etton before joining the Scuderia. He was sacked by the Maranello team in 2007, after it was alleged he handed confidential informa- tion to then McLaren Technical Director Mike Coughlan. In 2010, Stepney was recruited by JRM and most recently held the position of Team Manager and Technical Director, overseeing the continued development of the 2014-specification Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3. He helped the team win the FIA GT1 World Champi- onship in 2011 and then led them into the FIA World Endurance Championship the following year. "From the moment Nigel joined JRM in 2010, he was a vitally im- portant member of the team and brought a level of engineering experience to us that was unri- valled," said James Rumsey, the owner of JRM. "A man that engi- neered Ayrton Senna at Lotus and helped to guide Michael Schu- macher to five Formula 1 World Championships with Ferrari was the perfect candidate to establish JRM as a serious team in circuit- based motorsport and the role that he played in achieving that standard will never be underesti- mated or forgotten. "Nigel was an intense and fierce competitor and always strived for excellence in our racing. We cer- tainly could not have achieved our level of success without his lead- ership and experience. Away from the track, he was a focused, driven and passionate member of the JRM Group, and a loving father to his family. "The rest of the engineering and race team here at JRM learned an unimaginable amount from Nigel in the four short years he was with us and his death this morning has shocked everyone to the core. Today, the motorsport world has lost one of its greatest characters and competitors. He will be sorely missed. Our prayers and thoughts are with Ash and Sabine." Michael Schumacher and Nigel Stepney ON his 100th Grand Prix week- end Marquez produced a superb late 1'38.120 lap to smash the pole record at Jerez, qualifying 0.421s ahead of Movistar Yamaha Mo- toGP rider Lorenzo and 0.510s in front of his Repsol Honda team- mate Dani Pedrosa. For full Jerez MotoGP Q2 results click here. Heading the second row after an intriguing Q2 run in the southern Spanish heat is the most success- ful rider on the grid at Jerez, with Movistar Yamaha MotoGP's Val- entino Rossi (+0.737) qualifying fourth at the track where he boasts six premier class victories. Joining him on row two are Aleix Espargaro (NGM Forward Racing) and Andrea Dovizioso (Ducati Team). A late crash for Espargaro hindered his Q2 efforts in the fi- nal minutes and he missed out on a potential front row. The third row will host young trio Stefan Bradl (LCR Honda MotoGP), Pol Espargaro (Monster Yamaha Tech3) and Bradley Smith (Monster Yamaha Tech3), with Smith recovering well from a big crash on Friday. Alvaro Bautista (GO&FUN Honda Gresini) is accompanied by American pair Colin Edwards (NGM Forward Racing) and Nicky Hayden (Drive M7 Aspar) on the fourth row, whilst the likes of An- drea Iannone (Pramac Racing) and Cal Crutchlow (Ducati Team) will start from further back having failed to make Q2. Starting Grid - 2014 MotoGP Spain Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 01:38.120 8 2. J. Lorenzo Yamaha 01:38.541 9 3. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 01:38.630 8 4. V. Rossi Yamaha 01:38.857 7 5. A. Espargaro Forward 01:39.007 5 6. A. Dovizioso Ducati 01:39.222 7 7. S. Bradl LCR 01:39.243 8 8. P. Espargaro Tech 3 01:39.293 9 9. B. Smith Tech 3 01:39.390 8 10. A. Bautista Gresini 01:39.751 6 11. C. Edwards Forward 01:39.814 8 12. N. Hayden Aspar 01:39.826 7