“Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance Announces 2009 Show Winners - Earthtimes” plus 4 more

Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance Announces 2009 Show Winners - Earthtimes
Whibley Wins N.C. GNCC - Cycle News
Portuguese GP: Bridgestone preview - Motorsport.com
Camier to replace Nakano at Aprilia - Visordown.com
Meb Keflezighi of US to run New York City Marathon - Miami Herald

Radnor Hunt Concours d'Elegance Announces 2009 Show Winners - Earthtimes

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 06:04 PM PDT

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Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:27 PM PDT

Geico/JG Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki's Paul Whibley took a definite leap toward tying up this year's Can-Am Grand National Cross Country Championship when he took a decided victory at round 11, the Moose Racing Yadkin Valley Stomp, on September 27 in North Carolina. His two main competitors, FMF Makita Suzuki's Josh Strang and Charlie Mullins joined him on the podium.

Whibley was the first to conquer the grassy start in the XC1 class, collecting the $250 Motorcycle-USA.com holeshot award. Rain the day prior made the track a battlefield of deep ruts and mudholes - added in with the already challenging 15-foot creek jump.

Whibley grabbed the holeshot, but Husqvarna's Glenn Kearney quickly edged in front around the second turn to take the lead. By the creek jump, Whibley had moved into the lead, but Kearney stayed close behind - followed by Strang and Mullins. But by the third lap, Whibley began to move away from the field with Strang some 50 seconds behind.

Strang knew he needed to top Whibley in order to close the series point standings back up and he put in a charge and made up time - and by the white flag had cut his margin in half. But Strang ran out of time as Whibley finished rough 20 seconds in front of him.

"It's hard feeling like I'm the faster rider out there, but I keep making little mistakes here and there," Strang said. "Second place is good, but not where I need to be."

Mullins finished third.

Shock Doctor KTM's Nate Kanney moved up to finish fourth, followed by Kearney in fifth. Hawk finished sixth in front of Jimmy Jarrett in seventh. Kenny Gilbert, Husaberg's Jesse Robinson and Jason Davis rounded out the top 10.

In XC2 action, Shock Doctor KTM's Kailub Russell clinched his first professional championship after finishing first in front of teammate Cory Buttrick and GEICO/JG Racing Monster Energy Kawasaki's Scotty Watkins.

"It feels pretty good," Russell said. "It was a good year. There were a few races I could check out, but most of these races these guys kept me in check."

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Portuguese GP: Bridgestone preview - Motorsport.com

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 02:44 PM PDT

Bridgestone slick compounds available:
Front: Soft, Medium
Rear: Medium, Hard (asymmetric)

Estoril is one of the most technically demanding races on the calendar and one of toughest challenges of the season for Bridgestone's tyres. The very varied nature of the circuit will provide a stern test of the wider operating range of this year's tyres as they are faced with a multitude of different corner characteristics, corner loads and surfaces.

The circuit's four left- and nine right-handed corners mean that Bridgestone has selected asymmetric rear tyres for Estoril in order to compensate for the resulting difference in tyre temperature between the right and left shoulders. The temperature differential between the shoulders is more marked at this track as the right-handers are generally fast but the left-handers generally slow, including the chicane which is the slowest corner on the calendar.

The main challenge of the circuit comes from the number of different conditions a tyre has to cope with during a lap whilst providing a consistent feeling for the riders throughout. Estoril has a long and fast straight with heavy braking for the first corner, an imbalance between lefts and rights, a very slow chicane and the long final corner in which the tyres have to contend with high lean angles at a high speed as the riders try to open the throttle as soon as possible to maximise their speed across the start/finish line.

This year's Portuguese Grand Prix is the tenth to be held at the Estoril circuit and there have been four different winners at the venue in as many years, though it is the only GP run this season at which a Bridgestone-shod rider has never claimed victory in the premier class. Makoto Tamada took pole and finished second in 2004, and more recently Casey Stoner qualified second and finished third in 2007 and Valentino Rossi qualified and finished third last year.

Whilst it is a foregone conclusion this season, the first win by a Bridgestone-shod rider at Estoril will be another circuit ticked for Bridgestone, and also the 49th premier class victory on Bridgestone tyres since the company's entry into the sport in 2002.

The Portuguese Grand Prix has been moved back to the second half of the season after being run in April last year. It comes after a three-week break following the cancellation of the Hungarian round at the Balatonring venue.

Hiroshi Yamada - Manager, Bridgestone Motorsport Department

"In effect we have now had two breaks this season, and this one was longer than we had in August so I am sure that everyone is looking forward to going racing again and seeing the conclusion of this exciting season. With the expected return of Casey to the championship, I'm sure we will continue to see the sort of close competition and thrilling races we have gotten used to in this first year of single tyre supply in MotoGP."

