SportsNews

F2 Abu Dhabi: Marti wins as Bortoleto extends championship advantage

Published

12 months ago

December 7, 2024

Pepe Marti became the 18th different winner in the 2024 Formula 2 season in an Abu Dhabi sprint race that was decided by a phenomenal start which propelled him from fourth to first by Turn 1 of the 23-lap race.

The Campos driver was followed home by championship leader Gabriel Bortoleto, who started behind title rivals Isack Hadjar and Paul Aron but made an equally impressive start to overtake his contenders in the opening stages.

With 26 points left available on Sunday, Bortoleto now holds a five-and-a-half point lead over Hadjar – who finished sixth.

Paul Aron’s third-place finish means he is now 27.5 points off the leader, making it a two-horse race for the championship.

In a chaotic opening lap that saw Marti launch to the front, Kush Maini flew from ninth to second as Bortoleto followed his Invicta team-mate up to fifth. This fast start for Maini included contact with Hadjar into Turn 1, as he entered the corner with his left-front fully locked and slid into the front wing endplate of the Campos.

Feature race pole sitter Victor Martins retired in those opening exchanges after being struck by Ritomo Miyata’s Rodin at Turn 6 – the Japanese driver receiving a 10s penalty for his actions.

Gabriel Bortoleto, Invicta Racing

Photo by: James Sutton / Motorsport Images

After the eventful lap one, the race settled into a rhythm, though Bortoleto was aiding his title bid with further gains on Joshua Durksen and Amaury Cordeel putting him in third and directly behind Maini.

On lap six, Bortoleto completed a textbook DRS move on his team-mate for second while Aron and Hadjar ran sixth and ninth.

With Maini dropping to the chasing pack he was powerless to prevent Hitech drivers Cordeel and Aron from powering by, while Durksen overtook around the outside of Turn 9 on lap eight.

Oliver Bearman, Dino Beganovic and Hadjar followed past one lap later, shuffling Maini out of the points.

Bearman was the biggest gainer on lap one, climbing seven places, but as the medium Pirelli rubber struggled to manage the 24-lap distance, the Prema driver was among an ever-growing number of drivers seeing times deleted for track limits breaches. With a handful of laps remaining, he received a 5s penalty for the consistent violations.

Team orders are not commonplace in F2 and this was evident as Cordeel put up a stout defence on team-mate Aron. But this was resolved on lap 17 when a lock-up opened the door and allowed championship challenger Aron through.

A further lock-up for Cordeel while defending into Turn 6 resulted in contact with Durksen. While Hadjar gained a place on Durksen’s stricken AIX, he gained another point when Cordeel was hit with a 10s penalty – promoting Hadjar to sixth.

Aware that his advantage was shrinking, Bortoleto attempted to close the margin to leader Marti. But he was unable to make significant gains and crossed the line 2.2s behind in second.

SportsNews

EPL: Fulham must move on from defeat to Manchester City — Iwobi

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Alex Iwobi says Fulham must stay positive despite their 5-4 defeat to Manchester City at Craven Cottage on Tuesday.

Marco Silva’s side put up a spirited display in the encounter, and were unlucky not to get at least one point.

Iwobi started the fight back by scoring the second goal for Fulham early in the second half.

The versatile midfielder’s compatriot, Samuel Chukwueze then rose from the bench to score two more goals for the Cottagers.

Manchester City, however, held on to go home with maximum points.

Iwobi stated that they deserved more from the game.

“I feel disappointed because we didn’t get anything out of the fighting spirit that we showed, but I think we have to take the positivity from the game,” Iwobi told the club’s official website.

Fulham will be away to Crystal Palace in their next Premier League game on Sunday.

SportsNews

EPL: Guardiola names team that impresses him everyday

Published

2 days ago

December 3, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

Manchester City boss, Pep Guardiola has named the Premier League club that has impressed him so much this season.

The Spaniard said that Enzo Maresca’s side have really impressed him with the improvement they make everyday.

Speaking after Manchester City beat Fulham 5-4 in the Premier League on Tuesday night, Guardiola pointed out that a team must remain consistent to win the title.

Pep Guardiola’s side closed the gap at the top of the Premier League to just two points behind Arsenal with the victory over Fulham, but the Gunners could maintain their five points lead with a win over Brentford on Wednesday night.

“Chelsea impresses me more and more every day with Enzo [Maresca], but it’s long,” he told reporters after the win.

“Premier League is so long, many things will happen. We won six Premier Leagues, four or five when we in December, January or February we were behind.

“The team who wins the Premier League is the team who grows during the months and this is what we try to do. No injuries, it’s so long.

“But at the same time, if we push, we will be better and push ourselves and control the situations better, the emotions and we will see what happens.”

SportsNews

Outrage As ‘Biological Male’ Wins World’s Strongest Woman Event in Texas (Photos)

Published

1 week ago

November 26, 2025

Ekwutos Blog

The 2025 World’s Strongest Woman final has sparked outrage after an alleged transgender athlete won gold.

American Jammie Booker, who is accused of being a biological male, beat Great Britain’s Andrea Thompson to victory at the event in Arlington, Texas.

According to Mail Online, Thompson walked off the podium, appearing to say ‘this is bulls***,’ while Booker celebrated. The Brit has since been crowned the ‘true World’s Strongest Woman’ by her coach and some of her peers.

Rebecca Roberts, a three-time winner of World’s Strongest Woman, has sensationally claimed that no one – not even the organizers – knew about Booker’s background.

Details on the American are not clear, but the publication sighted a YouTube video – uploaded to what appears to be Booker’s YouTube channel in September 2017, with Booker saying: ‘Everyone is dying to tell their own story and I am obviously no exception to that.

‘I’m 21-year-old trans woman with a history of abuse, struggling to stay true to herself while under the rule of her religious parents.’

On Monday night, Roberts posted a picture on Instagram that read ‘Protect Women’s Sports.’ She wrote alongside the picture: ‘I hold no hate toward transgender people. Everyone deserves dignity, respect, and the freedom to live their truth.

But I cannot stay silent about something that threatens the fairness and future of women’s strength sports. Transgender women, people born male, should not be competing in the women’s category.

This isn’t about identity. It isn’t about politics. It’s about the undeniable physical differences that exist in strength-based sports… differences that don’t disappear, and that matter more here than almost anywhere else. Women’s categories were created for a reason, and if we lose that, we lose the foundation of our sport.

‘What happened this weekend wasn’t transparent. None of us knew. Not even the organisers knew. And when fairness is taken by surprise, trust in the sport begins to crack.

‘My message is simple. Trans people belong in sport, but women’s divisions must remain biologically born female-only.

‘I love this sport. I have given my life to it. And I won’t ignore something that could quietly change it forever. Congratulations to @andreathompson_strongwoman… the true World’s Strongest Woman 2025’