Tag: Tokyo

Guenther overhauls Rowland for inaugural Tokyo E-Prix win

Maximilian Guenther claimed his and Maserati MSG’s first win of the Formula E season on the streets of Tokyo, resisting a late charge from polesitter Oliver Rowland, who’d handed him the lead earlier to save power. Nissan driver Rowland controlled …

Maximilian Guenther claimed his and Maserati MSG’s first win of the Formula E season on the streets of Tokyo, resisting a late charge from polesitter Oliver Rowland, who’d handed him the lead earlier to save power.

Nissan driver Rowland controlled the race for the first two thirds, but ceded the lead on lap 25 to fellow front-row starter Guenther, who’d lost out to a fast starting Edoardo Mortara at the start of the race.

A move to reclaim second from Mortara on lap 10 gave Rowland some breathing space up front as he went for his Attack Mode power boost for the first time, while a subsequent trip round the longer line for Mortara consolidated Guenther’s move.

A second trip to the Attack Mode zone dropped Guenther down once again on lap 14, but he retook position on track, getting by Mortara at Turn 16, before setting his sights on Rowland out front.

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A safety car on lap 21 for debris after Jaguar TCS Racing’s Mitch Evans slammed the wall at Turn 9 three laps earlier bunched up the field and aided Guenther massively as Rowland needed to save power to make it to the end of the race, which had been extended by two laps to 35 after the caution period.

He was now in prime position to snatch the lead when the race resumed on lap 23, and two laps later, Rowland lifted on the approach to Turn 10, making Guenther’s pass for the lead an easy job, but Rowland remained on his tail. However, an attempt at snatching the lead with a pass around the outside on the final lap — what would have been the second race in succession the win was decided in such a fashion — failed to pay off, allowing Guenther to bring Maserati its first victory since the second race in Jakarta last June.

Oliver Rowland conceded the lead to save power for a chance to steal back the win, but his tactic fell short. Andrew Ferraro/Motorsport Images

Third went to Andretti’s Jake Dennis, who capitalized on a failed attempt from da Costa to pass Rowland for second with three laps to go. Da Costa was left to take fourth ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Pascal Wehrlein, who’d also dropped down the order after a tussle with Dennis earlier in the race.

Nico Mueller claimed Abt Cupra’s first points of the season in sixth, ahead of Nick Cassidy who finished eighth on the road — having started 19th as a result of a penalty in qualifying — but was bumped up a place after Mortara was disqualified from what would have been Mahindra’s first points finish of the year in sixth for energy overuse.

Robin Frijns subsequently took eighth for Envision Racing despite a collision with Norman Nato on lap 32 that resulted in the Andretti driver receiving a five-second penalty which dropped him out of a points scoring position, too. Sergio Sette Camara was ninth, giving ERT its first points finish of the season, while Sacha Fenestraz ensured two Nissans scored points on home turf with 10th.

After pitting to replace his front wing, Evans came home 14th, behind DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne, Envision’s Sebastien Buemi, and NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes, but ahead of the penalized Nato.

In a stark contrast to last time when he won in Sao Paulo, Sam Bird was the last of the runners to finish, taking 19th ahead of Abt Cupra driver Lucas di Grassi and Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries, who both retired after colliding while trying to avoid Evans. Bird did, however, claim the fastest lap, with a 1m19.731 on lap 27.

RESULTS

Rowland puts Nissan on pole in Tokyo

Oliver Rowland delivered a popular home pole position for Nissan in the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix, narrowly defeating Maximilian Guenther in the final of the head-to-head Duels. Rowland’s lap time of 1m19.023s in the Final was a mere 0.021s ahead of …

Oliver Rowland delivered a popular home pole position for Nissan in the inaugural Tokyo E-Prix, narrowly defeating Maximilian Guenther in the final of the head-to-head Duels.

Rowland’s lap time of 1m19.023s in the Final was a mere 0.021s ahead of the Maserati MSG driver, who went quicker in the final two sectors, but lost time in Turn 1 which ultimately cost him the top spot. That enabled Rowland to claim an eighth career pole and his second of the season.

