Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/722943
52 CAL Crutchlow backed up his maiden MotoGP victory with a sensational pole position in front of his home crowd at Silverstone. LCR Honda rider Crutchlow surged to the top of the times in wet conditions with a lap of 2:19.265 during the early stages of the session. As heav y rain continued to af- fect Silverstone no-one was able to trouble Crutchlow's lap, until Eugene Laverty recorded quick sector times mid-way around the lap. However, Laverty lost control of his bike at Farm and tumbled to the ground, ultimately wind- ing up sixth. Valentino Rossi emerged as Crutchlow's closest competi- tor, 0.998s down, with Maverick Viñales in third place. Dani Pedrosa took fourth as fifth-placed Marc Márquez suf- fered a heav y crash at Copse, but was able to walk away from the scene of the accident. Scott Redding took seventh, in front of Andrea Iannone and Jorge Lorenzo, while Andrea Dovizioso fell en route to 10th spot. Aleix Espargaró and Jack Mill- er completed the Q2 runners, with the Marc VDS rider hitting the ground while on course for a strong lap time. Loris Baz narrowly missed out on a slot in Q2 and will start from 13th position for Avintia, ahead of Pramac's Danilo Petrucci and Tech 3 rider Pol Espargaró. Alex Lowes took 16th for his MotoGP debut with Tech 3, hav- ing replaced the injured Bradley Smith, with Aprilia duo Stefan Bradl and Álvaro Bautista split by Avintia's Héctor Barberá. Aspar's Yonny Hernández and Marc VDS rookie Tito Rabat completed the 21-bike field. Sunday's British Grand Prix begins at 15:30 local time. maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 SEPTEMBER 2016 Sport FOOTBALL MOTOGP 2016 British MotoGP Grand Prix - Qualifying Pos Driver Team Time Laps 1. C. Crutchlow LCR 02:19.265 6 2. V. Rossi Yamaha 02:20.263 6 3. M. Vinales Suzuki 02:20.514 7 4. D. Pedrosa Repsol Honda 02:20.742 7 5. M. Marquez Repsol Honda 02:20.779 5 6. E. Laverty Aspar 02:20.821 4 7. S. Redding Pramac 02:21.074 6 8. A. Iannone Ducati 02:21.446 6 9. J. Lorenzo Yamaha 02:21.687 7 10. A. Dovizioso Ducati 02:22.420 4 11. A. Espargaro Suzuki 02:25.285 6 12. J. Miller Marc VDS no time 0 Schweinsteiger left out of Man United's Europa League squad BASTIAN Schweinsteiger has been left out of Manchester United's Europa League squad by coach Jose Mourinho, as the mid- fielder continues to be marginal- ised at the club. World Cup winner Schwein- steiger signed a three-year deal at United last year after moving to Old Trafford from Bayern Munich, but has failed to feature under Mourinho since the Portuguese coach replaced Louis van Gaal this summer. Having made 18 league appear- ances last season, the 32-year-old appears to have no future at Unit- ed and has been training with the reserve team after Mourinho con- firmed that it would be "very dif- ficult" for him to play for the club again. The transfer window closed with Schweinsteiger still with United, although his chances of featuring under Mourinho appear slim, par- ticularly after he was overlooked for the 27-man Europa League squad released by UEFA on Satur- day. United have included teenage defenders Timothy Fosu-Mensah and Axel Tuanzebe as they look to qualify from Group A, which also contains Feyenoord, Fenerbahce and Zorya Luhansk. They begin their campaign away in Rotterdam on Sept. 15. Schweinsteiger made his final appearance for Germany in a 2-0 friendly victory over Finland in Moenchengladbach on Wednes- day after announcing his retire- ment from international football in July. Bastian Schweinsteiger Allardyce makes three changes in first England lineup ENGLAND manager Sam Al- lardyce will make three changes for his first match in charge against Slovakia on Sunday in their opening Group F qualifier for the 2018 World Cup in Rus- sia, British media reported on Friday. Defender John Stones plus midfielders Jordan Henderson and Adam Lallana are recalled, replacing Chris Smalling, Dele Alli and Daniel Sturridge from the team that suffered a shock 2-1 defeat by Iceland in the last 16 at Euro 2016. Goalkeeper Joe Hart, who has left Manchester City for To- rino on a season-long loan after falling out of favour under Pep Guardiola, keeps his place for the game at Trnava's City Arena. Manchester City's new 47.5 million pounds ($63.14 million) signing Stones, who did not feature at the Euros in France, will partner Cahill in central defence, with Tottenham Hot- spur's Kyle Walker and Danny Rose retained in the fullback positions. Eric Dier holds on to the de- fensive midfield role alongside Henderson, with captain Wayne Rooney, who will become Eng- land's most capped outfield player surpassing David Beck- ham's 115, in an attacking role just behind forward Harry Kane. Raheem Sterling and Lallana will play on the f lanks. England were held to a disap- pointing 0-0 draw by Slovakia in the group stage at Euro 2016 after then manager Roy Hodg- son surprisingly made several changes to his team but Al- lardyce reckons they will be a different proposition at home. "I didn't watch them in the Euros because I think different tactics will be used by Slovakia when they are playing at home," he was quoted as saying by The Independent website. "They only needed a point in the Euros, so they sat back and were very defensively minded and really chose not to attack at all because they only needed a point. I think the onus will now be on them to come and attack us and win their home game. "It will be very important for them and their manager and that might hopefully leave our creative players a little bit more space to break them down where they failed in the Euros." However, Allardyce, who re- jected the chance to play a warm-up friendly at Wembley Stadium, knows he is already under pressure to ensure Eng- land get off to a good start. "Massively, yes," he said. "And there is a huge need to at the very least come back with a re- sult." England team: Joe Hart; Kyle Walker, Gary Cahill, John Stones, Danny Rose; Eric Dier, Jordan Henderson; Adam Lallana, Wayne Rooney, Raheem Sterling; Harry Kane Crutchlow seizes home pole at wet Silverstone