<a href=www.cambridge-news.co.uk>Cambridge News OnLine MOTOR SPORT

ERNESTO VISO is the latest South American prospect to take the Cambridge route to the top in motor racing. The 18-year-old Venezuelan, who made a dramatic start to the season by grabbing pole position in the opening two races of the Formula 3 B series, has made his home in the city.

And, like Formula One star Rubens Barrichello and other top racers Luciano Burti and Antonio Pizzonia, who have previously lived in the area, he reckons it is the perfect base.

“Maybe the lifestyle in Italy, where I have raced, would have been closer to what I was used to in Venezuela,” he said, “but I wanted the tougher racing you get in England, and Cambridge is a very nice place to live.

“I am not surprised all those other top drivers were based here at some time. There are good restaurants, a lot of foreign students, and maybe not some of the distractions of bigger places.

“I live near the Grafton Centre, I go to the gym close to there, and I enjoy my time when I am not racing or practicing with my team, Sweeney Racing near Snetterton.”

The “Cracker from Caracas” caught the eye when he won the British F3 Winter Series this year, after being named as Young Driver of the Year by the motorsport Press in his own country.

Last year he was a teenage sensation in the United States, where he won 13 out of 16 rounds to race away with the Skip Barber Dodge Eastern championship, as well as finishing fifth overall in the Italian Formula Renault series.

Now, with 24 races still to go, he is among the favourites in the F3 B Scholarship championship, despite his double disappointment at Donington Park.

“I was very encouraged to get pole position twice,” he said, “and I was also in the top 10 A Series times. They have 15hp more, and better gearing, but I was within half a second of the best time.

“In the first race, though, I spun out on the third lap. Maybe the tyres were a bit cold, and in the second race I went out on round two because someone spun in front of me and I had to take evasive action.

“But overall it has given me confidence for the Easter meeting at Snetterton.”

Source 05/04/2003 - 11:16:08 am Cork racing driver, Michael Keohane, driving with the Promatecme team will start tomorrow’s first round of the British Formula 3 Championship in Donington Park on the fourth row of the grid. 31 cars lined up for today’s first qualifying session at the East Midlands circuit and Keohane posted his fastest time - one minute 04.597 seconds early in the twenty-minute session. Elsewhere, Adam Carroll (Sweeny Racing) from Portadown, with the new Lola Dome chassis qualified down in 18th. place with a time of one minute 05.416 seconds. His team mate, Ernesto Viso from Venezuela, qualified an impressive tenth and topped the times for the Scholarship Class drivers. Ballymena’s, Ivor McCullough posted the second fastest time in the Scholarship category where the cars are two years older than the Championship Class cars. The fastest time was set by Britain’s, Jamie Green ahead of his Carlin Motorsport team mate, Richard Antinucci. Rob Austin was third from Nelson Piquet Jr.

1. Jamie Green 1m. 04.167s.
2. Richard Antinucci 1m. 04.268s.
3. Rob Austin 1m. 04.318s.
4. Nelson Piquet Jr. 1m. 04.506s.
5. Ronnie Bremer 1m. 04.559s.
6. Alan van der Merwe 1m. 04.570s.
7. Michael Keohane 1m. 04.597s.
8. Fauzy Fairuz 1m. 04.855s.
9. Clivio Piccione 1m. 04.902s.
10. Ernesto Viso 1m. 04.927. Scholarship Class Top 3: Ernesto Viso 1m. 04.927s. Ivor McCullough 1m. 05.292s. Karun Chandhok 1m. 05.302. The second qualifying session (for tomorrow’s second race) takes place this afternoon. Meanwhile, in Kirkistown, Quentin Smith set the pace in the Fiat Punto Abarth Cup ahead of Liam Denning and defending champion, Richie Faulkner. Joe Freeburn was fourth quickest in the session. Rally star, Andrew Nesbitt was 21st.

tribnet.com DARRIN BEENE; The News Tribune

The Seattle Mariners' home opener is less than a week away and Julio Cruz is feeling that familiar stirring inside.

