Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/424604
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 NOVEMBER 2014 Sport 61 FORMULA 1 RUGBY TENNIS Vettel conducts first Ferrari test at Fiorano QUADRUPLE World Champion Sebastian Vettel has sampled a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time after he got behind the wheel of the team's 2012 machine at its Fiorano test track in Italy on Sat- urday. Vettel's move to Ferrari was con- firmed at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix but he was denied permission from Red Bull to drive for the team at the post-race test at Yas Marina. He nonetheless attended the test and conversed with Ferrari engi- neers in the garage while future team-mate Kimi Räikkönen took to the track. But with Vettel's Red Bull con- tract having expired on Friday, the German sampled a Ferrari F2012 at a damp Fiorano circuit on Sat- urday morning. Under Formula 1 regulations, teams are permitted to test two- year-old cars; while there was lit- tle to gain from a development perspective, the outing will have allowed Vettel to try a seat-fitting and familiarise himself with his new surroundings. Vettel had the number 5 on the F2012 – his permanent race number which he will use in 2015 – and 'my first day with Ferrari' printed in Italian on the side of a predominantly white helmet to mark his maiden test with the team. Sliema Stompers ........ 20 Kavallieri .................. 19 MIKE TURNER STOMPERS kicked off to a long period of territorial pressure but the sturdy Kavallieri defence held firm. Finally Kavallieri cleared with a huge kick and worked right up to Stompers try line, only to lose ground after giving away a penalty themselves. Next penalty against Stompers gave Edmunds the opportunity to grab the lead, but he missed the conversion; Both sides defences were snuffing out the attackers with relentless tackling, but there were too many penalties incurred, which also tended to break up the f low. Edmunds kicked another pen- alty into the corner and Kavallieri turned a lineout into their trade mark driving maul to score the first try. Stompers came back and Attard wasted a good position by mis-kick- ing another penalty. Kavallieri's Vassallo showed he still has the strength and speed to make good penetration. Stompers drove close to the line but Edmunds made a brave and brilliant clearance from behind his own tryline, with a chip and follow which won some 50 metres. He then spoiled the effect by dropping a pass as the match de- scended into too much talking and bickering, with certain members of the Stompers front row resembling yapping puppies. They were trying to counter the passionate force of Kavallieri, but it became unseemly. Just as the game was becoming bor- ing Stompers finally drew level with a fiery session of off loads, switches and speed which tore Kavallieri apart to score the best try of the match. Just before half time Kavalli- eri took the lead 8-3 with a penalty. Immediately after half time Hop- kins of Kavallieri earned a yellow card for a high tackle, and Cutajar had to leave with an injured calf. Poor tackling by Kavallieri was giv- ing Stompers confidence and anoth- er penalty gave them territory, from which they ran. Galea whipped a fine pass to Cerketa and he was un- stoppable to score, McLister con- verted and Stompers had the lead for the first time. Stompers gained more confidence but were still giv- ing away silly penalties which al- lowed Kavallieri to work their way upfield. Great kicks into the corner and Kavallieri scored another superb driving maul try to regain the lead by a point. An exchange of penalties and the score was 16-15 to Kavalli- eri, but they began to make elemen- tary mistakes and their coach sub- stituted key players. Ground was sacrificed by errors such crooked ball into the scrums, and standing in front of the ball at kicks. Kavallieri Zahra then earned a blatant yellow card and although Kavallieri were able to extend their lead with a penalty Stompers looked the more dangerous. Their backs showed elusive speed and construc- tive thought. With only a very few minutes to go Stompers stretched Kavallieri defence from side to side and by keeping their handling under con- trol released their number eight to score the winning try. It is strange that Kavallieri have really good centres but do not make the best of them. In final analysis the two yellow cards probably lost the match for Kavallieri, and neither should have happened. On the positive side both squads seem to have plenty of young players for the future. Sliema edge past Kavallieri French official banned for life for betting offences FRENCH tennis official Morgan Lamri has been banned for life due to multiple betting-related of- fences, the Tennis Integrit y Unit (TIU) said on Tuesday Morgan Lamri, who worked on the sport's Futures and Challeng- er tours, was found to be in breach of four articles of the Tennis In- tegrit y Unit's rulebook. The 22-year-old is the first offi- cal banned by the TIU, the organ- isation formed in 2008 to tackle gambling-related corruption af- fecting the sport. A TIU statement read: "French tennis official Morgan Lamri has been banned from the sport for life after being found guilt y of multiple offences under the Uni- form Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (Program). "Mr Lamri, 22, was found guilt y of charges laid under the 2012 and 2013 editions of the Program, in a case based on the findings of a Tennis Integrit y Unit investiga- tion. "The charges for which he has been found guilt y and sanctioned are: 16 separate breaches of Sec- tion D.1.a of the 2012 and 2013 Programs: 'No Covered Person shall, directly or indirectly, wager or attempt to wager on the out- come or any other aspect of any Event or any other tennis compe- tition'. "One breach of Section D.1.d of the 2013 Program: 'No Covered Person shall, directly or indirect- ly, contrive or attempt to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of any Event'. "One breach of Section D.1.e of the 2013 Program: 'No Covered Person shall, directly or indirect- ly, solicit or facilitate any Player to not use his or her best efforts in any Event'. "Breaches of Section D.2.c of the 2013 Program: 'For the avoid- ance of doubt, (i) a failure of the Reporting Obligation by any Cov- ered Person; and/or (ii) a failure of the dut y to co-operate under Section F.2 shall constitute a Cor- ruption Offence for all purposes of the Program'." Wolff expects Hamilton-Rosberg tensions to remain Mercedes boss Toto Wolff believes that tensions between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg will remain in the future despite their friendly banter after the Formula 1 season finale HAMILTON and Rosberg have endured several f lashpoints this year - most famously at Monaco and Spa - as their Mercedes chiefs faced a hard time stopping their fighting hurting the team. And although Rosberg made the effort to personally congratulate Hamilton after the Abu Dhabi title decider, pointing towards better relations between the men, Wolff is under no illusions that future trouble cannot be ruled out. When asked if he believed their rivalry would reset and become normal again now, Wolff said: "It will reset a little bit over the win- ter and at the beginning of the season, before it gets competitive again. "It's very clear that if your team- mate is your biggest competitor and your biggest enemy then it gets tense. "I have no doubt that we'll have similar situations and similar challenges next year again be- tween the two. "To maintain it on the current level of respect - and you've seen it upstairs after the race - [when Rosberg spoke to Hamilton] shows they respect each other. "So with all the emotions of a good or bad day in the office, I think it's perfectly acceptable." Tensions between Rosberg and Hamilton escalated throughout the season, until matters boiled over on track at the Belgian Grand Prix when they collided. It is that moment, allied to the way team bosses came down hard on the two men afterwards, that Wolff thinks was the key moment in defining the campaign. "For me that was the decisive weekend of the year," explained Wolff. "Everything that we discussed and we wrote down was theory. "And after that weekend we needed to make sure that this was not getting out of control for the team. "What we did was we considered the options and I think coming out of Spa after your two drivers hit each other to take seven victo- ries in a row and five 1-2s is sat- isfying, and it seems what we did was okay." Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg