After many declarations, hesitation, discussions and various turnabout, is finally reached by the official withdrawal of the strike called by the association of players, in the case of the collective agreement for the renewal of its clients, and, on weekends, so go regularly portrays the sixteenth day of Serie A.

It starts Saturday at 18 even with two games, Palermo-Parma and Fiorentina-Udinese.

At Barbera Palermo, burned at 94° from Maggio's goal to St. Paul, seeking a speedy redemption against Parma that was in the previous round but got rid of Udinese. Within the walls of friends are Sicilian team, which makes little to the opponents and is enhanced by lighting up the dust of his soloists, the area is still very close to Champions League and scope of the Rosanero, if only mentally they are convinced to be complete and competitive team for the highest levels. The Dukes of cons are prisoners of their immaturity, capable of great performance, but also lackluster performances, it is clear that lack of identity, charisma and belief in their own ability, be able Crespo, returned to score with devastating punctuality, to convey to his young comrades a bit 'of his undoubted ability?

At Franchi Fiorentina expects  Udinese to continue its slow moving closer to areas more suited to the expectations of society, a return to Mutu's goal in the last turn, adds to the operating variables of purple, already in a long line open of victories at home, guests are to be taken lightly team capable of winning and losing with anyone, so we'll see which version in Tuscany, by the Doctor Jeckill or Mister Hide?

At 20:45 we moved to Genoa for a very interesting match, Genoa and Naples, there will surely heat and passion in the fans, twin for years, but also on the pitch are expected goals and performance. The Neapolitan, flown in third place, are increasingly aware of their strengths and their renewed ambitions in key Champions, the team has made in the image and likeness of Mr. Mazzarri, tough, determined and never tamed, even if the Ferraris will then each goal will be to the extent of the blue. The rossoblu continue their slow climb, under the guidance of Ballardini, but have yet to demonstrate its ability to tackle and win games against stronger opponents, which so far has been a real Taboo, it is time to debunk?

Sunday lunchtime, and this time your reporter will be at the stadium instead of at the table to get the leaders at Dallara Bologna and Milan. Bologna and Milan teams returning from a Wednesday with results and different sensations, winning the rossoblu, thanks to a goal of eternal and implacable Di Vaio 93 ° to the right, and losing the Rossoneri in the Champions League  in the presence of a Ajax more determined, motivated and complete. One thing however has united the two teams, injuries,  touched Perez and Mudingayi in Bologna and Thiago Silva and Flamini in Milan. Game open to any result, given the high morale and positive trand of both, however, appear that the Rossoneri and loads more convinced, given the lead in the standings, the first of rossoblu hope that the game has finally resolved the plight company.

Sunday at 15.00 are staged to other lots that are all interesting topics.

Brescia, after the exemption Iachini, try again from Beretta in an attempt to get back on track after the disappointing last time, did all defeats. Sampdoria, by contrast, is maintaining the expectations of the fans, confirming the tonic and rocky, without Cassano, who, today, would see to define their position with the arbitration award of the Federation.

Derby isolate that between Cagliari and Catania, both veterans of bitter defeat in the previous round, Donadoni for this was the first stop, for Etna's first defeat of 2010 at the Massimino. On paper it looks a game to a tie, the classic broth that satisfies both sides, but ....

In Lecce Chievo get burned by a last-gasp defeat experience in the recovery of Bologna, but the Salento that appear to have taken a bad road must necessarily reverse the trand negative if they do not want to say goodbye to Serie A with a large advance, they will not be an easy task to have reason for the organized and tonics Verona.

Olimpico Rome, back from getting to the knockout stages of Champions League qualification, he tries to come in games that count in the league, after the unfortunate draw of Verona, addressing the Bari, who, in freefall for months, nothing seems more that the designated sacrificial victim for the Giallorossi.

The most interesting and waiting for the day will be staged on Sunday night at 20.45 at the Olympic Stadium in Turin, Juventus and Lazio in front, ie the second and third in the standings. In these cases, abuse of buzzwords aimed at presenting the challenge, but it is clear that the two teams can only get positive feedback from possible success, but also a failure would not be the end of the world, although it would be a stop to the unpleasant renewed ambitions of ultimate success of the two teams. Everyone is waiting for Juventus to be clarified once and for all if it is to shield the Romans, thanks to the advantage in the standings appear to be less pressure and therefore more dangerous. Match by triple, which strongly argues in favor for a tie!

Instead deferred to the January 19 match between Inter and Cesena, for the efforts of Inter, flown to Abu Dhabi to win the modiale groped for the club, we take this opportunity to wish our good luck to Inter.

Pending goals and emotions will leave you with our ritual Good league at all!

The midweek of Champions League, for once, give smiles to Italian football, who won three games in three and to bring to the knockout stage Inter and Milan, with a shift in advance and render, for Roma, the trip to Cluj a lot to handle with caution, but without too many worries, imagine the defeat of the yellow and red and contemporea Basel victory in Monaco seems to fantasy ....

General disinterest in the usual, media and spectators in the stadiums, he also played the sixteenth round of the Cup final which Italy has promoted to the next round, among others, Genoa, Lazio, Udinese, Catania and Bologna.

The fourteenth round presents some interesting challenges and crossroads sign that capture the attention of enthusiasts and professionals.

It starts Saturday at 18 when, at the Genoa Ferraris Stadium, takes the field the league leaders AC Milan, Sampdoria expected by now, definitely orphaned Cassano, but returned to that happened last Sunday in Lecce with a hat-trick of found Pazzini. The recent tradition speaks of two consecutive successes of Sampdoria 2 to 1, but this time, charts in hand, the Rossoneri seem clear comparative advantage, strong successes in the last 8 of 9 races and qualified for the knockout round in the Champions League, won at Auxerre Tuesday evening. Allegri insists the three medians, while Pirlo is still forced to miss the game for the aftermath of the barrel a few weeks ago. Ibrahimovic said that from tomorrow, will play, because the notice, with the sword of Damocles of a yellow card to avoid, is the curiosity to see if all the goals from Auxerre will be sufficient to return a shirt holder to Ronaldinho.

In the evening at the Olimpico of Torino goes hand in scene one of the match most heartfelt and warm in the recent past: Juventus-Fiorentina, after the recent positive results, the Bianconeri seem to have chosen the right path to play a leading role in this season very uncertain , armed with a new-found defensive solidity and a full-blown offensive tendency, highlighted by the overwhelming power of physical and technical of Krasic.

The purple, have lost, not without recrimination, the challenge of San Siro against Milan, but still struggling with serious problems in training, seem to be a key test to test the real prospect of Juventus of the new course.

The proposed Sunday, happy hour, an important meeting at the San Siro, where Inter Milan and Parma, two teams far below expectations, try encouraging signs of recovery, if the Dukes seem to have chosen the right path to go up , Inter, coming out winners, not without some fear, the challenge with the Twente has shown them, with a turn in advance to the knockout stage of Champions, are a reassuring environment, community and fans, rather than in a ferment.

Although the nurse returned a few injured, many absences are still important, with whom to fight the poor, challenged, and by many, discouraged, Rafa Benitez. Mister Spanish people to the Inter now forgiven little, but underneath it all, the real problem is that they all live too much in memory of the poet of Setubal, even in Spain, continues to wow the front pages of the media with success and behavior 'original ', the last case autoexpulsion driven by Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, why was an investigation by UEFA.

The afternoon program focuses on two matches involving the top and the others that are already shaking your wrists to more than one team.

Bari-Cesena confronts the last and second last, the big teams and lots stopped soon in the quicksand of the safety zone. The Romagnoli, specialists in losing in injury time, too short in the squad have their Achilles' heel, the Apulian seem to prisoners of a game that last year had been extremely profitable and that, due to injuries and transfers, not is in the ropes of the roster, Ventura, in the case of yet another defeat, I doubt could still remain in place.

The Brescia of Iachini is perhaps the team that has so far planted more and less harvest, the roster has young talent and interesting, but seem to miss the cynicism and nastiness in the important moments, what it takes to turn positive in the many defeats and draws, so far collected. Genoa, after the second illusory initial success of the new management Ballardini, was abruptly awakened by the defeat in front of Juventus, but has left a glimpse of important potential, but also serious problems of character and maturity.

The Bologna, Porcedda's overwhelmed by the scandal, he found, perhaps, in the success of Cagliari in the Italian Cup, the mood boost required to withdraw from financial problems to dive in the most pure sports. The opponent's turn, the rungs of Chievo, sail on a quiet 19 points, and obstacle seems anything but soft and affordable for the Bolognese, who still wants, as never before, these three points, in anticipation of the almost certain administrative penalty for default.

Cagliari's new technical Donadoni, after the success in Brescia and the Italian Cup in tumbling inside, is fitted with Lecce, who, having also lost in his fort at Via del Mare, try to start the search for points away from safety friends walls, a company which, on paper, however, seems unlikely.

It promises better and instead fought the challenge of Udine between the hosts and Mazzarri running at Naples, the Neapolitan, came in third place alone, in order to continue to think big must wrest a positive outcome in a field that has given them joys and sorrows. The collective and beautiful soloists seem adequate security, but we must beware of the pair of Neapolitan Udinese striker Di Natale and Floro Flores.

Lazio, Parma longer blocked by their own mistakes that the merits of the opponents, he tries to continue its flight to the beautiful sight of Catania in great shape and a real loose cannon in this series A. The Etna is, tactical, team edge, mangy and difficult to deal with some tips, Maxi Lopez and Mascara, able to hurt anyone. Lazio seems to be sufficiently charged and desirous, driven by the 'new' Zarate, less individualistic and more for the team, to be able to solve the puzzle that's difficult to propose Catania.

End the day to postpone the evening that will feature, Barbera, Palermo and Rome, or Pastore against Menez Ilicic against Borriello, certainly a fascinating challenge and open to any result. AS Roma now has its 'hold' dimension of the title contenders, inaugurating a long winning streak and victories made the game, thanks to the overwhelming growth of talent and flair of the French Menez goal by Borriello. Palermo, with the recovery of Miccoli has a new arrow to play. Boys of Zamparini, the real naughty terrible of Italian football are capable of great things, but also sudden and unexpected power cuts, then what will come this time on the wheel of Palermo?

Pending goals and emotions I can only wish my ritual good championship at all!

In 1991, Cher released her cover of The Shoop Shoop Song (It's In His Kiss) as part of the soundtrack of the movie Mermaids. Here are the opening lyrics:

Does he love me? I want to know
How can I tell if he loves me so?
Is it in his eyes?
Oh no! You'll be deceived
Is it in his eyes?
Oh no! He'll make believe
If you want to know if he loves you so
It's in his kiss
That's where it is

As I have discussed in several of my writings (Saad, 2007, 2011a, 2011b), song lyrics are a window to our evolved sexuality (see my posts here and here on this general point). In the latter song, it would appear that kissing could serve as a means of gauging a romantic partner's feelings. Are there other functions that kissing serves?

Using an evolutionary lens, Susan M. Hughes, Marissa A. Harrison, and Gordon G. Gallup, Jr. explored sex differences across several metrics dealing with romantic kissing. The researchers posited three hypotheses regarding the functional value of romantic kissing, namely to evaluate a mate (e.g., taste and smell), to trigger bonding between the partners, and to generate sexual arousal and the associated interest in having sex.

Across three studies, they tracked differences between men and women along a wide range of measures, a few of which I highlight here (specifically the main effects for sex). For the full set of findings including null effects, see the original paper here.

Findings wherein women scored higher than men:

Importance of breath

Importance of taste in mouth

Importance of kissing before, during, and after sex: women > men (across all three temporal periods)

Importance of kissing throughout a relationship: It decreases for men but remains roughly the same for women (i.e., kissing always matter to women)

Likelihood of initiating kissing after sex

Felt jealousy at the thought of one's long-term partner kissing someone else

The importance of health appearance of teeth in deciding whether to kiss an individual

 

Findings wherein men scored higher than women:

Likelihood of having sex without kissing
[Interestingly, female sex workers will often proclaim that they refuse to kiss their clients on the lips. Typically, the argument is that it is simply too intimate an act notwithstanding the fact that they are otherwise having sex with the clients!]

How likely should kissing lead to sex

Importance of kissing post fighting

Importance of a wet kiss

Importance of "tongue action"

Likelihood of having short-term sex without kissing

Likelihood of kissing or having sex with someone that one is not attracted to

Likelihood of having sex with a poor kisser

Likelihood of kissing someone that you know does not want a relationship

Likelihood of kissing someone that you know you do not want a relationship with

A good kiss is when a partner lets me initiate "tongue action"

A good kiss is when it leads to sex

A good kiss is when one's partner moans

The importance of face attractiveness in deciding whether to kiss an individual

The importance of body attractiveness in deciding whether to kiss an individual

The importance of body weight in deciding whether to kiss an individual

 

Conclusion: When it comes to romantic kissing, men and women do indeed view the act through wildly different lenses.

 

References:

Gad Saad (2007). The Evolutionary Bases of Consumption. Mahwah, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Gad Saad (2011a). The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books.

Gad Saad, (2011b). Songs lyrics as windows to our evolved human nature. In Alice Andrews and Joseph Carroll (Eds.), The Evolutionary Review: Art, Science, Culture. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

 

Source for Image:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/DickseeRomeoan...

 

Sevilla would have been a first pot team for the UEFA<</span>!> Champions League group stage draw, but with their elimination Tuesday at the hands of Portugal’s Sporting Braga, Milan likely becomes the second Italian team to be “seeded” for the group draw (joining Internazionale). That was the day’s silver lining for the Serie A, however, as a dramatic comeback by Werder Bremen at the Luigi Ferraris ensured Italy joined Spain in having a club eliminated before group stage.

Sampdoria got two early goals from Giampaolo Pazzini and an 80th minute tally from Antonio Cassano to take a 4-3 lead into the closing moments of their tie with Werder, but a goal at the death from Markus Rosenberg sent the tie into extra time, where Peruvian Claudio Pizzaro’s goal put the Bundesliga side into group stage with a 5-4 win.Werder, who will also be a Pot A/seeded team for the group stage draw, helped Germany increase the

UEFA<</span>!> coefficient gap between the Bundesliga and Serie A. Italy now needs to make up over five coefficient points to retain their third place, four Champions League spots standing.In other Tuesday playoffs, the day’s biggest surprise took place in Anderlecht, where the Belgian champions conceded two goals to Serbia’s Partizan before forcing extra time with responses from Romalu Lukaku and Guillaume Gillet (the teams having drawn 2-2 in Belgrade last week). The scoreless extra period led to a shoot-out, from which Partizan advanced, winning 3-2. It is the first time since 2003-04 that Partizan has qualified for group stage, the last time a Serbian club made it that far in the competition.

Hapoel Tel Aviv had a more dramatic time of it against Salzburg than most had anticipated. Salzburg were easily defeated in Israel at the same stage last season, and having lost 2-3 last Wednesday, the Austrians were expected to provide little opposition for the Israeli champions. But an own goal from Douglas de Silva just before halftime evened the tie at three, putting Salzburg one score away from group stage. The Austrian champions ultimately came up short, with Hapoel adding a late goal from a 4-3 aggregate win.

And in the other day’s match, FC Basel went through as expected, though with unexpected ease. Carrying a 1-0 lead to Moldova for their match with FC Sheriff, the Swiss champions got a goal from Marco Streller and a brace from Alexander Frei to finish a 4-0 aggregate win.

I live in Montreal, a city that is reputed for having "passionate" drivers. We are one of the sole cities in North America wherein it is forbidden to make a right turn at a red light. Whereas there are cities with more careless drivers (e.g., Palermo in Sicily), Montreal certainly ranks as one of the tough driving cities within the North American context.

One of the ways by which one might manifest his/her aggressive driving is via the use of an "impatient" car honk and/or light flashing. All other things equal, aggressive drivers are more likely to honk and flash their lights, and perhaps to do so more rapidly. We also know that people of high social status are granted greater deference. Might it be the case that the car that you drive is linked to bullying/bullied behavior? Specifically, does the likelihood of your getting honked at depend on the status associated with your car? Secondly, are you more likely to honk or flash your car's lights at someone as a function of the status of your car?