Tohru Ubukata - Manager, Bridgestone Motorcycle Tyre Development Department

"Estoril is one of the toughest tracks on the calendar and has a challenging mixture of slow-speed lefts, high-speed rights and interlinking straights that test all aspects of the rider, machine and tyre package. The circuit has a very varied nature throughout each lap which is what makes it challenging, but I am confident that the wider operating range of this year's tyres will give us a significant advantage this season compared to those previously.

"The nature of the track changes from one corner to the next, and the tyres also have to contend with a surface change during the lap after partial resurfacing work conducted in 2006. Again we see some heavy braking points at Estoril, such as into the first corner, so stability from the front tyre is crucial. The use of asymmetric rear tyres is also very important here, mainly to ensure good and consistent grip round the slower left-handers such as the chicane where the riders are accelerating hard on corner exit."

-credit: bridgestone

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Camier to replace Nakano at Aprilia - Visordown.com

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 03:05 PM PDT

Talkback: Camier to replace Nakano at Aprilia

Meb Keflezighi of US to run New York City Marathon - Miami Herald

Posted: 29 Sep 2009 12:56 PM PDT

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ING Miami Marathon becoming an international event

After Jose Amado Garcia of Guatemala won the ING Miami Marathon last year, more than 2,000 countrymen greeted him at the airport and had a parade in his honor. Later, Guatemalan President Alvaro Colom invited Garcia to his home for dinner.

No wonder Garcia will be back to run Sunday in the ING Miami Marathon -- along with 2005 women's winner Sandra Ruales Mosquera, who is a dual citizen of Ecuador and Spain.

''I was received as a hero,'' Garcia, 31, said Friday from the Miami Beach Convention Center, where executive race director Robert Pozo introduced the elite runners and city officials at a news conference.

Marathon director has University of Miami ties

The ING Miami Marathon has a new race director. And longtime University of Miami fans might recognize the name.

David Scott, who worked in the UM athletic department for 28 years, has been named general manager and race director for US Road Sports & Entertainment of Florida -- the organizing body of the ING Miami Marathon and a series of other endurance races in South Florida.

The eighth running of the ING Miami Marathon will be Jan. 31, 2010, on the usual course that begins outside AmericanAirlines Arena and ends at Bayfront Park.

Diverse ING Miami Half Marathon field will set its own pace

Bettye Phinazee will compete in the ING Miami Half Marathon with a portable tank pumping liquid oxygen into her lungs -- in between injections of insulin for her diabetes.

Joining her among the capacity field of 15,000 expected Sunday at the ING Miami Marathon and Half Marathon: Jamaican-born pilot Donovan King; black-belt judo instructor Thomas Jackson;, Cuban-born Domingo Cernadas, a retired mechanic; Cuban-born Orlando Mitjans, a retired chef; and 62-year-old Thelma Jones, a fitness-program instructor.

''Training for this half marathon has kept me going,'' said Phinazee, 57, who competed in the Miami Corporate Run several years ago, before she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis and diabetes. ``Maybe I'll meet someone walking with a cane, maybe somebody walking after a stroke. It'll be amazing.

Publicist gave big lift to sports

Joe Goldstein of Boca Raton and New York, a fast-talking, persistent sports publicist who promoted everything from the New York City Marathon to Evel Knievel, has died. He was 81.

Goldstein died of a stroke Friday at Boca Raton Community Hospital, according to the public relations firm named for him and one he ran for 40 years.

Always dapper, always on the move, Goldstein was an ever present figure on the sports scene and a throwback to a bygone era. He had a hand in everything from track and field to harness racing to Knievel's motorcycle jump of Snake River Canyon.

Programs from the far east to Europe

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 21.

Cuong Nhu Oriental Martial Arts: Mixed martial arts program for ages 10 and up. Stresses physical development, self-defense and discipline; 7 to 8:30 p.m. (also Monday); Kendale Elementary, 10693 SW 93rd St., Kendall; call for price. 305-253-3183.

Pilates Exercise: South Miami Hospital's Behavioral and Collaborative Medicine program offers class for all fitness levels at the Victor E. Clarke Education Center, Classroom F. Program is designed to strengthen core muscles in the abdomen and back to improve posture and tone all muscle groups; 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday (also Monday); South Miami Hospital, U.S. 1 and Southwest 62nd Avenue, South Miami; $10. 786-662-8106.

The Associated Press

NEW YORK -- Olympic silver medalist Meb Keflezighi will run this year's New York City Marathon.

The 34-year-old American won silver in the marathon at the 2004 Athens Games and was also the runner-up in New York later that year. Other top Americans announced Tuesday for the Nov. 1 race include Abdi Abdirahman and Magdalena Lewy Boulet.

Ryan Hall and Brian Sell, both 2008 Olympians, had been previously announced.

Abdirahman is a three-time Olympian who finished fifth in New York in 2005. Lewy Boulet was second at the 2008 U.S. women's marathon Olympic trials.

Jorge Torres, a U.S. Olympian in the 10,000 meters, will be making his marathon debut.

The race will double as the U.S. men's marathon championship, with the top American finisher receiving $150,000.

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