Welsh Dragons come up smelling of roses

This has been my fourth consecutive season following the Six Nations Championship (although I also followed it in other years - e.g. World Cup years and even the old 1997 Five Nations!) and, though my technical knowledge remains low (I've barely played what is a complicated game) I thought I had the tournament figured out by now. Of course you need backs that are powerful and fast; half-backs who display leadership through good reading of the game and effective communication; and forwards who, taken together, have a mix of proficient ball-carrying and 'set-piece' (lineouts and scrummage) skills. All players need to be good tacklers too! But, in a tournament of fine margins within the playing parameters, I figured that a successful side needed momentum.

In what is essentially a short tournament (five rounds of matches fitted into seven weekends in February and March) momentum usually means winning your first match. This breeds confidence with spills over into future games and this process is, in theory, self-fulfilling as the early protagonists fight amongst themselves for the title. True, in the last game or two nerves may return as the prize at stake (the title, or a Grand Slam) becomes higher, but usually a good start still yields at least one of the two goals. Since the onset of the professional era (shortly after the 1995 5 Nations) only two teams have proceeded to win the title after losing their opening match (England in 1996 and France in 2006). Another bonus, since the introduction of Italy to the championships, is having three home games rather than two. In the 13 previous Six Nations championships, only 4 teams have won the title playing only two games at home and hence three away (England in 2000; Wales in 2005; France in 2007 and Ireland in 2009).

By this dual statistical measure, England came into the championships looking good. Stuart Lancaster's young side capped off an otherwise mixed set of Autumn Internationals with a resounding defeat of the All-Blacks! On the back of this they opened up their campaign with a comfortable, expansive victory over Scotland at Twickenham. A 12-6 victory over Ireland at the Aviva Stadium ended a 10-year away drought against the Irish and was followed by home victories over France and Italy. Although the latter victory was far less comfortable than anticipated, they still seemed to have the momentum, confidence and ability to win the championship and maybe even the Grand Slam to boot. Their likely competitors Ireland and France, meanwhile, were playing only two home games and had fallen by the wayside as injuries and poor form overwhelmed them.

Lying in wait for England in the final game was Wales. Grand Slam winners 12 months ago, the Welsh were coming into the championships shorn of confidence, having been beset by injuries (particularly to their 2nd Row) and having failed to win a single game since last year's Championship! To compound things, they were then blown away by Ireland in the first-half of their opener at home in the Millennium Stadium. Although they recovered in the 2nd Half, it was not enough to salvage the game. With confidence seemingly at rock bottom, and a trip to Paris next up, they seemed to be going nowhere fast. In this sense, there seemed to be echoes of 2006 and 2009, both years in which Wales had - despite occasionally good performances - demonstrably failed to kick on after Grand Slam successes in the previous years. Some even went further; with three away games remaining, a Wooden Spoon was a distinct possibility.

The remedy was that Wales needed a win from somewhere...anywhere! They were perhaps fortunate to be encountering a French side which themselves were going through a period of introspection after title dreams were blown away by a surprise opening weekend defeat to Italy in Rome's Stadio Olimpico. What followed was a nervous match, played with little adventure by two teams trying their hardest simply not to lose. One moment of inspiration punctuated the perspiration on offer; spotting space, fly-half Dan Biggar sent a delicate chip out to the far-side which was seized upon by wing George North, who promptly bundled over for a priceless Welsh try. Leigh Halfpenny's boot had not wavered even through the difficult times and the full-back added the rest of the points to give Wales a breakthrough 16-6 win at the Stade de France.

The Welsh were on their way and, suddenly, things started to fall into place. Ryan Jones - restored to the side as captain in Paris - seemed to enjoy drawing upon his years of experience to guide a young side through their difficulties and wins followed against Italy (in the Roman rain) and Scotland (at Murrayfield). Relative newcomers against Ireland started to mature and grow in confidence, including the second-row forwards Ian Evans and Andrew Coombs and fly-half Biggar whilst experienced heads like Gethin Jenkins and Alun Wyn Jones overcame their respective injury battles. Coming into the final weekend of the championships, only Wales could deny England a Grand Slam and, if they won by eight points or more, they would even pinch the championship! Despite, lest we forget, three away games and an 11-month losing streak which included the opening game of the Six Nations! Even at this stage, England were most people's pick. Yes, it was in Cardiff, in front of a passionate Welsh rugby crowd. Yes, Wales were coming to the boil and, yes, they may even win, but most people's money was on England staying close enough to still take the title.

Wales saved their best for last and, with it, all predictions and betting slips were heading for the recycle bin long before the full-time whistle. To give England their due, they fought tremendously hard in an extremely physical contest and, as a result, were still in touch at 9-3 down at the interval. But they couldn't sustain that performance for ever and after about 55 minutes the Welsh put the afterburners on; after Halfpenny's kicks and a Biggar drop-goal had earlier put them a crucial nine points ahead, two tries by wing Alex Cuthbert truly took the wind out of England's sails and hastened a 30-3 romp in Wales' favour - a record win for them over their big rivals from across the River Severn! Heroes in red were to be found all over the field; the front-row (Jenkins - stand-in captain with Ryan Jones injured, Adam Jones and Richard Hibbard) were 'streetwise' in the scrum; Sam Warburton and Justin Tipuric were brilliant ball-carrying flankers (Warburton also reacting perfectly to losing the captaincy following injury earlier in the tournament and then not getting it back once fit again); Mike Phillips was back to his best at scrum-half; Cuthbert delivered the tries and Halfpenny was clinical with the boot whilst also impervious to pressure under the high ball in defence.

In short, the star of this mostly young Welsh side flashed the brightest it had done since we saw a glimpse of what they were capable of during the 2011 World Cup. And do not underestimate, furthermore, what they have achieved in the process. To win the 2013 Six Nations Championship after losing their opening game and facing three away fixtures is a highly impressive feat; not for nothing did stand-in coach Rob Howley describe it as better than their Grand Slam achieved twelve months previously. However, for them to fully realise their potential, their hunger must not by satiated purely by winning the Six Nations and, additionally, by dealing out periodic thrashings to the English. Rather, they must build on this and try and plot a way of conquering the Southern Hemisphere sides in years to come, despite some of them proving a bete noire for the team in recent years (most notably Australia).  As for England, well there are still plenty of positives to take from their championship as, with a team even younger than Wales', they came within an inch of success. Their lack of attacking flair at times, and their loss to Wales, seems to indicate that they are a bit further away from the finished product than were Sir Clive Woodward's Grand Slam near-miss sides of 2000 and 2001. However, with the likes of Joe Launchbury, Chris Robshaw (captain), Tom Wood, Ben Youngs and Owen Farrell, a nucleus of the side is forming. They will learn from this experience and could still  - particularly with home support -be a force in the 2015 World Cup, though they are in a Group of Death featuring Australia and, yes, Wales.

That said, aside from Wales' fightback and their final flourish, there was little in this year's instalment of the Six Nations Championship that will set the Southern Hemisphere quaking in their boots in the immediate future. The opening weekend saw 16 tries and raised hopes of a tournament packed with expansive, running rugby. Alas it flattered to deceive as only 21 tries were scored in the remaining four weekends across 12 matches, leaving the overall tally at 37, a record low since 2000. There were mitigating factors, including inclement weather and the continued improvement of Italy (previously whipping boys who this year continued to show their worth by beating France and Ireland in Rome to finish 4th - with the same number of points as Scotland). Indeed, the increased competitiveness of the Six Nations was the real plus to take out of this year; France, favourites going in, finished with the Wooden Spoon despite scoring three points. However, them and Ireland were particularly disappointing (despite Ireland's poor luck with injuries) and the former - historically famous for their flair - seemed particularly low on ideas. Scotland finished a commendable third (beating Italy match-points difference), largely by heroic defending backed up by racking up penalty points or counterattacking tries; the rugby equivalent of defending deep and then striking on the counterattack. Again it wasn't usually pretty although, in fairness, they did have their moments and the players' efforts could never be faulted. Indeed, one lesson for all teams here is to try and add creativity and greater assertiveness to the important quality of endeavour. It won't be easy, particularly in tight matches...though better weather conditions would, of course, be a good start.