In today's post, I'd like to discuss two "oldie but goodie" studies that have investigated these exact issues. Doob and Gross (1968) conducted a naturalistic experiment (i.e., in the field) wherein they manipulated the status of a "blocking" car at an intersection. The objective was to gauge the reaction of the driver of the car that pulls up immediately behind the blocking car, once the intersection light turned green. When blocked by a low-status car, not only were drivers were more likely to honk but also did so more rapidly. If you don't want people to honk at you indignantly, drive a Maserati!

Diekmann et al. (1996) completed the story by also conducting a field experiment wherein they held the status of the blocking car constant (Volkswagen Jetta) and instead explored how the car status of the blocked drivers would affect their behaviors. Perhaps not surprisingly, the higher the status of the blocked cars, the more aggressive the response as measured by car honking and light flashing.  Driving a Maserati will allow you to state more vociferously: "Get out of my way punk!"

In my forthcoming trade book titled The Consuming Instinct: What Juicy Burgers, Ferraris, Pornography, and Gift Giving Reveal About Human Nature (Prometheus Books, 2011), I discuss the latter studies along with several others that deal with the use of cars as sexual signals.

Ciao for now.

References:

Doob, A. N., &amp; Gross, A. E. (1968). Status of frustrator as an inhibitor of horn-honking responses. Journal of Social Psychology, 76, 213-218.

Diekmann, A., Jungbauer-Gans, M., Krassnig, H., &amp; Lorenz, S. (1996). Social status and aggression: A field study analyzed by survival analysis. Journal of Social Psychology, 136, 761-768.

Source for Image:
http://www.auto-illustrierte.ch/uploads/RTEmagicC_maserati_02.jpg...

 

The Coppa Italia is in the bag. On Sunday, Inter looks for the second jewel: the Serie A. One week ahead of their Champions League final, the Nerazzurri look to claim their fifth straight Italian title.

In 2006-07, Chelsea won England's FA Cup for the fourth time in the 92-year history of the club. They also won the League Cup, finished second in the Premiership and made it to the Champions League semifinals before losing on kicks. The team allowed a Premier League-low 24 goals while losing only three matches, also a league-low mark.

The 2006-07 can also be seen as Jos&eacute; Mourinho's bad year - his least successful full season as a manager. Mourinho started his career in Portugal with Benfica, resigning from his job after a change in club president, landing at Uni&atilde;o de Leiria after less than three months on the job in Lisbon. Before he had completed a full season Leiria, FC Porto signed him. It was at the Drag&atilde;o, in the first year it was open, that Mourinho completed his first full season as a manager: 2002-03. That year, Mourinho won the UEFA Cup, Portuguese Cup, Portuguese SuperCup and ended Porto's three year drought without a league title.

Portugal's was the first of four straight league titles for Mourinho, a streak split evenly between his home country and England, where in 2004-05 Mourinho led the Blues to the club's second title ever - their first in 50 years. In his first year at Stamford Bridge, Chelsea won the league by twelve points and set a record for fewest goals allowed in a Premier League season: 15 (in 38 matches). The preceding year the Blues had allowed twice as many, finishing 11 points behind Arsenal.

It's through accomplishments like those that soccer fans have become accustomed to Jos&eacute; Mourinho winning titles, something Italian Serie A fans got their first taste of last year when Internazionale won the league by ten points. That scudetto was Inter's fourth in a row, easily winning a league that the Nerazzurri had needed 38 rounds to secure in the preceding season. In his sixth full season as a manager, Mourinho had his his fifth title, with the Cup-double winning campaign the only season where he "failed."

Italy has only one domestic cup competition, the Coppa Italia, which Mourinho and Inter won last week, defeating Roma 1-0 at the Stadio Olimpico. It was the first piece of silverware in what the Nerazzurri hope will be an historic treble - winning the domestic cup, Serie A, and UEFA Champions League. Should Inter win all three competitions, they will be the first team ever to do so within the same season.

On Sunday, Inter goes for the second jewel in that triple crown, traveling to nineteenth place Siena, where a victory will given Milano their fifth straight scudetto. Kicking-off at the same time, second place Roma will be at thirteenth place Chievo, their two point deficit giving them a chance to claim their first title in nine years. Holding the head-to-head tiebreaker advantage over Inter, Roma need only a draw by Siena to have a chance at the title.

The odds of that happening, however, are long. One online odds-maker has the odds of Roma winning the title at around 9-to-1, making it likely that Mourinho will have another accomplishment to hang over the head of Roma's Claudio Ranieri.

Ranieri was the coach who immediately preceded Mourinho at Chelsea. Mourinho's immediate success in London and brash demeanor created an implicit rivalry between he and the man he replaced, with Ranieri's four successful seasons in London subsequently remembered less for the club's upward trajectory, more for a lack of trophies. Ranieri left Stamford Bridge without silverware, and when Mourinho finished ahead of Rainieri's Juventus in last year's Serie A, the rivalry shifted from implicit to explicit.

"Zeru titoli," is how Mourinho, in broken Italian, taunted his rivals last year. Zero titles, he tried to say, referencing the records of the other big Italian clubs. Of Internazionale, Juventus, Milan and Roma, only Internazionale would take silverware from 2008-09. While that was also a reflection on Milan's Carlo Ancelotti and Roma's Luciano Spalletti, it created an even larger chasm between Mourinho and Ranieri. Last week's Coppa Italia final was Ranieri's best chance to transcend that gap, but a loss there ten days after a losing to Sampdoria cost them their Serie A lead meant Roma had, in losing two crucial matches at home, reaffirmed "zeru titoli."

Despite the potential for no titles, the year has still beed successful for Roma, and in that way, a revelation for Ranieri. His replacing the popular Luciano Spalletti at the beginning of the season represented a homecoming, finally returning to Rome to coach at the club where he was trained as a player. He led the Giallorossi on a six month unbeaten run that has the club back in Champions League, still competing for the scudetto on the season's last day. Subtly tinkering with Spalletti's distinct approach, Ranieri salvaged what was about to become a lost season, incorporating more traditional forward play with the movement and dynamism of Spalletti's midfield.

Should Roma not get their scudetto, Ranieri's season should still be fondly remembered. No, he may not win silverware, and he will, for the second season in a row, finish directly behind Jos&eacute; Mourinho. Regardless, the jobs done by each manager have been special. Mourinho may end up with all the silverware, but Ranieri will not be overshadowed.

Sampdoria, Palermo, and the Race For Fourth

Sampdoria's Luigi del Neri and Palermo's Delio Rossi have joined Mourinho and Ranieri in making this a remarkable year for managers in Italy. This weekend, the two battle for the final Champions League spot, last week's 1-1 draw between the clubs leaving Sampdoria two points up on Palermo ahead of Samp's match with Napoli.

With their inferior goal difference (the relevant tiebreaker) and Palermo's match at eighteenth place Atalanta, Sampdoria must assume they'll need three points at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. It's a result they have not gotten from Napoli in their teams' last three meetings, Napoli having defeated Sampdoria earlier this year, 1-0. That day's goal came from German Denis - a substitute for Ezequiel Lavezzi - who may need to replicate his October performance, with Lavezzi is suspended for this match.

First choice defender Hugo Campagnaro is also expected to miss the match for Napoli, with Sampdoria having their own list of injury concerns: defender Marco Rossi as well as attacking tandem Giampaolo Pazzini and Antonio Cassano.

While all three Sampdoria players are expected to play, the potential absence of Cassano would be the easiest to manage, Luigi del Neri having already dropped his star from the team once this year. That change came in the middle of the season, after Sampdoria descended to mid-table after their season's strong start. The new coach made the controversial move of taking the club's talisman out of the lineup, but eventually, Samp righted the ship and are now favored to take the league's last Champions League spot.

Delio Rossi has not been without his own merits, crafting the third-best attack in Serie A during his first year in the Sicilian capital. Palermo has a number of talented attackers and are only slightly improved on their goal rate from last year; however, Rossi has done a fine job of incorporating the youth of Abel Hern&aacute;ndez and Javier Pastor&eacute;, determining where best to use them amongst his attacking three, while improving on last season's eighth place finish, thanks to help from an improved defensive record.

Like Ranieri with Roma, Rossi may be disappointed if he does not finish one place higher, knowing a better result at home, against his main competition, in the season's final weeks could have won them the bigger prize. Despite these small trips at the finish, Ranieri and Rossi should maintain perspective on the strides they've made, just as supporters will maintain perspective on the great seasons they've managed.

