Patterson's Sports Page

After a two week break from racing and a busy spell at the engine shop, Mahindra’s riders and team join forces again this weekend at the Montmeló circuit outside Barcelona for round five of 17 in the Moto3™ World Championship.

A tranche of new engine parts and the boost of having opened their World Championship score at the previous round will add further impetus to their efforts – race-developing the all-new all-independent Mahindra MGP-30 in the white heat of grand prix competition.

It was the younger Mahindra rider, Marcel Schrötter (19, from Germany), who bagged the points, in a gruelling race in which his refusal to give up in treacherous wet conditions earned him 12th place. Team-mate Danny Webb (21, from England) fell prey to the conditions, dashing his hopes of making the most of his skills on the wet track.

The Indian team, based in Italy, is facing a grid full of over-the-counter production racers with its own pure prototype – still at the beginning of its development and already able to mix it with the establishment. Mahindra has chosen this difficult path because engineering lessons learned offer greater research-and-development opportunities to the Indian manufacturer.

“We have had some challenging times, but the result at Le Mans shows that if we never give up and all work together, we can continue making progress. That is very much the Mahindra philosophy,” said Mahindra Racing’s CEO Mufaddal Choonia.

The Catalunyan GP is the second race this year in Spain, with Moto3 the first race of Sunday, over 22 laps of the 2.937-mile (4.727 km) circuit. The track is shared with Formula One, but does not use the chicanes put in for the cars.

DANNY WEBB

This project is tough but interesting, and we are taking it step by step. I’m looking forward to testing the new parts, and having another go at getting further forward in qualifying and the race. It’s not a favourite track, but it’s a good track. Let’s go.

MARCEL SCHRÖTTER

To be honest Le Mans was one of the most difficult races I’ve ever done. I just wanted it to be over. Now looking back I can appreciate the result a bit more. We’ve been asking for more from the engine, and that’s what we’re expecting at Catalunya.

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Donald, Sattappa, Dayne, Katya, Chadwick and Myron crowned themselves with glory, by winning the 2012 National Boardsailing Championships in their category with clear leads over their rivals.

Donald Coelho of Goa Beach sports Academy, captured his second National title in the Raceboard Seniors, in no uncertain terms, taking sweet revenge on Remy, who had just piped him to the title last year. Donald kept a clean slate taking 10 guns to win his second title.

Sattappa Kuranagi of AYN Mumbai, won his second title in the RSX class Seniors, after a hard and bitter fight with his compatriot and main rival Chenaiah. It was heartbreak for Chenaiah, who is participating in his first Nationals. However he performed creditably to take the second spot.

Dayne Coelho, GYA, performed a hat trick by capturing his third title in a row in the Raceboard Youth division. At age 14 he still has 3 more years in the Youth division, and one hopes to see him excel at the international level in the youth and Senior divisions.

Katya Coelho, of GBSA, captured her first National title, beating back all the challenge, in the Raceboard Youth Girls division. Malvika Joshi put up a gritty performance to take the second place.

Chadwick won the Raceboard Junior Boys title after a hard fought battle with his main rival Vir.Menon. With both tied till the final race, Chadwick sialed his heart out in the strong wind conditions to win the final race and take the Championship.

Myron Gomes of GYA, son of ex- National Champion Mathew Gomes, showed his sailing genes, by winning the title in the Raceboard Subjunior Division.

The final day of the National Boardsailing Championships started in winds of 8 knots building up gradually to 15 knots. 2 races were sailed back to back in the morning session, and one in the afternoon.

In the RSX Seniors once again the honours were shared by Sattappa and Chennaiah. The first race saw Sattappa , Murugan, Chennaiah and Prabhu shoot off the start line together. Sattappa tacked off to the port side of the course and was soon followed by the other three. In the tacking duel Chennaiah got the better of Sattappa to round the windward mark first followed closely by Sattappa, Murugan and Prabhu. On the reach, however Sattappa sailed better to take control of the race again. After a close fight Sattappa piped Chenaiah to win the race by a couple of seconds. Murugan took the third spot.
In the second race Chenaiah shot off from the start, and raced away, to lead till the halfway mark. Sattappa fought back hard, and kept the pressure on Chennaiah, who capsized and let Sattappa shoot past him to take his second gun of the day, and assure himself of the Championship.

In the Raceboard Seniors, Remy sailed well in the first race of the day, to take the lead and hold Donald at bay. Donald fought hard but Remy held on to win the race.
However in the second race of the morning, a pumped up Donald pushed hard from the start. Donald gave Remy no chance at all, taking the lead from the start to end and winning with a lead of over 100 mtrs. A fighting Malkit Singh who had lost out to Ram Lal yesterday, kept a close watch on Ram Lal, and kept him covered all through out to make sure that he took the third spot in both the races to keep his hopes of a bronze medal alive.

In the Raceboard Youth Boys, Dayne proved his superiority in no uncertain terms by taking both the guns very comfortably. Canute Demello came back strongly to take the second and third place in the two races. Dirquane took the third and second place in the two races.