[UPDATE 14/04: WEBLINKS AND MINOR CORRECTIONS (E.G. REGARDING REQUIREMENTS OF FORWARDS; CLARIFICATION OF ITALY'S FINISHING POSITION HAVE, AT LAST, BEEN ADDED!]

Maguire relights his Ranking Event-winning fire in Newport

Consider the following two statements:

"He is a very competitive player...if anything a bit too competitive at times because he wants it so badly." (Willie Thorne)

"I don't think he is the type of person who is dedicated to the game in the way some other players are. He [just] enjoys his life, enjoys his snooker and takes the successes that come to him." (Stephen Hendry)


A skim through the two and, even if you'd cottoned on to them both being from the same sport, you'd be forgiven for thinking that they are about different players. In the context of the 2013 BetVictor Welsh Open, perhaps comparing one player's success with why his opponent faltered. In fact, the surprising thing is that both statements were made about the same player!

Stephen Maguire first caught my eye in the 2007/08 season. He had burst on the scene in 2004 with two Ranking Event wins (including the prestigious UK Championship) but I'd only (re)started following the sport again during 2006/07. While he had been more anonymous then, in 2007/08 he was one of only two players (Ronnie O'Sullivan being the other) to win more than one Ranking Event when he triumphed in both the Northern Ireland Trophy and the China Open. On top of that he reached the final of the UK Championship (losing to Ronnie) and duly ended the year at world number 2.

The subsequent season was somewhat more turbulent and less successful for the Scotsman. His match with Jamie Burnett at the UK Championship was investigated by Scottish courts due to irregular betting patterns on a 9-3 scoreline (which turned out to be the final result) and, though he was eventually cleared, the verdict was not delivered until the middle of 2011. Meanwhile, away from the snooker table, one of his grandparents passed away, something which affected Maguire particularly as they had knocked out a wall to accommodate a snooker table on which he could practise as a child. Despite all this, a consistent run of Quarter-Final (including that year's World Championships, where - along with Mark Selby v Graeme Dott - I saw him beat Mark King 13-6 in Round 2) and Semi-Final appearances ensured he retained the number 2 ranking at season's end.

Since then his ranking has remained high (it has fallen from number 2 but is still well within the Top 16 - a cut-off from which players - until this calendar year - were exempt from needing to qualify for major tournaments) but he had failed to add any elite (Ranking Event) successes to his tally since 2008. At times he has been prone to visible frustration at the table; a hit-and-hope, a stomp of the cue or the occasional disgruntled and angry look when he is in the balls but has run out of position, so keen has he been to win the matches. Against John Higgins in the final of the Welsh Open in 2011 he missed a chance to go 6-2 up at the end of the first session (out of two) and was demonstrative in his anger at losing it. It seemed an overreaction of sorts given he still led 5-3 but he felt he needed the extra cushion against someone of Higgins' calibre. In the evening session, he subsequently never got going and ended up losing 9-6 to Higgins. John battled back well but there also seemed also to be evidence of Maguire getting too worked up; of almost wanting it to badly, and hence corroborating Thorne's analysis.

Yet, at the same time, Hendry's analysis also holds. Would Hendry, in his 1990s pomp, have allowed himself to win only one remaining frame in the match after missing the chance to go 6-2 up in the first session of a Ranking Final? More likely is he would have castigated himself initially, while disciplining himself to mentally regroup for the evening. In another context, Maguire played two fantastic matches at the start of the 2008 World Championship, only to come undone in a final-frame decider in his Quarter-Final tie against Joe Perry in which he was much more passive. From recollection, Perry had a good tournament and, furthermore, I don't doubt that Maguire is a solid professional who practises diligently and has worked very hard for his successes. Yet equally one can envisage that Hendry, with momentum early in a World Championship, would have worked his damndest to ensure he maintained it; that it would take a 10/10 performance (in every department) by an opponent to beat him. Hendry is in many ways an exceptional example, but perhaps in his analysis we can see the last elements of dedication that Maguire has been missing relative to some of his more successful rivals particularly since 2008 (e.g. Higgins, Neil Robertson, Mark Selby); Hendry and these players are also in some context overcompetitive but have managed to channel it more positively and in a success-maximising manner.

Two years on from that defeat to Higgins, and following further final defeats in the German Masters and the China Open last year, Maguire was again in the final in Newport (the location for the Welsh Open) to try and end his drought against Englishman Stuart Bingham. In a tense match which had everything - big breaks, good safety, nerve-induced misses - he wobbled again from 3-1 up and trailed 7-5 with one half-session left. Yet he dug deep to win the next three frames - including a good break in Frame 14 - and go within one frame of victory. In Frame 16 he carved out a break amongst the balls and nearly got to frame ball before missing a tricky red but his hard work was undone by a return of his impetuousness; a hit-and-hope out of a snooker was punished by Bingham, who cleared up immaculately to take it to a decider. Yet Maguire was not to be denied this time. Again the balls did not run easily for him, and he often found himself out of position. This time, however, he remained steely focused on the task and cleared the reds to take the frame and, with it, the title of a ranking event that has existed since 1992. Having rapped the table hard with his knuckles on sinking the crucial red Maguire later admitted: "I'd forgotten what it felt like to get to the end of a tournament and be the winner. It's the best feeling ever!"

Truth be told, I doubt the Welsh Open will prove to be a game-changer for Maguire in the Stephen Hendry sense of the word. Snooker has changed so much over the last few years, with so many tournaments and now an increasingly competitive crop of elite players. There is barely a cigarette paper between most of the Top 16 and the likes of Neil Robertson, Mark Selby and Judd Trump have arguably kicked on with particular power in recent years. Bingham is amongst a crop of older players who have started going deeper and deeper in Ranking tournaments ("learning how to win" in Thorne's words), while youngsters like Luca Brecel and Jack Lisowski wait in the wings. Heck, just when you thought the pool of talent was getting full, along came former world billiards champion Pankaj Advani with a run to the Quarter-Finals in Newport! Furthermore, the sort of 100% commitment to the game and all its elements is easier - as even Hendry concedes- when you are younger and single than when you have got a family to think about, as even the likes of Maguire and Robertson now do. Yet the win in South Wales should bring renewed confidence to the Glaswegian regarding his game and this, in itself, could help alleviate frustration and maintain focus. And in that context, a 4-5% improvement in those areas could be all it takes for Stephen Maguire to kick on and win some more Ranking Event titles - the World Championship in Sheffield included!

[NOTE 24/02: PLAN TO ADD WEBLINKS, CORRECTIONS ETC. TO THESE ASAP. WILL ATTEMPT TO NOTIFY READERS OF THESE

UPDATE 24/03: WEBLINKS FINALLY ADDED AND MINOR CORRECTIONS MADE].

Timo Glock: Continuing to walk the road less-travelled

Out of a cold weekend morning in the month where, for once, all is quiet on the Formula 1 front, the tranquility was disturbed on Sunday (January 20th) by news in German daily Bild Zeitung claiming that Timo Glock was on the verge of a prompt departure from Marussia Racing. Having raced for the team (then Virgin Racing from a partnership between Manor Grand Prix and Virgin, Richard Branson's company) since it joined the grid in 2010, the news came as a surprise with Timo having previously signed a contract up to the end of the 2014 season.