Should their teams hold their places in the table, Mourinho and del Neri will receive their earned plaudits, but they are only two stories in what has been a great year for managers in the Serie A.

Last week at the RM Auctions Amelia Island event in Florida, three classic Ferraris over 40 years old each went off and fetched over seven figures each. The most-beloved of the three is undoubtedly this 1967 275 GTB 4 Berlinetta. This beauty was amazingly restored and exceeded estimates as the finally selling price was $1,650,000.

More images after the jump.

Não, não saiu nenhum Nokia<</span>!> Killer, a empresa vai bem, obrigado. O caixão aqui é literal.

Parece que em Ghana existe uma tradição de enterrar pessoas abonadas (o que em Ghana deve significar qualquer um com dinheiro pra comprar caixão) em réplicas ou representações de objetos ou veículos.Há “Ferraris”, Subarus (quem iria querer ser enterrado em um Subaru?) e coisas como peixes, pavões e lagostas. Tecnicamente o caixão deveria refletir como o falecido ganhava a vida, mas com o tempo virou mais símbolo de aspirações, objetos do desejo ou afinidades.Por isso que entre

os vários modelos listados no eShopAfrica.com temos um Caixão… Nokia.

E nem é caro. Está na faixa dos US$1500,00. Pelo menos para os padrões brasileiros, está quase de graça.Antes que perguntem, não, não vou comprar um. Nem em sonhou eu encaixo em um Nokia desses. Vou encomendar um caixão em formato de OpenMoko.  Via

Textually

Filed under: Classics, Auctions, Ferrari

While the iconic 250 series of 1960s-era Ferraris - including the GTO, California Spyder and Testa Rossa - continue to break records at auction, the models that followed are quickly catching up, as those who lusted after them in their wonder years are coming up with the cash to acquire them today. As with any great collector cars, the more perfect and more rare the specimen, the more it'll fetch at auction.

Case in point, three classic Ferraris hovering around the 40-year-old mark each sold for seven figures last week at the RM Auctions Amelia Island event in Florida. One example, a rare Daytona Spyder once owned by Edsel Ford II, brought in $1,017,500 - safely inside the $1-1.25 million estimate range. Another, an alloy-bodied 275 GTB/4 in stunning copper, which was purchased new by Luigi Chinetti and displayed at the 1967 New York Auto Show, went for $1,265,000 - a little short of its estimate. It was bested, however, by a meticulously-restored, concours-winning 275 that greatly exceeded its estimate with a $1,650,000 winning bid.

Along with the headline-catching Duesenbergs, these classic cavallinos helped RM achieve an 88% sale rate at Amelia Island, accounting for over $19 million in sales. Further details in the press release after the jump.




[Source: RM Auctions]

Continue reading 3 classic Ferraris break the million-dollar mark at Amelia Island

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Un uomo di 27 muore folgorato dalla linea elettrica nella stazione Livorno Ferraris (Vercelli) A Pomezia 42enne precipita da una scala. Nel napoletano giovane ucciso mentre manovra la gru
Incidenti sul lavoro, la strage continua Tre vittime a Napoli, Vercelli e Pomezia<</span>!>
(15:35 15/03/2010)

Well here we are. March 2010. Bahrain. It's the opening race of the 2010 Formula 1 World Championship and there are great expectations for this year's season. We have the return of a legend, a union of two British world champions, the arrival of some new teams and faces, with a new rule forbidding refuelling during the race to boot. The cars are heavy with fuel and the drivers raring to go. Will the race live up to the hype? Unlikely, but it's a solid start to what promises to be a rollercoaster of a season.

Pole Position

With Vettel surprising everyone with pole position for Red Bull, it meant the pre-race favourites, Ferrari were in second and third on the grid. They were closely followed by the 2008 champion Hamilton, with Schumacher and Button further back in seventh and eighth respectively.

After much expectation, the green light finally signalled the start to the 2010 season with Vettel holding off the two Ferraris to stay in the lead on the first bend. The only drama being a massive plume of smoke coming from Webber's Red Bull which only succeeded in disorientating the chasing pack, resulting in a couple of minor prangs and slight confusion. As a result, Webber dropped back and never really worried any of the contenders; he left that to team mate Vettel.

The new boys

The unenviable honour of being the first retirement of the season went to new boy Chandhok who managed only two laps in his Hispania Racing car. He was then joined by the Virgin Racing driver di Grassi and a number of this year's new entrants. In fact out of all the new teams, only Lotus managed some degree of success, by actually finishing the race. This probably points to the new teams using the first Grand Prix of the season as an extended trial and a chance to iron out the gremlins.

Unfortunately, there wasn't too much excitement in the first half of the race. As the drivers totted up the laps, the top three of Vettel, Alonso and Massa continued to dominate, while the other contenders, continued to chase, hoping for an error or mechanical problem further ahead of them.

This hope soon became a reality as Vettel reported a loss of power, which was supremely pounced on first by Alonso and then Massa. Eventually, Hamilton found himself closing in on the Red Bull driver and ultimately storming past him to move up into third.

The old boys

So far, you may have noticed that there has been no mention of any significance of either Schmacher or Button. This is mainly due to their generally unassuming impact on the race. The German driver coasted his way through the race, neither impressing nor disappointing, but drove effectively and looked like someone who had been out of F1 for the past four years and who was feeling his way back into the action.

Similarly, Button had a rather anonymous first race of the season, as he looks to defend his title. The fact that only seven drivers have achieved this feat in Formula 1 history, doesn't bode well for Button and his McLaren car which was significantly off the pace.

Coasting to victory

After the brief excitement of Vettel's demotion down the order, Alonso proceeded to coast to the opening win of the season and with Massa in second, provided Ferrari with the perfect start to 2010. Albeit with a little help from the powerless Vettel, Ferrari and more specifically Alonso, appear to be the team and the man to beat this year. Of course, this doesn't take into account the McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes teams fine-tuning their cars and becoming more competitive in the weeks and months to come.

McLaren's Hamilton completed the podium with an impressive drive in an inferior car and should take a significant amount of encouragement from his performance, especially considering his team mate and reigning champion, Jenson Button only managed a slightly disappointing seventh place. Button was also beaten by the seven times champion Michael Schumacher, who made a solid but unspectacular return to Formula 1.

Looking to the future

The build up to this race promised much and Alonso and Ferrari delivered, but the high drama, intense rivalry and heated exchanges didn't materialise, which is something we will have to wait for as the season matures. This is only the first race and there are lot more pitstops, collisions, dramas and no doubt some racing to look forward to over the coming months. We will be looking for Schumacher to step up a gear, Button to race like a champion, Hamilton to continue his promising start and at Ferrari as being the team to beat in 2010.

Bring on Melbourne. Two weeks and counting.

Watch the race here.

Race Result:

1 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari
2 Felipe Massa - Ferrari
3 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes
4 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault
5 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP
6 Michael Schumacher - Mercedes GP
7 Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes
8 Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault
9 Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes
10 Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth

Driver Standings:

1 Fernando Alonso - Ferrari = 25 points
2 Felipe Massa - Ferrari = 18 points
3 Lewis Hamilton - McLaren-Mercedes = 15 points
4 Sebastian Vettel - Red Bull-Renault = 12 points
5 Nico Rosberg - Mercedes GP = 10 points
6 Michael Schumacher - Mercedes GP = 8 points
7 Jenson Button - McLaren-Mercedes = 6 points
8 Mark Webber - Red Bull-Renault = 4 points
9 Vitantonio Liuzzi - Force India-Mercedes = 2 points
10 Rubens Barrichello - Williams-Cosworth = 1 points

Constructors' Standings:

1 Ferrari = 43
2 McLaren-Mercedes = 21
3 Mercedes GP = 18
4 Red Bull-Renault = 16
5 Force India-Mercedes = 2
6 Williams-Cosworth = 1

O espanhol Fernando Alonso venceu o Grande Prêmio do Bahrein neste domingo pela Ferrari e seu companheiro de equipe, o brasileiro Felipe Massa, ficou em segundo lugar enquanto o inglês Lewis Hamilton, da McLaren, chegou em terceiro. O heptacampeão Michael Schumacher, voltando este ano à categoria, terminou como sexto colocado.