In the Raceboard Youth Girls, Malavika Joshi gave Katya a good fight, but Katya with her better board handling and superior windsurfing skill held off Malvika’s challenge, to take both the guns.Malvika took the second spot in both races and Malaika Vaz, took the third spot.

In the Raceboard Junior Boys,it was once again a fight between Chadwick and Vir. Chadwick took the gun in the first race, but Vir fought back in the second race to race ahead from the start and win the second race in the morning.session.

A lot of credit for the excellent performance of the Goan sailors should go the Mathew Gomes, the state sailing coach, and former National Windsurfing Champion, who has put in a lot of work alongwith Donald Coelho to build up the standard of the Junior and youth sailors of Goa.

The afternoon session saw strong winds of about 15 knots gusting to 22 knots, with swells of I.5 mtr..

In the RSX Seniors it was once again a fight between Chenaiah and Sattappa. Satappa raced off in the strong wind conditions, doing far better on the beats and reaches than Chenaiah, to win the race comfortably.

In the Raceboard Seniors, Donald retired from the final race,since he had already won the Championship. Remy sailed breavely in the strong winds to win the race comfortably

In the Raceboard Youth, Dayne took the lead and made a clean sweep of the race.

In the Raceboard Youth Girls a fast improving Malvika put up a stellar performance to take her second gun after Katya retired from the race with a broken mast foot.

In the Junior Boys Chadwick sailed well to win the race in the Junior boys. Vir Menon sailed bravely, but the strong wind conditions were a bit too much for him, causing him to capsize several times. His performance is extrememly creditable considering that this is his first National Championship in Windsurfing.

In the subjunior boys, it was Myron Gomes who ruled 2 guns and one second place. Malban took one gun and 2 second places, followed by Rhea.

Mr. Vasudev Prabhudesai, Director of Sports was the Chief Guest, and Cesar Menezes, was the guest of Honour.
Mr Prabhudesai praised the sailors for their excellent performance and exhorted them to reach higher standards. He assured them of all the help and assistance from the Govt, who he said would go all out to support top sports persons. The prizes were given away by by Mr .Prabhudesai.

Day 2 of the 2012 National Boardsailing Championships started in light wind conditions of about 7 knots, gradually picking up to 10 knots. Two races were sailed in the morning session.

The fourth race of the Championships sailed in the morning session, saw Remy sail off to the starboard side of the course to take counter the strong high tide current. The rest of the fleet however sailed to the port side of the course. The light winds and strong currents gave Remy a great advantage as he raced past all the competition leaving Donald a good 300 mtrs behind. Donald sailed his heart out and managed to reduce the gap, but Remy managed to hold out and win the race comfortably in the Raceboad Seniors followed by Donald.

The fifth race in the Raceboard Seniors saw a strong fight back from Donald, who covered Remy from the start, after getting off to a perfect start. Donald took no chances and raced off to build a lead in each leg of the race and win the fifth race comfortably, followed by a visibly tired Remy. A much improved Malkit Singh of AYN surprised RamLal on the Navy and took the third position in both the races.

In the RSX Seniors it was once again a close fight between Sattappa, Chennaiah, Murugan and Prabhu. In the fourth race, all four sailors kept a close watch on one another. Chennaiah, who is a better sailor in light wind conditions, kept a tight control on the race and kept Sasttapa covered all through to ultimately win the race by about 3 boad lengths. Sattappa took the second spot followed by Prabhu.

In the fifth race, Sattappa turned the tables on Chennaiah. Sattappa got off to a perfrect start and stayed upwind of Chennaiah, tacking on every tack of Chennaiah. Chenaiah fought bravely and tried his best to get out of Sattappa’s cover, but Sattappa held on grittily and won the race with a lead of 2 board lengths. Prabhu sailed consistently to hold onto the third position in both races.

Dayne and Katya of Goa Beach Sport Academy made a clean sweep in the raceboard class Youth Division winning both the races comfortably. Cany Rodrigues put up a good show to surprise his rivals and take the second position in both the mornings races in the youth boys. Malvika Joshi sailed consistently to hold onto her second position in the youth girls in both the races.

The honours in the Raceboard Junior Boys were shared by Chadwick Demello of GYA and Vir, Menon of RMYC. Chadwick took the fourth race comfortably, with Vir in the second spot, but a fast improving, displayed far better board control and race tactics to surprise Chadwick and win the fifth race with a comfortable lead. Raunak Pai of GYA took the third spot. . .

The afternoon session saw the wind pick up to about 15 knots with swells of over 1 mtr.
The sixth race saw a lot of excitement with Remy trying to take off on a port tack from the pin head. His attempt came to naught when he went crashing into the rest of the fleet and was forced to do his penalty, leaving the field open for Donald to win the Raceboard Seniors race comfortably. Remy however used his better sailing skills to overtake RamLal and Malkit Singh and all the others to take the second spot. Malkit Singh sailed well again to take the third spot.

In the Rsx Seniors, the fight between Satappa and Chennaiah continued. Prabhu took full advantage of their tussle to sail away, and win the sixth race shocking all his other sailors. Satappa took the second spot and Chennaiah the third.