The picture came a little bit clearer the following day (January 21st), when Glock's departure was confirmed. Having been paid by Marussia, the team cited financial constraints and made clear their intention to seek a pay driver for the now-vacant race seat. Despite this, Glock continued to express optimism about the future; having been linked to a BMW DTM ride in Bild, he tested a Mercedes DTM car later in the week, before being confirmed at BMW on Friday (January 25th). A move to DTM appears promising for Glock (though, collectively speaking, ex-F1 drivers have often failed to hit the heights in DTM), and another fascinating development in a career that has not been without its share of left-field turns throughout. Having started out somewhat quietly via Formula BMW Germany (champion in 2001) and Formula Three (3rd in German F3 in 2002; 5th in the 2003 F3 Euroseries) he made what appeared to be a surprise debut for Jordan at the 2004 Canadian GP when incumbent driver Giorgio Pantano hit financial difficulty. He made his mark immediately, beating highly-performing team-mate Nick Heidfeld in Canada and even inheriting a points finish of 7th after Toyota and Williams were thrown out for irregularities. Although Pantano returned to the seat for the remainder of the European leg of the season Glock, backed in 2004 by Deutsche Post sponsorship, ended the season at the China, Japan and Brazil flyaways and continued to show promise.

Yet having come into F1 suddenly, he left it almost equally suddenly at season's end and went Stateside to compete in Champcars for 2005. It was a challenging move as he rubbed shoulders with some grizzled old pros on the US racing scene: "For me, Paul Tracy was a strange guy to race against; in one test, we had a big fight because he blocked me on every lap on new tyres. When we got to the race in Monterey, in Mexico, he did the same thing in qualifying so I hit his car hard - I'd planned it that way. From that point on we got on quite well together. You just have to get their respect." he said while answering a fan's question in a June 2009 feature with F1 Racing magazine. Respect earned, he ended the year strongly, once again starring at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve; he led in the closing stages but was ordered to cede position to Oriol Servia for cutting the final chicane to defend his position. He had to settle for 2nd on the day, but finished 8th overall in the championship and won Rookie of the Year as a result. For all that, however, few drivers who go over to race in USA tend to find a way (back) to European single-seaters (by which I mean F1, because US racing at Indy/Champcar-level is professional - in other words, you get paid - meaning junior formulae in Europe - where drivers are not paid - can sometimes feel a step down in comparison), mostly because those who have (Michael Andretti, Alessandro Zanardi in 1999, Juan-Pablo Montoya, Cristiano da Matta and Sebastien Bourdais) all tended to only enjoy limited success once in F1.

Glock was different, partly because he got his ticket back to Europe and partly because he accepted this despite the offer being for a season in the junior GP2 Series, rather than F1. A risky decision looked to have failed to pay dividends when he struggled in the underperforming BCN Competicion team early in the season, but a back-breaking crash at the Monaco GP2 Race (back in 2006 Monaco only hosted one GP2 race, rather than the usual two) for Tristan Gommendy left an opening at iSport. This more competitive team hired Timo to replace Gommendy and, having finally been given the platform to display his talent, he was a revelation in the season's second half. In 2007 he proceeded to be the stand-out performer, although operational errors and reliability woes (not to mention a scarcely-believable startline collision with team-mate Andreas Zuber at Magny-Cours) meant that the more stealthy ART driver Lucas di Grassi pushed him all the way for the title.

Hence, after looking like he was cutting himself off from F1 in moving to Champcars, and after his decision to drive for BCN seemed to have left him well off the radar for F1, the now 2007 GP2 Series Champion Timo Glock became the man hired to help revive a Toyota F1 project that had gone a bit stale in the previous season. Over the next two seasons the car enjoyed a leap of competitiveness, and Glock capitalised with a series of points finishes including three podiums (2nd in Hungary 2008 & Singapore 2009, 3rd in Malaysia 2009). He finally seemed established in F1; although evenly-matched with team-mate Jarno Trulli and, like Jarno, prone to inconsistency, he had shown enough in those two seasons to show that, on his day, he was seriously quick and capable of winning races even if a title victory seemed less likely. As Toyota prepared to exit stage left for 2010, two teams competed for his signature: Renault and Manor GP, a new team with backing from Virgin in the offing.

Ostensibly, Renault were the obvious choice; the Enstone team with a strong history including four drivers' and three constructors' titles (including previous team names of Toleman and Benetton). But the team had recently been engulfed by the 2008 Singapore GP crashgate scandal; several key personnel had subsequently left and there was a real threat of the manufacturer pulling the plug on the team (as Toyota and BMW ended up doing at the end of 2009). Additionally, Virgin Racing (what Manor GP became) offered the chance to build something new, to strive to build a team from start-up from success in what was intended to be a more affordable and cost-effective F1 environment. Furthermore, with their unique pursuit of a "CFD-only" car (rather than mixing the IT-driven computational fluid dynamics - CFD - with wind tunnel work), they could end up ahead of the game in the future of F1 design.

Glock went for Virgin, then. Renault withdrew their involvement with F1 after Crashgate, but gradually and not before Genii Capital came on board. With support (initially) from Lotus Cars, the manufacturer could withdraw from the team bearing its name (it eventually became Lotus Renault GP and now Lotus, despite Lotus Cars having no shareholding in the team) without adversely impacting personnel, finances and, consequently, team performance. They also continued to supply engines to the team and, indeed, other F1 teams. Virgin, meanwhile, have become Marussia (via a year of Marussia Virgin) but have struggled to make inroads on the grid; although their absolute gap to the front (speed over one lap) has reduced, they remain the 11th-fastest team on a 12-team grid. Glock has been fighting to get on the 9th Row of the grid and never made it into Q2 (17th and above) on merit (i.e. without the existence of anomalous events; ever-changing weather, say). Furthermore, despite being the de facto No 1 driver, Glock has seen Jerome d'Ambrosio (in 2011) and Charles Pic (2012) compete competitively alongside him in the past two seasons, meaning he hasn't dominated (though he has tended to win) the intra-team exchanges.

Having ditched the CFD-only concept and restructured the team infrastructure under consultant Pay Symonds (ironically the former Executive Director of Engineering at Renault, who was banned from the sport for five years for his involvement in Crashgate!), a green shoot was offered in the form of the lucrative 10th place in the 2012 Contructors' Championship. Having held the position since Singapore though, Marussia were cruelly denied in the closing stages of the last race by Caterham when Vitaly Petrov overtook Pic. Glock had been absolutely flying in the dry-wet conditions before being badly hit by Jean-Eric Vergne of Toro Rosso and was henced forced into playing a peripheral role on the day. The subsequent loss of income, plus difficult global economic climate, meant that paying a driver no longer was an option, hastening Glock's exit.

Looking back at Glock's career, the striking thing is how he has turned some ostensibly unusual decisions to his advantage. His move to Virgin, eschewing Renault, looks like being the one exception in the context of F1. However, a successful bounce back to form in DTM for BMW could help ensure that, despite departing F1, Timo can once again turn an unusual, ostensibly negative step in his career path into a positive one. For a talented driver and well-respected motor racing professional, we wish him well!

[NOTE 26/01: APOLOGIES FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS. HOPE IT IS MOSTLY ACCURATE THOUGH, AND PLAN TO ADD WEBLINKS AND, IF NECESSARY, CORRECTIONS ASAP.

UPDATE 24/03: WEBLINKS FINALLY ADDED, PLUS SOME MINOR CORRECTIONS].

Captain Cook leads by example in historic England win

Suddenly, after the darkness, comes the light! England's 2-1 triumph over India in a 4-Test series which culminated on December 17th was their first Test triumph in India since 1984/85, when elegant opener David Gower captained his side to victory. After a stratospheric 2011 in the Test arena (the first away series win in Australia since 1986 with a 3-1 triumph including three innings victories; a series victory over Sri Lanka and a 4-0 whitewash of India on home soil which confirmed their ascent to the No 1 Test Ranking after years of hard work), 2012 has been an altogether greater challenge for England. Talk of creating an era of dominance (reminiscent of Australia between the mid-1990s and about 2008; and of the West Indies from the mid-1970s until the early 90s) was not uncommon but rapidly undermined by their weakness in sub-continent and Middle Eastern spin conditions, which saw them lose handily to Pakistan 3-0 (in a Test series staged in the UAE) and draw 1-1 with a weakened Sri Lankan team.