Pole position, Vettel manteve a primeira colocação com tranquilidade na primeira metade da prova e parecia caminhar para um triunfo tranquilo. Porém, a Red Bull do alemão perdeu potência e as Ferraris se aproximaram nas 20 voltas finais das 49 do circuito do Sakhir. Alonso tomou a liderança do rival na 35ª volta e Massa assumiu o segundo lugar pouco depois. No entanto, o brasileiro não conseguiu pressionar o novo parceiro, que soma seus primeiros 25 pontos na temporada, conforme o novo sistema de pontuação, contra 18 do brasileiro.

Vettel ainda perderia até seu lugar no pódio, para Lewis Hamilton, da McLaren, que o ultrapassou na 37ª volta. Já Michael Schumacher, em seu retorno oficial à Fórmula 1, levou a Mercedes ao sexto lugar no Bahrein, um atrás do companheiro de equipe e compatriota Nico Rosberg. Rubens Barrichello, em sua primeira corrida na Williams, ficou no décimo lugar e somou um ponto no Mundial de Pilotos. Os outros brasileiros do grid, Bruno Senna e Lucas di Grassi, das novatas Hispania e Virgin, respectivamente, não completaram a prova.

Eliminada da Copa dos Campeões e com uma sequência irregular no Campeonato Italiano em janeiro e fevereiro, a Juventus começou uma &oacute;tima rea&ccedil;&atilde;o no terceiro mês do ano. No entanto, a reviravolta parou por a&iacute;. Neste domingo (14/03), a "Velha Senhora&quot; empatou com o Siena por 3 a 3, com um 'pequeno' detalhe: começou vencendo por 3 a 0 antes dos 10 minutos do primeiro tempo.

Apesar de manter a invencibilidade em março, onde venceu a Fiorentina por 2 a 1 no Italiano e o Fulham por 3 a 1 pela Liga Europa, competiç&atilde;o continental que disputa ap&oacute;s a elimina&ccedil;&atilde;o da Champions, o resultado foi p&eacute;ssimo para o time do Est&aacute;dio Ol&iacute;mpico de Turim.

Isso porque a soma de apenas um ponto leva a Juve aos 45 pontos, na 5ª coloca&ccedil;&atilde;o. Enquanto isso, o Siena sai da lanterna da competiç&atilde;o, somando agora 24 pontos em 28 jogos.

O jogo: Para os anfitriões começarem a bombardear a meta de Gianluigi Curci, bastou apenas o &aacute;rbitro Carmine Russo dar o apito inicial. Logo aos dois minutos de jogo, Trezeguet fez boa jogada pela esquerda e rolou para Sissoko soltar a bomba. O goleiro do Siena conseguiu intervir e defender, mas no rebote Alessandro Del Piero colocou a bola no fundo das redes.

Recordista de jogos e de gols da Juve, Alessandro Del Piero tratou de justificar a idolatria do torcedor juventino aos sete minutos, quando anotou seu segundo tento na partida. Ap&oacute;s cruzamento de Grygera da direita que atravessou o campo, o camisa 10 emendou um lindo chute de primeira e mandou a bola no &acirc;ngulo para ampliar o resultado.

E sem perder o &iacute;mpeto, a Vecchia Signora fez o terceiro gol antes mesmo dos dez minutos. Ap&oacute;s lançamento longo, Trezeguet desviou de cabeça e a bola caiu nos p&eacute;s de Candreva, que avançou e tamb&eacute;m mandou uma bomba no &acirc;ngulo de Curci.

Em vez de se desolar com o resultado t&atilde;o el&aacute;stico no começo, o Siena reagiu logo depois, aproveitando-se de uma falha da defesa anfitri&atilde;. Grygera errou na sa&iacute;da de bola e entregou de presente para Maccarone, que s&oacute; tocou no cantinho para diminuir o resultado.

Se foi fulminante no in&iacute;cio do primeiro tempo, a Juventus provou do pr&oacute;prio veneno na segunda etapa, quando Ghezzal aproveitou rebota do chute de Maccarone e tocou para diminuir ainda mais a vantagem anfitri&atilde;.

E para a j&aacute; irritada torcida da Juventus se enervar ainda mais, bastaram mais 25 minutos. Novamente com Maccarone, em grande partida, o Siena marcou e empatou o jogo. Maccarone invadiu a &aacute;rea pela esquerda em linda jogada individual e foi derrubado por um p&eacute;ssimo Grygera, pênalti que Ghezzal mandou "na gaveta&quot; de Chimenti para deixar tudo igual.

Rodada italiana segue cheia de gols

Al&eacute;m dos seis gols marcados no empate de Juventus e Siena, a 28ª rodada do Campeonato Italiano deve v&aacute;rios outros jogos repletos de gols. No total, foram 30 tentos em sete jogos, m&eacute;dia superior a quatro tentos por partida.

Fora de casa, a Roma empatou com o Livorno tamb&eacute;m por 3 a 3. Perrota, Luca Toni e David Pizarro anotaram para os giallorossi, enquanto Cristiano Lucarelli, três vezes, marcou para o Livorno. Pizarro ainda perdeu um pênalti aos 42 minutos.

O est&aacute;dio Luigi Ferraris tamb&eacute;m foi palco de uma chuva de gols, onde o Genoa venceu o Cagliari por 5 a 3. Zapater, Palacio, Sculli, Rossi e Milanetto marcaram para os anfitriões, enquanto Dessena, Matri e Conti descontaram.

A Udinese tamb&eacute;m venceu em uma partida com alto n&uacute;mero de gols, com o resultado de 3 a 2 sobre o Palermo. Floro Flores, por duas vezes, e Asamoah fizeram os tentos da vit&oacute;ria, enquanto F&aacute;bio Simpl&iacute;cio e Cavani descontaram.

Confira os resultados deste domingo no Campeonato Italiano:

Bologna 1 x 1 Sampdoria<</span>!>Genoa 5 x 3 Cagliari
Juventus 3 x 3 Siena<</span>!>Lazio 0 x 2 Bari
Livorno 3 x 3 Roma<</span>!>Parma 1 x 0 Atalanta<</span>!>Udinese 3 x 2 Palermo

Well, I don’t quite know how to write about this one. As a huge Alonso fan I was extremely pleased to watch the Spaniard cross the line in P1. However, I am very aware that my excitement at the result is very different to the way I felt for most of the race.

I must say that was one of the dullest Grand Prix that I have watched in a very long time. There were hardly any manoeuvres and the new rules added absolutely nothing. Vettel was miles ahead until his car conked out and although I was pleased to see the Ferrari of Alonso in front, his overtake was simple and he quickly got up to 12 seconds in front.

I guess the race started with some excitement. I truly didn’t know what to expect and I can tell you that I certainly felt goose bumps before the lights went out.

Unfortunately, the race began as it would continue with a clean start and very little change. Vettel broke away very well and Alonso did a very smart and professional job taking Massa into turn one. Further back, Button, Schumacher, and Rosberg gained a place and Webber let out a plume of smoke before falling behind.

The Force Indias got in each others way, ruining Sutil’s race but before long the teams had found their positions and they weren’t changing.

We got our first retirement on lap two when poor old Chandhok collided with a barrier ending his debut race. He was soon joined by di Grassi who simply pulled off the track and stopped with hydraulic failure.

The top 10 positions on lap two were as follows:

Vettel, Alonso, Massa, Rosberg, Hamilton, Schumacher, Button, Webber, Liuzi, Barrichello.

I was yawning by lap four when after an early mistake Hulkenberg made the first stop of the 2010 season. Sure there was the odd overtake here and there but it was mainly faster cars out of position.

By lap nine it was clearly a three horse race and the top 10 drivers hadn’t changed at all. Desperately searching for something to say, all the commentators could do was go on and on about fastest lap times.

On lap 12 we got our first scheduled pit stop from Senna. There was really nothing to write about at this stage. Vettel was powering away but the Ferraris were keeping themselves in the fight. I suppose the only other thing worth a mention was Button’s slowness.

On lap 15 we got retirement number three in the form of Petrov and also our first two pit stops from top 10 drivers.

Hamilton and Schumacher entered the pits, changed tyres and rejoined P9 (Hamilton) and P10 (Schumacher). Wow exciting stuff eh?

Now we then entered a period that promised much…but delivered nothing. These first two stops had started a chain reaction. Alonso pulled into the pits on lap 17 followed by Rosberg, Button, and Webber. All four rejoined the track and very little changed.