On Tuesday, Cruz makes his debut as the color commentator for the Mariners on their new Spanish language radio network. Amaury Pi-Gonzalez will handle the play-by-play as all 81 home games will be broadcast in the Tacoma/Seattle area on 1360-AM, KKMO Radio Sol.

Cruz said he experienced butterflies while doing a trial run last week just like the ones he had before each game of his 10-year major league career with the Mariners and Chicago White Sox. That feeling is a good sign, he said.

"I once asked one of my coaches why I got so nervous before each game and if I would ever get over that," Cruz said. "Vada Pinson, rest his soul, said it was a good thing. He told me that when that feeling leaves you, then you leave the game.

"So, I must want to do it if I'm feeling this way."

The Mariners think it is a good time, even with the stagnant economy and war in Iraq, to broadcast games in Spanish. In January, they signed a two-year agreement with the KXLY Radio Group to have home games broadcast here and to Wenatchee, Moses Lake, Yakima, Tri-Cities and Ontario, Ore.

KXLY, which has the rights to broadcast the Mariners in Spokane, also owns the radio rights to Washington State athletics.

"To start something from scratch we want it to be a success right from the beginning," said Randy Adamack, Mariners vice president of communications. "They know what it takes to get games on the air and make them sound good."

That shouldn't be a problem if the broadcast crew has anything to say about it - and they do, of course. Pi-Gonzalez has a distinguished 25-year career broadcasting Oakland A's and San Francisco Giants games and has called seven World Series. Roger Nelson, KXLY's network director of sales and operations, called Pi-Gonzalez "arguably one of the best in the business."

Then there's Cruz, the popular and bubbly second baseman who reached the Mariners in their expansion season of 1977. Cruz, who played in Seattle until 1983, remains the team's career leader in steals with 290.

It's his first radio job, but what he lacks in experience he will make up for in enthusiasm if the trial run at Safeco Field is an indication.

For practice, Nelson said Cruz and Pi-Gonzalez watched a taped game from last year against the Texas Rangers and called the action. At first, Cruz was talking as fast as he used to run. Nelson said he was a little "frenzied."

"We stopped everything and said 'Guys, this is two fellas sitting down in a sports bar talking about a baseball game. It's just like you're talking to one person,' " Nelson said. "After that, it was magic. It was like they had been doing it for 10 years. They've got an immediate chemistry that is just amazing."

Cruz admits that he was "tight" at the start. Nelson said once Cruz relaxed he did a good job of sharing his insight and is "very polished."

One thing Cruz, who was born in Brooklyn, had to sharpen was his Spanish. Because he speaks with a Puerto Rican slang, Cruz said he has a tendency to drop the "s" and to not roll his "r's" as much.

As far as how he'll handle his job, Cruz said he'll keep his analysis short so that he doesn't talk during the action and he'll try not to be too critical. And he's got to handle those nerves.

"Some of these people are going to be hearing Mariners games for the first time," Cruz said. "I grew up listening to Vin Scully, Curt Gowdy and Joe Buck. And now they're going to be listening to Julio Cruz. Wow."

The Mariners and KXLY think there will be plenty of people tuning in. Since 1990, the state's Hispanic population has more than doubled to 441,509, according to the 2000 census.

Adamack said he's had plenty of e-mails and phone calls from Hispanics expressing their interest in the Mariners. Nelson said because of baseball's large number of Latin American players it follows that Hispanics would be interested in the sport.

According to major league baseball, 193 of the 827 players on opening day rosters (23.3 percent) were born in Spanish speaking countries (Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Mexico, Cuba, Panama, Colombia and Nicaragua).

"There is already a huge baseball population that is ... listening to the Mariners that would rather hear it in Spanish," Nelson said. "It's not like we are creating a new audience - yes, we're doing some of that - at the same time, we're taking a lot of the existing audience and super-serving them."