A return to home soil failed to yield the desired returns either. The West Indies were dispatched 2-0 in the early summer, but South Africa came in late July and turned on the style - winning 2-0 in a 3-Test series to dethrone England at the top of the ICC Test Rankings. Furthermore, cracks in the England dressing room were widened alarmingly quickly when Kevin Pieterson, having already retired from limited-overs game to help bolster his chances of dovetailing England with a full season of the lucrative Twenty20 Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament, was found to have sent 'provocative' texts to rivals in the South African dressing room. Suddenly, the atmosphere in the England camp had turned toxic and, at the end of the series, Andrew Strauss resigned the captaincy and retired from first-class cricket altogether. Strauss had captained England since January 2009 and had led them brilliantly to the number one ranking; however, his batting performances had been underwhelming for some time and the stress that comes with the responsibility of the role (a cricket captain has far more responsibility than a football one, for example) finally took its toll. Recognising that it was unlikely that he would get into the side on merit, and insufficiently atttracted by a closing career on the county circuit, he chose to retire from playing; the decision, it must be said, was in the offing before the Pieterson affair, though England's turbulent 2012 as a whole may well have been the straw that broke the camel's back.

ENDING ON A HIGH: WHAT ENGLAND DID RIGHT
Strauss's replacement as captain was Alastair Cook, who had also replaced Strauss as One-Day International (ODI) captain after the 2011 World Cup, and deputised for the Middlesex opener in a Test tour of Bangladesh in March 2010. A leader-in-waiting then? Perhaps, but that shouldn't take anything away from Cook - who played a huge role in England's success in India.

Cook's first major contribution came before the series started when he played a central role in the decision to recall Pieterson to the Test set-up. Pieterson had not been selected for the Tour initially, as the fall-out continued from his antics during the South Africa home series. On the one hand, this was sensible; Pieterson was an unpopular figure in the dressing room and his inclusion could have hampered team morale. On the other, he had also shown greater contrition since the fall-out originated; apologising for his actions to Cook and Performance Director Andy Flower and vowing to commit to England in all formats, forgoing the chance to complete a full IPL campaign in the process. Furthermore, Pieterson remained one of England's strongest players; while he can be inconsistent, his swashbuckling style ensures he can take the game away from the opposition in a way few others can in the world game. Ironically, the fall out had started during the 2nd Test at Headingley, where he had contrived to produce one of his finest innings to help England to a draw! Cook - notably along with wicketkeeper Matt Prior - knew of the virtues of Pieterson's inclusion and played an important role in his recall to the team, fully aware that the team's best chance of victory (the greatest morale-booster of all) came with him in the team.

Cook's other major contributions came on the field of play. India had looked to exploit England's spin weakness, offering them little exposure to spin in the warm-up games and encouraging the groundkeepers at the grounds to prepare turning pitches. All seemed to be going to plan when they built a huge first innings lead in the opening Test in Ahmedabad. But Cook hit a century in the second innings which included a useful partnership with new opening partner Nick Compton (the grandson of Denis), and a highly productive one with Prior. This was not enough to salvage the Test, which went India's way by nine wickets, but it showed his team that the spin barrier was not insurmountable.

As if to ram home the point, he followed up with a century in the 2nd Test in Mumbai, an even more turning pitch. And who was to support him in this endeavour but Pieterson, who overcame visible nerves in Ahmedabad to record a brilliant 186. England promptly built a huge first innings score and, with it, a huge lead; in the bowling department, Monty Panesar had been brought in as a second spinner and he, with Graeme Swann also contributing productively, was instrumental in triggering an Indian second innings collapse. A ten-wicket victory followed and, at 1-1, the Test series was back on!

England as a team duly took note of this. Suddenly, the introspection and in-fighting which had sporadically marred the year had gone. Back, in its place, was belief that bred with it the professionalism, hard work and all-round contribution that had seen them ascend to the No 1 slot in the first place. In the third Test in Kolkata, Cook again contributed with Compton and Jonathan Trott also stepping up to the plate. Panesar varied his pace nicely to take 3 wickets in the first innings, while Swann and the seamers (James Anderson and the returning Steven Finn) cleared up in the second. Despite an impressive second innings 91 from spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, as well as a second innings wobble from England, the Three Lions took the series lead with a 6-wicket victory. 

Only in Nagpur did Cook fail with the bat and even then he was the victim of two questionable umpiring decisions. A multitude of contributions helped England to a good first innings total while in the second innings Warwickshire team-mates Trott and Ian Bell both hit centuries to end a difficult year on a high. In contrast to the other pitches, Nagpur's was as flat as a pancake and, consequently, runs were accumulated slowly and wicket-taking opportunities less frequent. However, that did not stop Anderson being singled out by Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni for his efforts over the five days, while Cook again contributed by running out Dhoni on 99 at the end of a long day in the field on Day 3. The match duly ended in a tie, but that was enough to secure England a 2-1 Series win.

It must also be said that there are two sides to every story; England were very strong after Ahmedabad butt India also were let down by being unable to grind out innings' for long periods with the bat, and by underwhelming performances in the field. On a wider scale, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) have placed a premium on limited-overs cricket (ODIs and T20s) in recent years; while this has yielded better performances on these stages, even this area has flagged since the World Cup victory in April 2011 and it may help explain why innings' in Mumbai and Kolkata succumbed to middle-order collapses. In mitigation, some of the players coming through have shown good potential (Virat Kohli - though he had only one innings of note in this series, Chateshwar Pujara, Pragyan Ojha, Ravindra Jadeja and Ashwin) so the now infamous Time of India article advocating wholesale changes to the First XI was also not very helpful. Overall, one senses improvements need to be made in certain areas of preparation and on-field attitude (batting-wise Gautam Gambhir was also criticised heavily in Mumbai for repeatedly exposing the tail in the 2nd Innings) and, furthermore, that a crossroads is being reached regarding India's prospects in all international formats and how to get the most from the team.

Cook, to be sure, is not an identikit replacement of Strauss; he is younger and notably less vocal in the dressing room, where he is not known for big Churchillian speeches. But in India his performances on the field were enough to revive professionalism, hard work in the field, concentration with the bat and the assurance that someone somewhere will step up to the plate and steady the ship when others are struggling. These aspects were not exactly weak in 2012, to be sure, but had perhaps dropped that crucial 5% after the long slog to No 1, in the process hastening the loss of the top spot and two series defeats. If he can continue to be this effective leading by example, England may well have found the man ready to move them forwards in the years ahead, ensuring competitiveness at the top of the Test (and ODI) games for years to come.
[NOTE 31/12/2012: THIS POST IS HITHERTO UNFINISHED. MORE ON WHAT ENGLAND DID RIGHT, PLUS SOME THOUGHTS ON WHAT INDIA DID WRONG, WILL HOPEFULLY FOLLOW!]

Di Resta v Hulkenberg: A contest not to be forgotten

While the battles at the front always steal the headlines - often justifiably - the midfield is usually fertile ground for some equally intense battles. Often this comes in the form of intra-team rivalries between drivers trying to establish themselves in the sport; youngsters trying to catch attention of the bigger teams. Recent examples include Giancarlo Fisichella & Ralf Schumacher at Jordan (1997); Nick Heidfeld & Kimi Raikkonen at Sauber (2001). A scan through the driver line-ups before the season started revealed possible equivalent candidates for this year at Toro Rosso (where Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Jean-Eric Vergne were pitted together) and Williams (Pastor Maldonado v Bruno Senna), but for me one of the most significant intra-team rivalries on the grid was to be found at Sahara Force India – where Paul di Resta was joined by Nico Hulkenberg.