The only gain was that Hamilton had managed to leapfrog Rosberg with his stop. Erm…wasn’t the point of these changes to stop all this pit stop overtaking?

Vettel and Massa both stoped on lap 18 and rejoined…Vettel P1 and Massa P3…wow! hang on where did they start? DULL!!

Do you want to know what these exciting pit stops did F1 fans? They opened up larger gaps between the drivers! I can give you a manoeuvre report though…brace yourselves.. on lap 19 a slow Barrichello with dodgy tyres was passed by a faster Hamilton.

The race then really dropped off as all the drivers began to look after their engines and tyres. By lap 30 Alonso had begun to close right up to Vettel, but the Ferrari was wrecking it’s tyres in the Red Bull dirty air! What a mess! So Alonso couldn’t overtake Vettel because his tyres would have been ruined…genius F1…genius!

At this stage we lost both Saubers to technical failures which was a shame.

Around lap 34 everyone suddenly perked up as Vettel slowed right down. The Red Bull was clearly sick and had no chance against the superior Ferraris.

Alonso quickly dispatched the young German on the final corner of lap 34 and then Massa got through into turn one. Sure I was ecstatic to see Alonso take P1…but he only got it through Red Bull troubles.

Next came Hamilton, who breezed past the struggling Vettel re writing the positions as follows:

Alonso, Massa, Hamilton, Vettel, Rosberg, Schumacher, Button, Webber, Luizi, Barrichello.

That is how it stayed for the rest of the race. It looked as if Rosberg might just take Vettel right at the end but the Red Bull driver did a great job keeping the Mercedes at bay. The only other thing I can add is that Buemi retired on lap 48 (poor guy!).

So that was it…

Great to see Alonso win and three nice guys on the podium. No animosity between any of them and smiles all around. If this is how the season is going to continue then I’ll be pleased as an Alonso fan, disappointed as a Button fan, but most importantly of all, depressed as an F1 fan!

Roll on Australia.. prove me wrong!

1 Fernando Alonso Ferrari 49 Winner 3 25

2 Felipe Massa Ferrari 49 +16.0 secs 2 18

3 Lewis Hamilton McLaren-Mercedes 49 +23.1 secs 4 15

4 Sebastian Vettel RBR-Renault 49 +38.7 secs 1 12

5 Nico Rosberg Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 49 +40.2 secs 5 10

6 Michael Schumacher Mercedes Benz GP Ltd 49 +44.1 secs 7 8

7 Jenson Button McLaren-Mercedes 49 +45.2 secs 8 6

8 Mark Webber RBR-Renault 49 +46.3 secs 6 4

9 Vitantonio Liuzzi Force India-Mercedes 49 +53.0 secs 12 2

10 Rubens Barrichello Williams-Cosworth 49 +62.4 secs 11 1

11 Robert Kubica Renault 49 +69.0 secs 9

12 Adrian Sutil Force India-Mercedes 49 +82.9 secs 10

13 Jaime Alguersuari STR-Ferrari 49 +92.6 secs 18

14 Nico Hulkenberg Williams-Cosworth 48 +1 Lap 13

15 Heikki Kovalainen Lotus-Cosworth 47 +2 Laps 21

16 Sebastien Buemi STR-Ferrari 46 +3 Laps 15

17 Jarno Trulli Lotus-Cosworth 46 +3 Laps 20

Ret Pedro de la Rosa BMW Sauber-Ferrari 28 +21 Laps 14

Ret Bruno Senna HRT-Cosworth 17 +32 Laps 23

Ret Timo Glock Virgin-Cosworth 16 +33 Laps 19

Ret Vitaly Petrov Renault 13 +36 Laps 17

Ret Kamui Kobayashi BMW Sauber-Ferrari 11 +38 Laps 16

Ret Lucas di Grassi Virgin-Cosworth 2 +47 Laps 22

Ret Karun Chandhok HRT-Cosworth 1 +48 Laps 24

The Italian team will not want to repeat last season's ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the Formula One standings

In the red and blue corner

Used to be the gallant little Minardi squad from Faenza, one of the sport's most charismatic also-rans. But one day Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz blew into town and decided that he would like to own a second Formula One team. Hence Minardi became Toro Rosso, much to the disappointment of their fans who organised an online petition in protest. Still Toro Rosso came good with their 2008 win at the Italian grand prix with young German thruster Sebastian Vettel at the wheel. In so doing they became the only Italian team other than Ferrari to win a grand prix since Juan Manuel Fangio grabbed a victory for Maserati in 1957. Toro Rosso is Italian for Red Bull, as if you haven't worked that out already.

Highs and lows of 2009

Having won the 2008 rain-soaked Italian grand prix at Monza with their prodigy Vettel, the main Red Bull squad nicked him for their own line-up. That left Toro Rosso with Sébastien Buemi and Sébastien Bourdais. The latter was kicked out midway through the season to be replaced, not with another Seb but by the unproven teenage Jaime Alguersuari, who crashed immediately on his first outing. Will not want to repeat last season's ignominy of finishing at the bottom of the standings.

Just don't mention

Alguersuari mistook the Red Bull pit for his own during the season-ending Abu Dhabi grand prix and stopped there seconds before the eventual race winner, Vettel, was due to come in and refuel. The Spaniard was hurriedly waved back into the race and stopped with a broken gearbox seconds later.

Change is good

They always have the potential to surprise, even though they have modest resources by the standards of the frontrunners. With their young and promising drivers, they just might spring a surprise this season.

Stands out in a crowd

They can tap into Red Bull's technical knowhow, even though the rules say they have to build their own car from scratch. Useful to look through Red Bull's window at Milton Keynes, though.

Most likely to crash into

Just about anybody on the grid apart from Red Bull duo Vettel and Mark Webber. Or one of the factory Ferraris, of course. Pushing the car might just become a little tiresome.

Pitboard message

Pit next lap. And our pit, please, if you don't mind.

Who pulls the strings

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli. He used to work with Ayrton Senna at McLaren and Gerhard Berger at Ferrari. So when he speaks the kids had better listen. And listen good.

Cockpit compatibility

Both not quite nutters but wild and woolly racers as they learned the Formula One ropes together last season. Could get quite sparky once they settle down and each harnesses his undoubted potential more positively. They are both basically pretty good drivers with a combined age of 40. That's a year fewer than Michael Schumacher.

What's in the boot

A Ferrari V8 which should be both reliable and reasonably competitive. They should be aiming for mid-grid placings by the middle of the year.

Tiger in the tank

Always good at conserving budgets. They never had much money back in the Minardi days, so they have not really had to adapt too radically to the FIA's cost-cutting initiatives.

Tweet this

Alguersuari's improving, yes?

Not this

I mean, one pit looks like any other.

Title odds

100-1

If they were an iPhone app

The Moron Test

Your boss has a tendency to think you are a complete idiot and sets fiendishly difficult tests for you to prove otherwise. Difficult to master but good fun, it has the capacity to boggle the mind. It frequently poses the question 'where are you right now?', the answer to which everyone is waiting to hear. Puzzling and at times not what it seems – when you think you have got its measure you realise it is impossible to succeed in this game

The drivers

1. Sebastien Buemi, 21, Switzerland

He's the one who

Looks like the sensitive jock in a high school flick whose bombast masks a secret passion for opera. While others in the paddock flock to Switzerland on their accountants' advice, this Swiss lives in Bahrain with his Uncle Humbert's family and the kingdom's 1% income tax rates.

On track for

Bookended a difficult debut season in an unreliable car with a commendable start and finish – seventh place in Australia and Brazil and eighths in China and Abu Dhabi. Maturing and impressed everyone with his spirit but points may remain scarce and age has not made team principal, the Tartarish Franz Tost, any more cuddly or patient.

In another life he'd be

Life modelling for the Easter Island statues.

2. Jaime Alguersuari, 19, Spain

He's the one who

Showed that the regulation banning in-season testing was ridiculous when he became the youngest ever driver by replacing Bourdais and floundered in the last eight grands prix of 2009. Comes with a sizeable personal sponsorship package and a great record in F3.

On track for

He was two when Michael Schumacher won his first grand prix and his lack of experience and rashness were considered a danger last year. Proper testing will benefit him but it's hard to see him breaking the top 16.

In another life he'd be

The blue-eyed short-lived love interest for whichever Coronation Street teen temptress is getting 'readers' of Nuts hot in the trouser department this week.

Facts and figures

Debut Bahrain 2006

Grands prix 70

Wins 1 Poles 1

Constructors' titles 0

Drivers' titles 0

Based Faenza, Italy

Team principal Franz Tost

Technical director Giorgio Ascanelli

The car

Engine Ferrari

Tyres Bridgestone

Um dos favoritos ao t&iacute;tulo da temporada 2010 da F&oacute;rmula 1, Felipe Massa acredita que o fim do reabastecimento durante as corridas vai tornar as provas mais t&eacute;cnicas, ao menos em seu in&iacute;cio. O pr&oacute;ximo Mundial começa no dia 14 de março, com o GP do Bahrein.

"Ser&aacute; uma mudança grande. O tanque cheio ter&aacute; uns 180 litros. Na m&eacute;dia, em uma pista como Barcelona, a cada 10kg de combust&iacute;vel você fica uns 0,3s mais lento. Imagine como ser&aacute; com 160kg. Muda muito o jeito de guiar e tamb&eacute;m a rea&ccedil;&atilde;o do carro, que vai melhorando conforme o combust&iacute;vel for abaixando. Al&eacute;m disto, o pneu tamb&eacute;m vai desgastando e a corrida ficar&aacute; dif&iacute;cil, mais t&eacute;cnica at&eacute; a primeira parada para troca dos compostos", analisou o piloto.

O ferrarista tamb&eacute;m demonstrou concord&acirc;ncia com a percepç&atilde;o de que n&atilde;o h&aacute; uma equipe muito &agrave; frente das rivais neste in&iacute;cio de temporada - durante os testes coletivos de janeiro, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren e Mercedes apresentaram o melhor desempenho.

"At&eacute; Barcelona, n&atilde;o vimos muita surpresa, s&oacute; muitas equipes brigando 0s1, 0s2 de diferença... Tenho certeza que vai ser um campeonato bem competitivo", avaliou o paulista, que, no entanto, n&atilde;o descarta a possibilidade de algu&eacute;m vencer com clara superioridade no Oriente M&eacute;dio.

"Surpresa sempre pode ter. Para a primeira corrida, algum time pode conseguir peças novas ou melhorar a aerodin&acirc;mica. Sem d&uacute;vida pode haver uma equipe que melhore. Muita coisa pode mudar em um dia na F&oacute;rmula 1. Ent&atilde;o, temos que trabalhar", ensinou.

Brasil
Em Interlagos neste domingo, Massa tamb&eacute;m falou sobre a F&oacute;rmula Future Fiat, categoria apadrinhada por Felipe Massa que dar&aacute; ao campe&atilde;o de seu ano de estreia a chance de integrar o programa de desenvolvimento da Ferrari.

"Se eu tiver a chance de ajudar os pilotos do Brasil conseguirem disputar campeonatos da Europa e chegar &agrave; F&oacute;rmula 1, vou fazer com o maior carinho. Sofri bastante na minha careira, ent&atilde;o &eacute; importar ajudar. Ainda n&atilde;o havia uma categoria escola no Brasil e este ser&aacute; um trabaho super bem feito para auxiliar o nosso automobilismo", declarou, lembrando que tamb&eacute;m est&aacute; dando apoio ao Trof&eacute;u Linea (carros de turismo) e para o 600 SuperSport (motos).

ROMA, 7 (EUROPA PRESS)

El Inter de Milán empató (0-0) en su feudo ante el Génova y no pudo aprovechar el empate que cosechó el sábado la Roma ante el AC Milan, por lo que sigue líder del Calcio, a cuatro puntos sobre el conjunto milanés y a siete sobre los romanos.

Fue una primera parte sin goles y prácticamente sin ocasiones en el Giuseppe Meazza, en donde el juego de centro del campo dominó el encuentro. Ambas defensas se impusieron a las delanteras, de entre las cuales destacó una jornada más la ausencia en el once titular de Samuel Eto'o.

El equipo de Mourinho, que volvió a ver el partido en la grada por sanción, lo intentó a base de centros desde las bandas, sobre todo por mediación de Balotelli, pero Diego Milito no fue capaz de rematar con peligro ninguno de ellos.

Ya en la segunda mitad la tónica cambió y ambos equipos buscaron el gol del triunfo. Diego Milito tuvo varias ocasiones para adelantar a los suyos, la primera en una gran jugada de combinación del Inter de Milán, pero el disparo se le marchó desviado, al igual que en la segunda ocasión.

Mourinho no se conformó con el empate y metió más dinamita al dar entrada en el minuto 58 a Samuel Eto'o y a Iván Córdoba, pero ninguno de los dos pudo adelantar a su equipo. Las jugadas de estrategia tampoco les funcionaron a los 'interinos', a pesar de que Wesley Sneijder lo intentó desde lejos. Por su parte el equipo de Alberto Zapater se agazapó atrás mientras pasaban los minutos y buscó con éxito el empate final.

Por su parte, la Sampdoria venció (2-1) en el Comunale Luigi Ferraris y se aupó a los puestos que dan acceso a la 'Europa League', con goles de Guberti y Pazzini mientras que hundió un poquito más al Lazio, que no levanta cabeza, en los puestos peligrosos de la clasificación, situándolo a sólo dos puntos del descenso.

Además, el Palermo aprovechó la oportunidad de adelantar a la Juventus de Turín y se metió en los puestos que dan acceso a la 'Champions League', ya que ganó (1-0) al antepenúltimo clasificado, aunque no fue hasta los últimos minutos cuando Fabrizio Miccoli logró el gol de la victoria.

La sorpresa de la jornada se produjo en el Renato Della'Ara, ya que el Bolonia le ganó al Nápoles, séptimo clasificado. Mientras, en el duelo por asentarse en los puestos cómodos de la clasificación el Bari le ganó (1-0) al Chievo Verona. Se adelantó en la primera mitad el conjunto local, a través de un gol de José Ignacio Castillo que fue suficiente para vencer el encuentro.

Por su parte, el Atalanta y el Udinese empataron (0-0) en un partido con mucha tensión por ambos bandos que se enfrentaron por evitar el descenso. Además el Cagliari y el Catania también empatarón (2-2) en un partido muy emocionante, en donde marcaron por parte del Cagliari Andrez Lazzari y Cossu para conseguir el empate y Andrea Lazzari y el ex barcelonista Maxi López para el Catania.

Por su parte, el Siena, último clasificado logró un valioso empate ante el Parma. Ludovic Biabiany marcó para los parmesanos en el minuto 34 de la primera mitad hundiendo un poco más en los últimos puestos al Siena, que consiguió a base de casta empatar el encuentro en el minuto 69 con un gol de Simone Vergassola.

--RESULTADOS.

--Sábado.

Fiorentina - Juventus 1 - 2.

Roma - AC Milan 0 - 0.

--Domingo.

Atalanta - Udinese 0 - 0.

Siena - Parma 1 - 1.

Bolonia - Nápoles 2 - 1.

Palermo - Livorno 1 - 0.

Sampdoria - Lazio 2 - 1.

Bari - Chievo 1 - 0.

Cagliari - Catania 2 - 2.

Inter de Milán - Génova 0 - 0.

--CLASIFICACIÓN.

Equipos PJ PG PE PP GF GC PTS.

1. Inter Milán 27 17 8 2 52 22 59.

2. AC Milan 27 16 7 4 46 26 55.

3. AS Roma 27 15 7 5 45 29 52.

4. Juventus 27 13 5 9 42 36 44.

5. Palermo 26 12 7 7 37 31 43.

6. Sampdoria 27 12 7 8 34 33 43.

7. Nápoles 27 10 11 6 35 31 41.

8. Cagliari 27 11 6 10 43 36 39.

9. Génova 27 11 6 10 44 43 39.

10. Fiorentina 27 10 5 12 33 33 35

11. Chievo Verona 27 10 5 12 26 27 35.

12. Bari 27 9 8 10 32 34 35.

13. Bologia 27 9 7 11 32 37 34.

14. Parma 27 9 7 11 28 37 34.

15. Catania 27 6 10 11 29 33 28.

16. Udinese 27 7 7 13 32 39 28.

17. Lazio 27 5 11 11 22 30 26.

18. Livorno 26 6 5 15 17 36 23.

19. Atalanta Bérgamo 27 5 7 15 22 38 22.

20. Siena 27 5 6 16 28 48 21.

ROMA, 7 (EUROPA PRESS)

La Sampdoria venció (2-1) en el Comunale Luigi Ferraris y se aupó a los puestos que dan acceso a la 'Europa League', mientras que hundió un poquito más al Lazio, que no levanta cabeza, en los puestos peligrosos de la clasificación, situándolo a sólo dos puntos del descenso.