Ahead of the Final, a number of big names fell in the first round of Duels, with reigning Formula E champion Jake Dennis, Mitch Evans, and Pascal Wehrlein all being defeated.

Andretti’s Dennis lost out to Edoardo Mortara by 0.315s, while TAG Heuer Porsche driver Werhlein was eliminated by a comparable margin by Guenther.

Evans initially didn’t even make the Duels, finishing his group qualifying session in fifth, but he got a reprieve after his Jaguar TCS teammate Nick Cassidy – who’d initially advanced to the head-to-heads after finishing third – had his best time deleted for an unspecified technical infringement.

Then in Evans’ Duel race, he lost out to Rowland by 0.284s after slamming the outside wall at Turn 9.

Evans (and Cassidy) and Wehrlein’s early eliminations from the Duels ensured that for the first time this season the fight for pole would not feature a single Porsche or Jaguar-powered car for the first time this season. Eight different teams occupied the eight spots in the Duels, however, for the first time this season.

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In the Semifinals, Rowland defeated Mortara, who’d taken his Mahindra further than the Indian team had been in qualifying all season. He finished 0.226s adrift of the Brit despite gaining time in the second half of his lap. Guenther had an easier ride, with early wall contact for ERT’s Sergio Sette Camara taking him out of contention right away.

In the opening Group sessions, Porsche’s Antonio Felix da Costa, Andretti’s Norman Nato, NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes, Abt Cupra’s Lucas di Grassi, Maserati’s Jehan Daruvala, and Envision Racing’s Sebastien Buemi – who clipped a wall and bent his steering – all joined Cassidy in being eliminated.

In the second group, it was Robin Frijns (Envision), Nyck de Vries (Mahindra), Jean-Eric Vergne (DS Penske), Dan Ticktum (ERT), Stoffel Vandoorne (DS Penske), Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) and Sam Brid (McLaren) were all eliminated.

For Bird, it was particularly disappointing to wind up last after winning the most recent race in Sao Paulo, Nissan customer McLaren’s first victory in Formula E. He lost control through Turns 16-17, spinning off behind de Vries who’d had a similar off, on his final timed lap.

RESULTS

Evans leads Jaguar-powered sweep of FE practices in Tokyo

Mitch Evans topped FP2 at the Tokyo E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars completed a clean sweep of practice sessions in the manufacturer’s 100th race weekend. After customer entrant Envision Racing paced first practice on Friday with Robin Frijns, Jaguar …

Mitch Evans topped FP2 at the Tokyo E-Prix as Jaguar-powered cars completed a clean sweep of practice sessions in the manufacturer’s 100th race weekend.

After customer entrant Envision Racing paced first practice on Friday with Robin Frijns, Jaguar TCS Racing driver Evans set a best time of 1m19.339s on Saturday morning. His final lap was 0.061s quicker than Nissan’s Oliver Rowland, who had moved to the fore in the final five minutes, with Maximillian Guenther a further 0.027s back for Maserati MSG Racing.

TAG Heuer Porsche once again was the only team and manufacturer to get two cars into the top five with Pascal Wehrlein fourth – just 0.001s off third having gone fastest at the halfway point in the session – and Antonio Felix da Costa fifth.

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Nick Cassidy was sixth in the other factory Jaguar, with the top six all covered by a mere 0.110s. Andretti’s Norman Nato was seventh quickest ahead of Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara, DS Penske’s Jean-Eric Vergne, and Jake Dennis in the second Andretti.

Stoffell Vandoorne was 11th quickest, ahead of Frijns. His Envision teammate Sebastien Buemi was 14th quickest, with Abt Cupra’s Nico Mueller splitting the pair. The other Abt Cupra of Lucas di Grassi was 15th after brushing the wall at Turn 12. The resulting debris brought out the only red flag of the session around halfway through.

NEOM McLaren’s Jake Hughes was 16th quickest, ahead of Sacha Fenestraz (Nissan) and Nyck de Vries (Mahindra), another driver to lose bodywork after a brush with a wall. Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), Jehan Daruvala (Maserati), Sam Bird (McLaren) and Dan Ticktum (ERT) completed the field.