Darrin Beene: 253-597-8656 darrin.beene@mail.tribnet.com (Published 12:30AM, April 4th, 2003)

<a href=www.dailyherald.com>Daily Herald By Kent McDill Daily Herald Sports Writer Posted April 03, 2003

This is the kind of story that has in-law relations written all over it.

You know how it goes: I mistreat you the way you mistreat me.

Last week, the Japan Football Association decided not to send its national team to the United States for a pair of well-advertised and highly touted exhibition games. Safety concerns in light of the U.S. war against Iraq were the reasons given.

But there is no game more complicated than international politics, with the possible exception of in-law relations. That's why it is not surprising to find there might have been another reason Japan didn't make the trip.

The San Diego Tribune reported last week that Japan was retaliating against the United States because Major League Baseball did not send the Seattle Mariners and Oakland A's for a scheduled opening series to the 2003 season.

Security issues were cited as the reason for those games being canceled as well.

Reportedly, officials in Japan decided payback was the proper play, and soccer games scheduled for San Diego and Seattle were altered.

"If you don't think the two incidents are related, you're smoking something," one U.S. soccer official was quoted. "You have to understand the Japanese culture. If Americans didn't think they were safe in Japan, then for sure the Japanese are not going to come to a country that just started a war and feel safe here."

Japan's scheduled game against Uruguay in San Diego was canceled, while the U.S.-Japan game was turned into a far less attractive U.S.-Venezuela game.

This was to be the first visit ever to the United States by Japan's national team, and a visit to Seattle - with its large Asian population - was expected to be hugely popular.

Organizers of the MLB games in Japan reportedly lost millions of dollars in preparation costs.

In other war-related news, an exhibition game between the national teams of Brazil and Colombia scheduled for April 30 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey could be postponed or canceled because of international tensions.

Stadium plans: While the Chicago Fire continues to look for a hospitable place to build a permanent home, Columbus Crew Stadium is about to get its first facelift.

An extension of an existing relationship with a local bank has reaped more than $3 million in building projects in and around the 4-year-old, 22,555-seat stadium.

Columbus Crew Stadium was the first stadium built in the United States specifically for soccer, and it set off a hunger around the nation for similar structures.

While many other soccer-specific stadiums have been suggested (including the semi-permanent Firehouse that was discussed in Arlington Heights), the second such facility is just now being completed in suburban Los Angeles for the Galaxy.

There are continuing talks about a soccer-specific home for the Dallas Burn, and the New York/New Jersey MetroStars are in late negotiations about a home in Harrison, N.J.

The Burn stadium is near the groundbreaking stage as officials in suburban Frisco, Texas, are set to agree to foot a large portion of the $65 million bill for a complex that will include 16 playing fields, a hotel and other businesses.

While this first wave of stadiums gets ready to unfold, Columbus Crew Stadium is about to get a new party and banquet center; its 30 loge boxes will be enclosed, with two such boxes being converted into more elaborate suites; and auxiliary locker rooms are being added with an eye toward hosting events beyond MLS games.

Crew Stadium has hosted two World Cup qualifiers and the NCAA College Cup, events that could be spread out to other soccer-specific stadiums around the nation.

Punishment for Hristo? There may be repercussions ahead for Hristo Stoitchkov, the former member of the Chicago Fire who delivered one of the most devastating tackles of his career last week.

In a scrimmage between Stoitchkov's D.C. United team and American University, Stoitchkov put a slide tackle on AU freshman Freddy Llerena that left the college player with a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula.

Reportedly, the injury left some players physically ill, and most certainly left Stoitchkov heartbroken.

The former Fire forward openly cried as medical personnel tended to Llerena. The game was halted after just 10 minutes of play.

"What do you expect when you go in for a challenge like that?'' AU coach Todd West asked. "You don't expect it from a player of that stature and that caliber. I know he is devastated by what he did, but we've got a guy who we hope is walking again."