To recap, both had stellar junior careers: Di Resta won the prestigious McLaren-Autosport Young Driver Award in 2004 at 18, while Hulkenberg showed his prowess as a 19-year old in the 2006/07 season of A1GP. Earlier in 2006 Di Resta had beaten a certain Sebastian Vettel to the F3 Euroseries title, a title Hulkenberg himself won in 2008. Hulkenberg then made the logical progression up the career ladder to GP2, and managed to win it first time out in 2009. For Di Resta, money was an obstacle to this path, so he headed to DTM, the German Touring Car series. Forging a link with Mercedes, he eventually got a foot in the door at Force India. A test driver in 2010, he also became DTM Champion that year and graduated to F1 the following year. By that time, Hulkenberg had also been derailed by insufficient funds, this causing him to leave the Williams race seat he had occupied in 2010 for a Force India test drive in 2011. This became a race seat in 2012, leaving Force India with two incredibly focused, committed and fast young drivers determined to improve their prospects.

Initially though, it all looked a bit of a damp squib, as Paul di Resta held a clear upper hand early on in the season. He scored points in three of the opening four races (the highlight being a 6th place in Bahrain) and beat Hulkenberg in all three of those races in which both drivers finished. Hulkenberg, admittedly, was a bit race rusty from having sat out 2011 and was closer to di Resta in the next few rounds. But di Resta continued to have an edge and led Hulkenberg by 21 points to 7 until the German drove a breakthrough race to 5th place in Valencia (Round 8), with di Resta 7th. From then on, the battle intensified between the two into being the one I'd hoped and expected – during pre-season – to see from tomorrow's potential title contenders. Hulkenberg continued to hold the upper hand in the few rounds after Valencia, finishing 9th (to Di Resta's 11th) on home soil in Germany and, two rounds and one summer break later, finishing a career-best 4th at Spa - although di Resta, who had finished back in 10th, had been hamstrung by a KERS problem in the Belgian race.

By this phase of the season the points had turned back to 31-28 in Hulkenberg’s favour. This was a fine recovery but the Scot fought back immediately – rallying to regain the upper hand at Monza (finishing 8th) and – on the streets of Singapore – overcoming a difficult practice session to qualify in the Top 10 and match Hulkenberg's Spa finish with a 4th place finish of his own. "The Hulk", who had felt Di Resta was there for the taking after practice in Marina Bay, had a face like thunder after missing Q3 (the final part of qualifying for the Top 10 drivers in Q2) and saw his weekend get worse after inopportune Safety Cars and collisions. The points were now 44-31 back in di Resta’s favour. A free practice session crash in Suzuka from Hulkenberg, necessitating a gearbox change (and hence a five place grid penalty), saw di Resta outqualify the German again in Japan at the next round. But from then on, the momentum swung back definitively in the direction of Nico. He drove an immaculate race from 15th to 7th there and, thanks to the opportunism that comes from greater confidence, has followed it up with a 6th in Korea and an 8th in India. The Korean result - which included a pass on both Hamilton and Grosjean in one move - moved him back ahead of di Resta, who had failed to score in any of these rounds. A battling drive from di Resta in Abu Dhabi saw him finish 9th and reduce the points deficit to 49-46, having overcome a puncture after being part of a first corner collision which also included a slow-starting Hulkenberg, who had been forced to retire on the spot!

However, he was unable to stem Hulkenberg’s momentum in the intra-team stakes. At the final round, in Brazil, Nico again outqualified di Resta and then stunned onlookers by moving through the field, being one of only two drivers – Jenson Button in the McLaren was the other – to make the slick tyres work in drizzly conditions while others pitted for intermediate tyres. Hulkenberg passed Button and these two had well over 40 seconds on the field (Who had had to change back to slicks from their ‘inters’ when the drizzle abated) when a Safety Car was deployed to clear debris over the track. Even with the field closed up Hulkenberg continued to battle at the front, before an audacious move on Lewis Hamilton resulted in contact. Both the increasingly wet track surface (the rain had just started falling again – and heavily – making grip particularly treacherous off-line), and the existence of a Caterham that they were closing rapidly on, made Hulkenberg’s mistake understandable, but the stewards took a dim view and slapped a drive-through on him. From this, he drove a subdued race to an eventual 5th place, but this – combined with an 8th place at the previous round in Texas – still ensured he outscored di Resta; the Scot too had driven well in the race, but had not been able to match Hulkenberg and – in worsening conditions – crashed out of 8th place with only two laps to go.

Thus the final score ended 63-46 in Hulkenberg’s favour, hence meaning Hulkenberg finished 11th in the World Drivers’ Championship, and Di Resta 14th. Hulkenberg’s late qualifying surge also saw him finish on top on Saturdays – outqualifying di Resta 12-8 over the season. Thus the final results seem to show that both drivers scored well and that, aggregating over the season, Hulkenberg had a narrow but distinct edge. Hulkenberg ended the season with a noticeable upper hand, while di Resta had had a noticeable upper hand at the start of the season, and the momentum had ebbed and flowed in clumps of races in between. Race rustiness can perhaps help explain Hulkenberg’s early-season struggles compared to di Resta, but the reasons behind his brilliant end-of-season form are more difficult to decipher – particularly as their battle has been lost in the maelstrom of a gripping title race. As the season went on, teams were able to get on top of the Pirelli tyres – which had seemed so volatile early in the season. Nonetheless, by the end of the season, Hulkenberg seemed to get more out of them, something di Resta put down to a more aggressive driving style paying dividends for his team-mate. He also admitted to a ‘fundamental’ flaw with the car discovered after the Indian GP, which resulted in a new chassis for Abu Dhabi. Di Resta refused to elaborate on what this was, but it would seem that this played a secondary role to his tyre problems; his race pace was stronger thereafter than it was in Japan, Korea and India, but Hulkenberg continued to hold the upper hand.

Conversely, did an aggressive style overuse the tyres early on in the season – exacerbating Hulkenberg’s race rustiness? It is difficult to say, but not illogical. However, I wrote before the German GP that I felt Hulkenberg needed to show more of the spark we’d seen from him in the junior formulae and to his credit he has since done this – in abundance at some races. Alas, neither of their efforts translated into a top drive for 2013; instead, that went to Sergio Perez, who will move to McLaren to Sauber. Hulkenberg moved to Sauber to replace “Checo”, an ostensibly sideways move (Sauber finished 6th in the constructors' championship and Force India were 7th; in 2011, the positions were reversed). Yet there may be method in his madness; speculation is that Ferrari kept a close eye on Hulkenberg this season before re-signing Felipe Massa for next season. Sauber and Ferrari have long had some form of relationship (an engine supply deal dates back to the mid-1990s – BMW years notwithstanding) and Hulkenberg’s 2013 with Sauber could lead to a 2014 with Ferrari (though, with Sebastian Vettel strongly believed to have signed some sort of deal or pre-contractual agreement with Maranello for that year too, this is far from given). Furthermore, Force India’s technical partnership with McLaren – existent since 2009 – has ended after this season and the team may struggle to maintain performance next season as they invest in improving their own capital stock at their factory near Silverstone. Nonetheless, all is not lost for di Resta, who continues to have faith in his ability and maintains a relationship with Mercedes dating back to their DTM days. Overall then, Hulkenberg has appeares to come out of the year in a stronger position, but the depth of the field in Formula 1 these days – featuring six world champions in 2012 – is among the strongest in the sport’s history and means a route to the top remains unclear for both drivers.

[NOTE 01/12: Hopefully this is the final version, with possibly only weblinks to be added (I may be slow to do this, because any links from Autosport will count as "reading" from them and there is a monthly cap on the number you can read before subscription!)]

A Tale of Two Comebacks

I felt an Formula One post was overdue, and so here is one. For a long time there were several different contenders for the World Drivers' Championship - including Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton, Jenson Button and Kimi Raikkonen. But in recent races they have all fallen by the wayside to leave a straight fight between Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso. After yesterday's Indian Grand Prix, Vettel leads Alonso by 13 points with three races left. Here, as earlier in the season, I have ended up omitting (or at least postponing) some articles I'd had in mind - for example the battle at Force India between Paul di Resta and Nico Hulkenberg. Instead, this is almost a 'Comeback' special focusing on Raikkonen (returned in 2012 after two years out) and Michael Schumacher (retiring again having come back in 2010 for three seasons). It would be nice to add a post on one or two other things before the season ends, but this may depend on time.

CONTEMPLATING KIMI'S COMEBACK
For a long time this season, Kimi Raikkonen had always been there in the drivers' standings. He wasn't easy to spot at first; the focus was always on the winner of the race, the championship leader and the immediate protagonists. Yet he was always in the vicinity, ghosting around in the background and, as other drivers' performances fluctuated with more volatility from race-to-race, the ever-consistent Raikkonen became ever-harder to ignore. No, he hadn't yet won a race this season. Yes, the odd performance had been underwhelming (think races in China, Monaco and Canada). A quick glance at the standings, however, revealed an undeniable fact - he was there, still very much within reach of the lead .

Lotus too, had been there, sometimes quite obviously so on racedays. Indeed, they had a very strong Sunday car, but one that was susceptible in qualifying and, technically speaking, also susceptible in a straight line and in colder temperatures (when they struggled to get their tyres into the optimum operating window). On the right day, at Bahrain or at the Hungaroring in Budapest, Raikkonen showed he could still lap faster than any other driver on the grid when fully content with the car underneath him, cutting a swathe through the field and finishing right on the tail of the leader in 2nd place in both cases. After Hungary, he may have been 48 points off the lead, but only eight points off 2nd place. If championship leader Alonso were to slip up, or hit bad luck, Kimi would be right back in the fight.

At the time, it was felt that he would still need to win a race. But as the momentum continued to change frequently from team-to-team the unthinkable question started to form. Could Raikkonen - in his comeback year - become the first driver to win the world championship without winning a race? It seemed illogical, but by Singapore (3 races after the summer break; Round 13/19) Raikkonen - by now up to 3rd in the WDC - was still only 16 points behind Vettel in 2nd, and 45 behind Alonso; continued consistency by Lotus, and continued development problems at Ferrarri still may be all that was required. Although F1 history was against him, people typing "1999 Grand Prix motorcycling racing season" into Google showed it had happened elsewhere - under a not dissimilar points system. In that year's 125cc world championship, Marco Melandri and Misao Azuma shared five wins each, only to be pipped to the title by the winless but consistent Emilio Alzamora (who managed five 2nds and five 3rds).

However, since Singapore, the question has been less pressing. Though Alonso retired at the following round in Japan (after a puncture caused when he moved over on, ironically, Raikkonen), recently a pattern has started to form, meaning that the consistency of Kimi & Lotus - hitherto a premium - was no longer enough. Red Bull stepped up to become the team to beat, with Ferrari and McLaren in the wings. Lotus were on occasion the third quickest but usually fourth quickest and suddenly a Top 5 finish was starting to become elusive. After a 7th place finish in India, Raikkonen - still clinging onto third in the standings - had dropped to 67 points behind Vettel, with only 75 left on the table.

Nonetheless, the season must overall be seen as a success for Raikkonen. Although some of his weaknesses from those Ferrari days have persisted (he has often struggled in qualifying and the opening stint of a race - even in comparison to team-mate Romain Grosjean), his consistency has been impressive (including three 2nds, three 3rds and four 5ths en route to scoring points in all bar one race this year), his racecraft strong (he was unafraid and combative wheel-to-wheel right from Melbourne - a contrast with Michael Schumacher in the first year of his comeback), and Bahrain & Hungary were highlights of his old speed. Even his attitude, I sense, has improved slightly; while he will never love the media aspect of F1 ("the bullshit" as he calls it), his fuss-free, monosyllable counteraction to the sensationalism often prevalent in the paddock is once again funny and refreshing (if perversely so) when - for a time - it had started to annoy, and even appear ungrateful given his still-priveliged position as a well-paid world champion driving in one of the best and most iconic teams.

SUSSING SCHUMACHER'S SECOND SPELL IN THE SPORT
Michael Schumacher of course actually returned to the sport in 2010, signing a three-year deal to race with Mercedes GP. As the season progressed, he remained unsure whether to continue for 2013 and Mercedes, fearing being left high and dry, cast their net for alternatives - striking gold in the form of 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. With a deal being agreed between those two parties, and Nico Rosberg staying put at the Silver Arrows, Schumacher was left out in the cold and - rather than changing teams - has opted to retire for a second time.

There are, basically speaking, two schools of thought about the success (or otherwise) of Schumacher's comeback. One school argues that it has been very unsuccessful, that he has struggled compared to his first spell and that this justifies the argument that his comeback was a bad idea. The second school also agrees on the facts (results falling short of expectations), but argues that this was down to the car. If Mercedes had given him a better car, they argue, there's no reason why he couldn't have added to his 91 race wins and maybe even challenged for the championship.

Which interpretation is correct? In my view, they both are! The first school is a more accurate description of the first two seasons of his comeback. In 2010 he was quick on occasion (4th in Spain & Turkey; good drives from the back at Spa and Suzuka) but mistakes were conspicuously higher than in his first career and races in China, Canada, Singapore and Abu Dhabi were particularly lacklustre. Team-mate Nico Rosberg was clearly the better driver - something that was not forecast before the season. In 2011, Schumacher was also slower than Rosberg, particularly in qualifying. Races like Turkey were again error-strewn, but a mid-season change where Jock Clear (ironically the race engineer of Jacques Villeneuve when the Canadian was locked in a fierce title battle with Schumacher in 1997) became Schuey's race engineer saw the German put in stronger race performances with Canada - where he finished 4th after a display of his old wet-weather prowess - the highlight. Consequently, he was much closer to (though still behind) Rosberg in the drivers' championship.

This is where the second story becomes stronger and, in 2012, it is arguable that Michael has once again been capable of winning races if the car would let him fight for it. He has a positive qualifying record against Rosberg this year and has remained competitive against him on race pace. Alas Schumacher has only seen the chequered flag at half of this season's 16 races - a staggering statistic in modern-day F1, in which reliability is high as quality control of car components improves (something Schumacher - in his Ferrari days - grasped faster than his rivals). A podium in Valencia was a highlight, as was qualifying fastest in Q3 on the streets of Monte Carlo (though he started the race from 6th because of a penalty carried through from the previous race). But overall, even when he has finished, he has been fighting over lower points placings - with one 6th, three 7ths and two 10ths among his results - as Mercedes have struggled to get its head round the Pirelli tyres. At Korea, a new nadir was reached where he huffed and puffed, barely making a mistake all race but only being rewarded with 13th place. With that, he must be relieved to be retiring.

Does it make his comeback a bad idea? I'm a purist, and felt (indeed, still feel) a retirement should ideally be as it says, rather than a sabbatical etc. And certainly we haven't seen anything close to the early-2000s domination - or even, given the cars he's had since his return, the unique ability to persistently transcend the expected limit of the car, as witnessed in other difficult seasons like 1996 - of his first spell in F1. However, it was also clear that Michael felt his life was lacking in purpose after his initial retirement; he clearly needed to be back driving, competing, and working hard with his team for better results. He was back doing something he loves and with that, irrespective of the results, who are we to call it a bad idea? Since announcing his second retirement, Schumacher has also talked about how his second spell had helped him 'learn to lose'. This is an implicit reference to his first career, when his will-to-win - so often a strength in some of his greatest victories - could also sometimes see him go beyond the line of acceptability (see for example Adelaide '94, Jerez '97 - an event he has always regretted - and Monaco '06). So maybe his comeback too has been useful in helping Michael gain a better sense of perspective. That said, the will to win of other F1 drivers is also both their biggest strength and their biggest weakness and the dilemma is one that few come out of without any blemishes. Either way, Schumacher turns 44 next January and hence a third comeback is nigh-on impossible - at least as far as Formula One is concerned. Hence the hope therefore is twofold: firstly, that he has no regrets about his return, for his effort was unstinting despite the disappointments and, secondly, that he is able to find greater contentment and a greater sense of purpose this time than he did after his first retirement.

[UPDATE 30/10 - HOPE TO MAKE AMENDMENTS AND POSSIBLY ADD WEBLINKS ASAP].

Roman Emperor back on World Superbikes throne...but only just!

Some championships are memorable for their quality. From the outset, the protagonists stand out and, as the season progresses, they push themselves - and each other - to new, greater levels of performance. An example of this is the 2002 World Superbike Championship, contested memorably by Troy Bayliss (Infostrada Ducati) and Colin Edwards (Castrol Honda). In the first eight rounds (out of 13) Bayliss won 13 races (there are two races per round in Superbikes) and Edwards two. The title was already a two-horse race. In the last five rounds, Edwards and Honda came charging back, winning nine consecutive races to clinch the title from Bayliss, who won the other one, by a mere 11 points (552 to 541). Over the season they won 25 races out of the 26, managed 17 second places and 5 third places between them. The achievement was tremendous and it all culminated in a finale at Imola where the two riders - taking themselves to a new level - proceeded to dominate and race wheel-to-wheel for the duration of both races (Edwards winning both). It has lodged in the memory of fans of the series - who recall it simply as the "Showdown of Imola", after the DVD/VHS of the season that was released.

Other championships, on the other hand, are memorable more for the visible nerves and tension amongst the protagonists. When winning, they can still look imperious, but as the season progresses, mistakes also start to creep in. The quality overall may reduce, but the contest remains enthralling for fans. This is something that snooker's six-time World Champion Steve Davis has identified in his sport: "Sometimes the best games are not when each player is making century break after century break. Its when the players are making mistakes and you can see they really want it." For another Motor Racing example, consider the 2008 Formula One season - where both Lewis Hamilton (McLaren Mercedes) and Felipe Massa (Ferrari) mixed brilliance with what would otherwise be classed as unexpected errors.

Ten years on from the daring deeds of Edwards and Bayliss, the 2012 World Superbike Championship - which reached its dramatic denouement last weekend (October 5th-7th) at Magny Cours in Nevers, France - fell firmly into the latter category. Veteran Racing Aprilia rider Max Biaggi went into the final round as the clear favourite with a 30.5 points lead (out of a weekend maximum of 50) over Tom Sykes (Kawasaki Racing Team) and a 38.5 points lead over Marco Melandri (BMW). Biaggi had won the opening race of the season in Phillip Island, Australia and thereafter had established himself in the title race with consistency underlined by a run of six consecutive podium finishes between Race 2 at Donington Park (Round 5) and Race 1 at Motorland Aragon (Round 8), encompassing three successive wins (a double at Misano - Round 7 - and one at Motorland). However, after that a subdued Brno (Round 9) was followed by falls in each of the next three rounds (Rounds 10-12): at Silverstone (Race 1), at Moscow (Race 2 - t-boning Leon Haslam in the process) and at the Nurburgring (also Race 2 after winning Race 1 - though he remounted to finish 13th and claim three points). At 41, with four consecutive world 250cc titles to his name from 1994-97, and a 2010 World Superbike title (with Aprilia), it was ostensibly a surprise to see him struggle. However, Max has also had his misses in title battles (particularly in 500cc) and, at 41, knew he may not get too many other chances to add to his title haul.

Despite the mistakes, Max remained in a good position after a 4th and a 3rd in the Algarve, Portugal, while his main rival for most of the season - Melandri - also suffered an attack of the jitters. Melandri followed Biaggi home at Phillip Island back in late February but his season built up a tremendous head of steam shortly after Biaggi's run of form when he won the 2nd race at Aragon, then did the double at Brno. Two rounds later, a 2nd and a 1st in Moscow (his sixth win of the season) put him in the lead of the championship and with all the momentum. Yet the 2002 world 250cc champion then threw it down the road in both races at the Nurburgring - the second, inexplicably, after Biaggi had already left him an open goal by falling earlier on in the race! To compound the misery, Marco fell again (while racing Biaggi) in a wet race 1 at the Algarve, cracking ribs and missing race 2 in the process. All this had let in Sykes; the Briton from Huddersfield had often been fiercely quick in qualifying, but his Kawasaki had struggled to sustain that speed over a race distance. After his home round at Silverstone (Donington was technically the European round of the championship), Sykes only had one win (a half-race at Monza) to his name, but he was coming to the boil nicely while Biaggi and Melandri slipped up, winning in Moscow and the Algarve to put himself ahead of Melandri. In the end, only a cruel mechanical failure in race 2 in Portugal had denied him the chance to challenge Biaggi from an even closer position in the season finale at Magny Cours.

Superpole gave us another Sykes pole while Melandri was further back in 4th. Max? He had failed to make the final part of the session, and would start only 10th. Race day dawned wet and humid (around 95%), which meant a wet race 1 on a track that would be slow to dry. Sykes made a textbook getaway to lead from Ulsterman Jonathan Rea (TenKate Honda), but Biaggi too had made progress to leap from 10th to 5th. Aprilia team-mate Eugene Laverty waved him through to 4th but on lap 3, under braking for the Adelaide hairpin, Biaggi lost the bike and fell, rolling helplessly towards the gravel trap and retirement while team principal Luigi Dall'Igna could only grimace in dismay in the pit garage! It looked like Sykes was in the prime seats, but he was struggling for outright pace in the wet conditions. Rea overtook him and pulled away quickly before himself falling off - fatigue possibly setting in for a rider who had recently been dovetailing his Superbike commitments with racing and testing commitments in MotoGP deputising for the injured Casey Stoner at Repsol Honda. This left Sykes back in the lead, but he was being reeled in quickly by Melandri and Sylvain Guintoli (Pata Racing Ducati). Melandri led the charge up to Sykes but Guintoli thrives in wet conditions, having already won earlier in the year in the wet at Assen, the Netherlands (Round 3 Race 1) and at Silverstone (Round 10, Race 2); the latter a fine ride in what were frankly atrocious conditions in which the F1 race directors would have thrown the red flag long before the Superbikes eventually did. Guintoli took advantage of Sykes' and Melandri's hesitation to pass both of them and then set a series of fast laps to win from Melandri (2nd) with Sykes 3rd. Although he has settled in Leicestershire for some years, this was still a home victory for Guintoli and the fans were delighted.

The result of all this was that Biaggi remained in the lead for the final race of the season, but now had reduced margins of 14.5 and 18.5 over Sykes and Melandri respectively. To guarantee the title, Max would therefore require a 5th place (11 pts, compared to 25 for a win); the others ideally needed to win and, irrespective, needed results elsewhere to go their way. With the track dry enough for dry slick tyres Sykes rocketed off at the start and proceeded to control the race from the front under pressure from Guintoli, Rea and Laverty. Biaggi - still reeling somewhat from his Race 1 mistake - was tentative off the line but overtook Sykes' team-mate Loris Baz and then profited from a fall by Melandri at Chateau d'Eau corner after the Italian caught a damp patch off the racing line, and after this forced the following Davide Giugliano (Althea Ducati) to take to the grass in avoidance. A further mistake - this time by Leon Haslam (BMW) - took him up to 6th place before he dropped wide in the middle of the Lycee complex to fall back to 7th. Still shaky until this point, Max steeled himself and eventually got himself into a race rhythm which his lap times gradually picking up. He dispatched Giugliano and then stalked his compatriot's Althea Ducati team-mate Carlos Checa for the coveted 5th place. The reigning Superbike champion, and dominant in the early rounds (winning three of the opening four races - including a double at Imola in Round 2), Checa's season had since faded but he was still racing hard to end his final race as world champion as high as possible. He defended stoutly on the run down to the Adelaide hairpin despite the Aprilia's strong straightline speed, but Biaggi proceeded to 'undercut' him on the exit to take the 5th place he needed. Sykes managed to hold off the chasing duo of Rea and Guintoli (these two having swapped positions in the closing stages) and pulled away to take a deserved victory. But Biaggi's laptimes continued to improve, and the Roman pulled serenely away from Checa to take the 5th place he needed to take his second World Superbike title...by a mere half a point!