In the Youth Boys Dayne continued his dominance and took his sixth gun of he championship. Dirquane sailed well to take the second spot.

In the junior boys Vir, Menon of RMYC showed his superiority by beating back the challenge of Chadwick, and taking his second gun of the day/ Chadwick took the second spot..

The Championships have now reached a very exciting stage with no clear winner in the RSX Seniors, Raceboard Seniors, junior boys.

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The National Boardsailing Championships 2012 took off to a flying start today with the 1st race being sailed in winds of 8 knots which picked up to 10 knots by the end of the 1st race. Donald, Dayne and Katya of Goa Beach Sport Academy made a clean sweep in the raceboard class while Sattappa and Chennaiah shared honours in the RSX class.

The morning races saw two back to back races. In the 1st race in the RSX senior men Sattappa got off to an excellent start followed by Chennaiah and Murugan. Sattappa got off to a good lead till the 1st wind ward mark, where unfortunately he capsized giving Chennaiah a chance to take the lead. Chennaiah held on to his lead and covered Sattappa throughout the entire race to take the gun in the 1st race.
In the 2nd race Murugan, Sattappa and Chennaiah got off to a good start with all 3 battling it out throughout the entire course of the race. The lead changed hands a couple of time, However Sattappa managed to get ahead on the final beat to take the gun for the 2nd race.

In the 3rd race sailed in the afternoon it was once again a close fight between Sattappa, Murrugan, Chennaiah. & Prabhu. Chennaiah and Sattappa led in different legs of the race. However at the end Sattappa managed to pip Chenaiah to take the 3rd race with a very narrow margin. Chennaiah came in 2nd . Prabhu surprised Murugan and took the 3rd place.
In the Raceboard senior division class it was a close fight between Donald and Remy. In the 1st race Remy of Goa Yachting Association got off to a quick start followed closely by Donald. Remy held the lead for the 1st leg of the race, However on the 2nd leg of the race Donald managed to take the lead by the windward mark. Donald then exploited his better control on the reach to win the 1st race comfortably, followed by Remy.

The 2nd race saw a pumped up Donald taking the lead from the start followed by Remy and Ramlal.. Remy tried his best to close the gap however Donald held onto his lead to take the gun in the 2nd race too.

In the 3rd race held in the afternoon Donald and Remy once again engaged in a close fight with lead changing hand at different phases of the race. Donald however was far quicker on the beat and ultimately managed to take his 3rd gun followed closely by Remy Fernandes.

An improved Ramlal of the navy constituently took the 3rd place in all three races.

In the Race board youth, Dayne Coelho showed that he was head and shoulders ahead of the rest of the competitors by winning both the races in the morning session.. The 2nd Place was taken by Canute and Dirquaine took the 3rd place in the first race, while in the second race Dirquane took the second place followed by Cany.

In the 3rd race held in the afternoon Dayne Coelho once again proved his superiority in no uncertain turns by taking the gun comfortably.

Katya was well ahead of all the other competitors in the youth Girls division. She won both the races in the morning comfortably. The 2nd place was won by Malvika Joshi of Mumbai In the race held in the afternoon Katya proved her superiority once again by taking her 3rd gun and making a clean sweep of all her races.

In juniors Boys Chadwick Demello took the gun in all 3 races of the day. Vir Menon of RBYC performed well to take the second spot. Myron Gomes took both the guns followed by Riya Fernandes and Malben Cabral.

 

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The main races of the 2012 National Boardsailing Championships will start from tomorrow 24th May 2012. The Championships will first time see more than 30 sailors on the waters in the RSX and Raceboard division.
Races will be held for Men, women, in the seniors, youth, Juniors and sub-juniors catergory. Amongst the men the main tussle in the raceboard division will be amongst Donald Coelho, Remy Fernandes and Ramlal. While in the RSX division the tussle will be between Sattappa, Murugan, Prabhu & Channaiah of the Army.

The junior boys event, it is expected to see a tussle between Dwayne Coelho, Chedwick, and Canute and while in the junior girls the fight is expected to see between Kathia and Mallaika.

Several young sailors from Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, Bangalore , and Orissa are expected to give the Goan sailors a tough fight. The winners of this championships are expected to represent India at the Asian and World Championships.

The Championships shall comprise a maximum of 12 races with 3 races being sailed everyday. The races are being sailed in the river Zuari at Donapaula.

Universal Collectabillia Private Limited, promoters of India’s first sports merchandise and auction website, today announced the auction of a jersey signed by batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar, as part of their ongoing ‘Deal of the Day’ series of auctions.

Auctions for this specially autographed jersey are live on www.collectabillia.com for three more days with an opening bid of Rs 1. The winner of the auction will be the highest bidder on closing of the auction on May 9th.

www.collectabillia.com offers cricket fans a single window of purchase for Sachin Tendulkars 100th Century memorabilia, and for the first time a live auction of Indian premier League merchandise from 6 teams called ‘Deal of the Day’.