Major League Soccer reportedly is considering punishment for Stoitchkov. West later referred to Stoitchkov's foul as "criminal."

In a statement released by United, Stoitchkov offered "a thousand apologies.

"I have never done anything like this before in my career,'' he said. "My heart is with the player and his family."

"I'm sure it's going to haunt him for a long, long time, and certainly haunt our boys for a long while,'' United coach Ray Hudson said.

Congrats to Sigi: The Los Angeles Galaxy, the defending MLS champion, has signed coach Sigi Schmid to a new contract for at least the next two seasons.

• Kent McDill's soccer report appears each Thursday in Sports. If you have comments, please e-mail him at kmcdill@dailyherald.com.

<a href=miva.jacksonsun.com>Jacksonsun.com By KARY BOOHER kbooher@jacksonsun.com Apr 3 2003

MESA, Ariz. - Four years ago, right-hander Angel Guzman, all of 17 years old back then in Venezuela, got dumped from professional baseball.

The Kansas City Royals voided his contract and sent him on his way.

"I think they believed that I was afraid to play pro baseball," Guzman said. "They were wrong, as you see. That's made me hungry to get better. I think I've changed their minds."

He talks about this with a smile, even rubbing his tummy to show that he in deed is hungry to prove his doubters wrong.

It appears he is.

Guzman, along with lefty closer Felix Sanchez, are quickly rising through the Chicago Cubs' farm system and will start the season with their Double-A club, the Diamond Jaxx. They are the big names on the staff, accompanied somewhat with the rhetoric that followed rookie sensation Mark Prior, the big kahuna of the Jaxx's rotation at this time last season.

Guzman is coming off a year in which he was 11-4 with a 2.19 ERA at both of the Cubs' Single-A clubs. Sanchez, armed with mid-90s fastball, struck out 101 batters in 119 innings at Low-A Lansing.

And while Prior got everybody talking at big-league camp last year, Guzman and Sanchez did so this spring. Guzman had a 1.13 ERA in 16 innings as a non-roster invitee, and Sanchez, who is on the 40-man roster, had a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings.

Few expected such results.

"Those guys have been great. You are really going to like those guys," new Chicago Cubs manager Dusty Baker said. "They have good arms, they have good poise. For young players, probably the most difficult thing to develop is the poise and quiet confidence in your ability. These guys are pitching like they have been here a while."

Cubs pitching coach Larry Rothschild also said he was impressed with their poise and wouldn't rule out a promotion for the pair to the big leagues at some point this season.

He called Guzman, "One of the most impressive youngsters I've seen in spring training."

"I don't think you could look for any more poise in a young pitcher," Rothschild said. "He's already got command of three pitches. And he has tremendous command of his fastball. I think you are going to have fun watching him."

Guzman is 21-6 with a 2.17 ERA in 265 minor-league innings since he signed with the Cubs organization in November 1999.

His fastball is sharp, but Guzman's curveball is most impressive. Rothschild said it needs to be tightened a little more, but not much more.

"I'm going to try to do the same thing I've been doing, keep working hard and throw my pitches," Guzman said.

His potential is interesting because now in Double-A he'll work with Jaxx pitching coach Alan Dunn, considered invaluable in the organization. Two Jaxx pitchers have won the Southern League's ERA title in the past five years under Dunn's guidance, and another, Matt Bruback, came close to doing so last season.

Sanchez is expected to take over the role that Francis Beltran had last season. Beltran made 23 saves for the Jaxx and was promoted to Chicago three different times. Sanchez showed Rothschild good arm strength. He'll need to develop second and third pitches, especially the curve.

He has a 90-plus fastball.

"He's got a good arm," Dunn said. "You'll see (the curve), but it's just a matter of using it. It's a matter of getting the confidence in it to throw it. It's just a maturing process. He's definitely got the potential."

• Kary Booher, 425-9637