Se adelantó pronto el Lazio, que salió con ganas, por mediación de Sergio Floccari, pero en siete minutos, el equipo romano se hundió, y en el 29 y el 36 remontó la Sampdoria con goles de Guberti y Pazzini. Ya en la segunda mitad la Sampdoria mantuvo el resultado hasta el final del encuentro.

Por su parte, el Palermo aprovechó la oportunidad de adelantar a la Juventus de Turín y se metió en los puestos que dan acceso a la 'Champions League', ya que ganó (1-0) al antepenúltimo clasificado, aunque no fue hasta los últimos minutos cuando Fabrizio Miccoli logró el gol de la victoria.

La sorpresa de la jornada se produjo en el Renato Della'Ara, ya que el Bolonia le ganó al Nápoles, séptimo clasificado. El partido comenzó con unos quince primeros minutos trepidantes, con tres goles, marcó por dos veces el Bolonia, con goles de Zalayeta y Adailton y finalmente recortó distancias Leandro Rinaudo.

En el duelo por asentarse en los puestos cómodos de la clasificación el Bari le ganó (1-0) al Chievo Verona. Se adelantó en la primera mitad el conjunto local, a través de un gol de José Ignacio Castillo que fue suficiente para vencer el encuentro.

Por su parte, el Atalanta y el Udinese empataron (0-0) en un partido con mucha tensión por ambos bandos que se enfrentaron por evitar el descenso. El equipo local lo intentó con más ahinco, pero el gol no llegó para ninguno de los dos, que tendrán que seguir luchando por salvarse.

Además el Cagliari y el Catania empatarón a dos en un partido muy emocionante. Se adelantó pronto el Cagliari en el marcador con un gol de Andrea Lazzari, pero remontó en cuatro minutos el Catania, más necesitado de puntos, con goles de Mascara y del ex barcelonista Maxi Lopez. Ya en la segunda mitad el Cagliari se quedó con un futbolista menos, pero aún así consiguió empatar el encuentro en el minuto 74 con un gol de Cossu.

Por su parte, el Siena, último clasificado logró un valioso empate ante el Parma. Ludovic Biabiany marcó para los parmesanos en el minuto 34 de la primera mitad hundiendo un poco más en los últimos puestos al Siena, que consiguió a base de casta empatar el encuentro en el minuto 69 con un gol de Simone Vergassola.

RESULTADOS.

--Ayer.

Fiorentina - Juventus 1 - 2.

Roma - Milan 0 - 0.

--Hoy.

Atalanta - Udinese 0 - 0.

Siena - Parma 1 - 1.

Bolonia - Nápoles 2 - 1.

Palermo - Livorno 1 - 0.

Sampdoria - Lazio 2 - 1.

Bari - Chievo 1 - 0.

Cagliari - Catania 2 - 2.

Inter de Milán - Genova (más tarde).

--CLASIFICACIÓN.

Equipos PJ PG PE PP GF GC PTS.

1. Inter Milan 26 17 7 2 52 22 58.

2. AC Milan 27 16 7 4 46 26 55.

3. AS Roma 27 15 7 5 45 29 52.

4. Juventus 27 13 5 9 42 36 44.

5. Palermo 26 12 7 7 37 31 43.

6. Sampdoria 27 12 7 8 34 33 43.

7. Nápoles 27 10 11 6 35 31 41.

8. Cagliari 27 11 6 10 43 36 39.

9. Génova 26 11 5 10 44 43 38.

10. Fiorentina 27 10 5 12 33 33 35

11. Chievo Verona 27 10 5 12 26 27 35.

12. Bari 27 9 8 10 32 34 35.

13. Bologia 27 9 7 11 32 37 34.

14. Parma 27 9 7 11 28 37 34.

15. Catania 27 6 10 11 29 33 28.

16. Udinese 27 7 7 13 32 39 28.

17. Lazio 27 5 11 11 22 30 26.

18. Livorno 26 6 5 15 17 36 23.

19. Atalanta Bergamo 27 5 7 15 22 38 22.

20. Siena 27 5 6 16 28 48 21.

Completamente recuperado de um grave acidente sofrido em julho do ano passado, Felipe Massa admite que o desfecho do ocorrido no último GP da Hungria poderia ser muito diferente caso tivesse acontecido no passado. "Se meu acidente fosse há 10 anos, talvez eu não estaria aqui agora. A tecnologia que temos agora, o capacete, pode salvar sua vida. Passou muito perto, mas eu estou aqui. Depois de Ayrton Senna, tudo mudou", comentou o ferrarista, que foi atingido por uma mola que se soltou do carro de Rubens Barrichello e perdeu o restante da temporada, em entrevista ao jornal inglês The Independent. Quando Senna morreu, durante o GP de San Marino de 1994, Massa tinha 13 anos. Na ocasião, o tricampeão mundial bateu fortemente após perder o controle do carro na curva Tamburello. Como se não bastasse isto, o piloto ainda foi atingido na cabeça por um fragmento da barra de suspensão de sua Williams. "Estava vendo a corrida em casa e, quando vi a batida, não achei que fosse tão sério. Nós, brasileiros, perdemos um pedaço do país naquele dia. Lembro de ter visto o velório dele na TV, havia talvez um milhão de pessoas na rua... Foi um grande impacto em mim", destacou. Felipe ainda contou que sua primeira lembrança do acidente é de 30 minutos depois de ter acordado no hospital. Ele revela que chegou a brigar com sua esposa porque queria voltar a correr logo. "Depois, vi que era mais grave do que eu pensava. Mas eu nunca pensei em parar de competir", garantiu. O vice-campeão da temporada 2008 ainda falou sobre a morte de Henry Surtees, filho do campeão mundial de 1964 John Surtees, que foi atingido na cabeça por um pneu durante uma prova de Fórmula 2 dias antes de seu acidente. "Na época, eu disse para minha mulher 'Olhe o que aconteceu. É inacreditável. É com isto que você precisa se preocupar e não com um acidente no início de uma corrida, uma batida em outro carro... é com este tipo de acidente, pois o piloto não pode fazer nada'. E uma semana depois, aconteceu comigo. É um risco", resignou-se Massa.

A aventura de Kimi Raikkonen pelo mundo do rali segue cheia de percalços para Kimi Raikkonen. Após derrubar uma árvore em sua primeira participação oficial como piloto do Citroen C4, o finlandês capotou seis vezes nesta sexta-feira, durante a etapa do México do WRC (Mundial de Rali). O campeão da Fórmula 1 em 2007 perdeu o controle do carro quando estava em nono lugar e a cerca de dois quilômetros da última descida da disputa. Apesar do susto, ele e o co-piloto Kaj Lintstrom sofreram apenas ferimentos leves. O carro ficou bastante danificado, o que impedirá Raikkonen de seguir na etapa. A liderança do dia ficou com o norueguês Petter Solberg. "Esperava conseguir algo bom neste rali, mas é só a minha sétima corrida e ainda estou aprendendo. É normal que, quando você está aprendendo, algo de pegue de surpresa e foi isto o que me aconteceu", comentou o ex-ferrarista. "Eu tive muito azar. Estava no final do trecho de uma zona de freada bastante escorregadia, toquei a borda da estrada e capotei várias vezes", descreveu. O imprevisto, porém, não foi suficiente para diminuir a empolgação do piloto com os ralis - mesmo tendo perdido meia hora no México com problemas elétricos, ele vinha acumulando ali seus melhores resultados no WTC. "O que mais lamento é não poder continuar, já que queria passar o máximo de tempo possível ao volante, pois gostaria de ver até onde chegaríamos. Mas tenho certeza que na próxima corrida estaremos ainda mais fortes. Apesar desta decepção, estou adorando minha aventura nos ralis", garantiu.