Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/378361
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 10 SEPTEMBER 2014 MOTORSPORTS Chris Polidano of Kalanc Racing Team is the new 2014 FIA Top Methanol European Champion CHRIS Polidano and Kalanc Racing Team were declared the new FIA European Top Methanol Dragster Champions at the FIA European Finals held at Santa Pod Raceway in UK in front of over 50,000 specta- tors. Polidano managed to secure this prestigious FIA title in Drag Rac- ing in the first round of elimina- tions although losing to Jonny Lagg, since the only strongest contender who could strap the title was Manty Bugeja, 2012 FIA TMD European Champion, losing with holeshot rule to Dennis Habermann, who had a better reaction time at the start. Polidano was leading the Champi- onship at Santa Pod with just one point followed closely by Bugeja. Polidano, is the second Maltese driver to ever win the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, with Bugeja winning the title in 2012. The championship started last May touring through two rounds in UK, Sweden, Finland and Germany. Malta Motorsport Federation and Malta Drag Racing Association take this occasion to congratulate Euro- pean Champions Chris Polidano and Kalanc Racing Team, and runners up Manty Bugeja and Mr. Whippy Racing Team. Congratulations to Duncan Micallef who is the only Maltese driver competing in the FIA Top Fuel category, registering an as- tonishing performance, retiring due to an engine failure in round two of the eliminations. Chris Polidano is the second Maltese driver to ever win the FIA European Drag Racing Championship, with Manty Bugeja winning the title in 2012 Michael Schumacher leaves hospital for home care F1 superstar Michael Schumacher is leaving hospital and going home, nine months after his skiing acci- dent. The German legend has been in hospital in Grenoble ever since hit- ting his head while skiing off piste at Meribel at the end of 2013. The family confirmed in a state- ment that the driver, 45, will return to his home to continue his treat- ment. "Considering the severe injuries he suffered, progress has been made in the past weeks and months," the statement read. "There is still, however, a long and difficult road ahead." The statement reiterated the fam- ily's request for privacy and added that "it should not be assumed that massive changes in his health status were the reasons for the move", as well as clarifying that no building work at his home has taken place to cater for his condition. Michael Schumacher Coulthard: Hamilton has upper hand DAVID Coulthard reckons Lewis Hamilton now has "the upper hand" in the fight with Nico Rosberg to be crowned 2014 Formula 1 World Champion. Hamilton put the disappointment of Belgium behind him to win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday and while Rosberg still enjoys a good 22 point lead, Coulthard is convinced the Briton has "momentum on his side" going into the final six races of the year, including that points dou- ble header in Abu Dhabi. "Hamilton has the capability of winning all the remaining races," said Coulthard in his BBC Sport post-race review. "Of course, Rosberg has that, too, but you have to feel Hamilton has the upper hand and that, all things being equal, he will win out in the end. "If there is a chink in Hamilton's armour, it is that he is still vulner- able to maybe making a small mis- take on a qualifying lap. "His last run in qualifying in Monza was slower than his best lap. We have seen that a lot this year. "Hamilton has the speed but there have been quite a lot of races when he hasn't delivered on the key lap. "That's the only concern I have for Lewis right now. Other than that, he has the momentum on his side." Coulthard also added that he is eager to see how Rosberg responds to this latest setback. "It is going to be fascinating to see how he bounces back from this," added the Scot, who won 13 races during his time in F1. "He has question marks over his speed and wheel-to-wheel racing, and on top of that the public are not responding to him. That is not an easy place to be." David Coulthard Márquez keen to get bike 'just right' at Misano MARC Márquez says they will have to work "hard" on Friday to get the set-up "just right" for the San Marino Grand Prix. Márquez took his eleventh win from 12 races at Silverstone two weeks ago to extend his championship lead over team-mate Dani Ped- rosa to 89 points. The Respol Honda rider will now be after his 13th win of 2014 at the Marco Simoncelli Circuit and he has a good record there, having finished second last year in his debut MotoGP season, while he won in 2012 and 2011 in Moto 2. He also won there in 2010 as well in 125cc. "It was nice to be back on the top step of the podium in Silverstone, the team did a great job the whole weekend," said Márquez. "Now we head to Misano which is a smaller and slower track compared to others on the calendar. We will have to work hard from Friday to get the setup on the bike just right, to suit the demands on braking at this twisty track." "Let's hope the weather is also nice!" he add- ed. Marc Márquez