I must confess to having supported Biaggi this year and hence was very happy and relieved to see him clinch it after almost throwing away his 30+ points lead going into the final round. The reason for this had its roots in nostalgia; I first started getting into the premier class of motorcycle racing in 2001, the final year of the 500cc class (before replacement by MotoGP), and remember supporting Max in his bright red Marlboro Yamaha during his (ultimately unsuccessful) title battle with bitter rival Valentino Rossi. Truth be told, I was never a fully paid up member of the Roman Emperor's fan club in that I also liked Rossi and other riders like Alex Barros and Alex Criville. I also do not believe that at the time I was particularly aware of the smoothness and elegance of  his 'classical' riding style - a style that caught the imagination of a young Jorge Lorenzo; a Biaggi fan who has also gone on to cultivate the smooth, classical style on his way to his titles in Grand Prix motorcycling. And I also now know much more than I did in 2001 that Max is a complex character with a dark side to him. Examples include the Suzuka elbow and the Catalunya fisticuffs of 2001 against Rossi; his frustrated departure from Yamaha at the end of 2002 and then his more acrimonious one from the factory Honda in 2005 - from which he was frozen out of MotoGP; his petulant, somewhat silly slapping incident with Melandri at Donington Park in 2011 (a move for which he later apologised).

However, despite this, I have still continued to want Max to do well in the subsequent years (both in MotoGP and World Superbikes) and was happy to see him triumph in 2010; I suppose I'd argue that most highly competitive sportspeople invariably end up doing things they later regret. Furthermore - with the undoubted exception of Suzuka, which was unforgivable in its reckless irresponsibility - I also feel that the villainous aspect of Max's character (if you like) also has a not insignificant pantomime element to it. In the aftermath of his second Superbike title, the Roman Emperor showed another side to his character, paying generous tribute to the challenge put up by Sykes in particular and claiming that "next year it will be his time." To a degree, it is something all sportsmen do (and indeed should do) but I still appreciated the way he did it unprompted. At 41, speculation is rife that he may choose to retire on a high and, even if not, it remains to be seen whether he has the energy to withstand the pressures of many more title battles. Certainly, from the outside it appears there is little left to achieve, but on the other hand Biaggi may still love the competing element. Whatever happens, it is hoped that he takes the time needed to ensure the right decision is taken for him, his family and his team.

Behind him, Sykes and Melandri both put up a worthy fight throughout the season. Particularly impressive was Sykes, for whom 2012 was something of a breakthrough year after his three previous seasons in World Superbikes had brought only sporadic success. Sykes is a fierce competitor but he is also a cheerful, positive personality - his nickname is "Grinner" - and these two attitudes were particularly important in a Kawasaki team rocked by a serious, early-season injury to Sykes' team-mate Joan Lascorz. Like Sete Gibernau did at Gresini Honda after team-mate Daijiro Kato's tragic death in 2003 - Sykes has really helped carry that team through a difficult period of its existence. I sincerely hope 2012 was not a one-off and that he will be back at the front racing for World SBK titles in future years - plural. Melandri has shown that he is still a formidable rider who on his day is capable of beating anyone and everyone on the Superbike grid; however, his end of season run will no doubt have disappointed him and he will no doubt have learnt a lot from it this year. Marco has now been series runner-up for two years running and has overcome a near-miss before in 125cc to then win the world 250cc title. Can he do it again?

With 358.5 points, Biaggi's points haul falls well short of Edwards' 552 in 2002 - even when accounting for two half-races and one cancelled race this year. While this partly reflected the mistakes of the title protagonists (Biaggi and Melandri particularly), it was mostly a function of how very competitive the series has got. Over 27 completed races and half-races, there were no fewer than nine different race winners in what was the 25th season of the championship's history. It leaves the several fascinating questions about the season(s) ahead even for the chasing pack who weren't in the title battle; will Checa be back in 2013? Can Rea - who won two races earlier in the season - build on his new MotoGP experience to challenge for the title? How will Haslam fare back at Honda alongside him? What about the likes of Laverty, Guintoli and Chaz Davies (ParkinGO Racing Aprilia rider in 2012 whose 2011 World Supersport Championship victory saw him crowned BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year last year)? Will they be race winners again...or even title battlers? The last World Superbike season I followed closely before this season was in 2009 (I wrote a blog on that one too! I also followed 2010, but to a noticeably smaller degree); with the on-field competition as strong as ever, I may not end up leaving it three seasons to follow it so closely this season. Off-field, the situation is uncertain as World SBK promotion falls under the umbrella of Dorna, the promoters of Grand Prix motorcycling (currently MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3); however, the current prognosis is cautiously optimistic - as Dorna look to keep the two sets of series separate while maximising their respective opportunities. Whatever happens, the hope is that it doesn't get in the way of the racing, either at Grand Prix or Superbike level.

[NOTE 12/10 - APOLOGIES FOR THE LENGTH OF SOME OF THESE PARAGRAPHS. THESE ARE LIKELY TO STAY, BUT WILL TRY AND ADD WEBLINKS AND CLARIFY A FEW POINTS ASAP

UPDATES 13/10 - WEBLINKS ADDED AND AMENDMENTS MADE.

ALTHOUGH I HAVE TRIED TO MAKE THE RIDERS, CALENDAR AND TEAMS AS CLEAR AS POSSIBLE, IT IS NOT ALWAYS EASY TO MAKE IT A CONFUSION-FREE ZONE. TO AID WITH UNDERSTANDING I WOULD RECOMMEND THE 2012 SEASON'S WIKIPEDIA PAGE - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_Superbike_World_Championship_season - WHICH TO MY KNOWLEDGE IS ACCURATE.

"GRAND PRIX MOTORCYCLING" HERE MOSTLY REFERS TO WHAT IS CURRENTLY MOTOGP, MOTO2 AND MOTO3 AND HAS PREVIOUSLY ALSO BEEN 125cc, 250cc AND 500cc. THESE SERIES RACE ALMOST ENTIRELY ON RACING BIKES - "PROTOTYPES" - WHICH ARE NOT AVAILABLE TO RIDE ON THE ROAD. THE WORLD SUPERBIKE CHAMPIONSHIP IS SEPARATE OF THIS AND RACING IS DONE ON "PRODUCTION" BIKES - BIKES BASED ON THOSE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE FOR ROAD USE. THE WORLD SUPERSPORT CHAMPIONSHIP IS THE MAIN SUPPORT SERIES OF THE WORLD SUPERBIKES, AND - FROM WHAT I UNDERSTAND - HOSTS SLIGHTLY SMALLER PRODUCTION BIKES IN TERMS OF ENGINE CAPACITY

UPDATE 14/10 - FOR THE MAGNY COURS ROUND, TOM SYKES WORE A SPECIALLY DESIGNED "17" HELMET AS A TRIBUTE TO JOAN LASCORZ, HIS TEAM-MATE WHO WAS PARALYSED IN A SERIOUS TESTING ACCIDENT AT IMOLA. THIS HELMET IS NOW BEING AUCTIONED, WITH PROCEEDS GOING TOWARDS HELPING JOAN REBUILD HIS LIFE AFTER THE ACCIDENT. BIDDING OPENED ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 10TH UNTIL SATURDAY OCTOBER 20TH. FOR MORE INFORMATION - AND A LINK TO THE eBAY PAGE - VISIT http://www.kawasaki-racingteam.eu/road-race/news.asp?Id=B638CDDDDF].