RESULTS

Frijns tops eventful opening FE practice in Tokyo

Robin Frijns topped an eventful opening practice as Formula E made its debut on the streets of Tokyo. The Envision Racing driver’s best time of 1m20.865 came late in the session after a red flag and five-minute extension following an incident …

Robin Frijns topped an eventful opening practice as Formula E made its debut on the streets of Tokyo.

The Envision Racing driver’s best time of 1m20.865 came late in the session after a red flag and five-minute extension following an incident between Sacha Fenestraz and Sam Bird.

A heavy downpour occurred earlier in the day, and while most of the track had dried before the session, there were still wet patches – most notably Turn 1 which caught out a number of drivers.

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Lucas di Grassi, Dan Ticktum, Oliver Rowland, and Pascal Wehrlein were among the drivers that went off in the wet T1, but it was the incident between Fenestraz and Bird which was the most notable. With five minutes of the session remaining, Nissan driver Fenestraz was exiting the pitlane while NEOM McLaren’s Bird was approaching T1. He subsequently locked up on the wet patch and collected Fenestraz as he headed towards the run-off.

That wasn’t the only red flag of the session, with Stoffel Vandoorne bringing one out in the first seven minutes after he stopped at Turn 4 with a battery fault.

Finishing behind Frijns on the timesheets was Mahindra’s Edoardo Mortara, who was 0.217s off the top spot, with Maserati MSG’s Maximillian Guenther a further 0.058s back.

Wehrlein was fourth quickest, ahead of TAG Heuer Porsche teammate Antonio Felix da Costa as the German team finished the session as the only team, and manufacturer, with two cars in the top-five. Both factory Jaguars finished just outside, with Nick Cassidy – a veteran of racing in Japan – and Mitch Evans sixth and seventh respectively.

Mahindra’s Nyck de Vries, Rowland of Nissan, and Abt Cupra’s di Grassi rounded out the top-10, ahead of Andretti’s Norman Nato, Buemi in the other Envision, Bird, Nico Mueller in the second Abt Cupra, and Jean-Eric Vergne, the highest placed DS Penske driver.

Jehan Daruvala (Maserati), Sergio Sette Camara (ERT), Fenestraz, Jake Hughes (McLaren), Ticktum (ERT), and Andretti driver Jake Dennis, who made contact with the wall at Turn 15 with around 10 minutes of the session to go, completed the runners, with Vandoorne classified 22nd and last after his early stoppage.

RESULTS

Three former Notre Dame players on U.S. team training camp roster

Keep a lookout for this year’s Olympic roster.

With the 2024 Olympics in Paris only months away, now is the time for USA Basketball to plan its teams. That includes a women’s 5-on-5 team that can keep the gold medal in the U.S. Sure, the U.S. has won nine of the past 10 golds, but one never can be too certain.

Out of the 18 players on the U.S. training camp roster, 12 will be selected for the upcoming Olympic qualifying tournament. It should be noted that the U.S. is participating in the tournament despite automatically qualifying for the Paris Olympics by virtue of taking the gold in the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics. The next few weeks will serve as player evaluation more than anything else.

Three players on the roster will be familiar to Notre Dame fans because they all played for the Irish. While none of these names are surprises, it still is nice to see them have this opportunity. Here they are:

Playing Japan in style: Golfweek’s Best raters sample some of Asia’s best courses

A golf trip around Japan exposes course raters to new layouts, cultural delights and some of the best meals imaginable.

“Subarashi shotto,” or “great shot” in Japanese – it was music to the ears of 24 Golfweek’s Best panelists on a recent first-ever outing to the Land of the Rising Sun.

On the docket during the 11-day trip were seven of the top-ranked courses in Japan along with a few non-golf days to relax, enjoy the Eastern culture and take in some sights.

First on the agenda for the travel-weary crew was bed and a good night’s rest.  Rumor has it a few even enjoyed a sake or two before turning in.

The first full day in Japan was devoted to a bus tour of Tokyo, highlighting several of the more famous landmarks. First stop was the Asakusa Senso-ji Temple – the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan at over 1,300 years old. The current shrine was rebuilt in 1946 after being destroyed in World War II.

Raters enjoyed the fragrant incense from the temple’s communal urn while they bargained for kimonos, traditional sweets, ceremonial fans and fine chopsticks at the many shops on the temple grounds. Some even paid the 100 yen (about 75 cents) at the o-mikuji stalls to consult the oracle and find divine answers to life’s questions. Sadly, requests for lower handicaps were not answered.

Tokyo Skytree (Courtesy of Golfweek raters)

Next tour stop was Tokyo Skytree. At 2,080 feet high, the Skytree, completed in 2011, is the tallest tower in the world and third tallest building. Skytree is not just visually stunning, it is also an engineering marvel, containing one of the fastest elevators in the world. To calm the overly nervous visitor, Skytree has one of the most elaborate cushioning and seismic damping systems of earthquake proofing anywhere. The Golfweek’s Best raters dutifully oohed and aahed at the forever views from the lofty observation deck.

Returning to the hotel to freshen up, many raters were soon out again to take in the downtown sights and enjoy a sushi dinner.

But back to business.

First on the golfing docket was Toyko Golf Club. This venerable club dates back more than a century, although the current course – designed by Komei Otani – opened in 1940 and occupies the club’s third location. Once more common but rarer now, each of Toyko’s eighteen holes has two greens. The double greens, one set with winter and the other with summer grasses, allow the club to play the course year-round, even during the sometimes extreme seasons common in Japan.

A team of Golfweek’s Best raters in Japan (Courtesy of Golfweek’s Best raters)

The raters enjoyed a gently rolling walking course boasting stern bunkering and demanding approach shots to near perfect greens. It’s easily a club at which you would be proud to hang your hat and enjoy a different set of golf customs than found in most of the world.

“Scotland may be the home of golf, but in Japan the game is revered,” said veteran rater Jim Simmons. “It’s not simply a round of golf, but the polite, wonderful customs and idiosyncrasies which make for a unique day of golf in Japan.”

Gone from today’s Japan is the once-strong caste system, in which you were either a warrior, farmer, craftsman or artisan. What remains is a society where the traditions of order and status are recognized, honored and respected without the strict social segregations of the past.

The act of bowing is called ojigi, originated from the samurai and a is fundamental part of daily Japanese salutations and etiquette. One bows from the waist with a straight back; a slight bow or head nod may be interpreted as being lazy or showing disrespect.

In ojigi, the angles of inclination of one’s body and the positions of one’s hands are important components conveying respect to the status of both the person bowing and the person being bowed to. Proper bowing is taught at a young age. Some modern Japanese companies even teach bowing techniques to new employees.

Next up on the tour was another top Japanese club. Yokohama Country Club includes a pair of golf courses, one with limited public play (East) and the other open largely to members only (West). The West Course, originally laid out in 1960 by Takeo Aiyama, was reworked in 2016 by the American architecture team of Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw.  A rolling – hilly in places – piece of property (escalators are required at several holes), the West Course features pastoral vistas, stern approaches to smaller greens and an excellent set of par 3s. The East Course was left for a future visit.

Photos of Notre Dame alumnus Jackie Young in the WNBA Finals

The Irish should be proud to have helped develop this champion.

Former Notre Dame player [autotag]Jackie Young[/autotag] has joined a club previously occupied only by [autotag]Ruth Riley[/autotag]. By winning the WNBA championship with the Las Vegas Aces, Young is the second Irish player to win a a national championship, an Olympic gold medal and a WNBA title. She was on the Irish’s national title team in 2018, and she was on the gold-medal team for the inaugural 3-on-3 women’s basketball competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

During the Aces’ finals victory over the Connecticut Sun, Young averaged 12.8 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.3 assists a game while shooting 38.3% from the field. Those numbers as well as matching Riley’s distinction caught the attention of Irish coach [autotag]Niele Ivey[/autotag]:

Appreciate this moment, Irish fans, because it might be a while before we see this again. This program has built some winners, but it rarely churns out winners quite like this. Until the next one comes, enjoy these photos of Young in the 2022 WNBA Finals: