CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Trans-Am Series presented by Pirelli will visit Charlotte Motor Speedway for the third time when the new Trans-Am ProAm Challenge debuts during the SVRA Charlotte Speed Tour on March 19-21.

Trans-Am opened its 1981 season on the high-blanked circuit with an infield road course. George Follmer made a strong return to the series by leading 27 of the 45 laps in the Cooke/Woods Camaro.

However, he was penalized 15 seconds for jumping a restart. Al Holbert was another contender to encounter problems, dropping out with a broken turbocharger.

That opened the door for Eppie Wietzes, who averaged 101.25 mph in a Corvette in the 101-mile race. He was followed by Bob Tullius in a Jaguar XJ-S, Doc Bundy in a Porsche 924 turbo, and Follmer. Current competitor Greg Pickett took 15th in his Corvette.

Trans-Am next visited what was then known as Lowe’s Motor Speedway on April 1, 2000. Brian Simo was coming off an unlikely victory in the opening round at Sebring, with Johnny Miller and Leighton Reese both leading on the final lap before crashing.

Paul Gentilozzi captured the pole for the 75-minute race on the 10-turn, 2.25-mile superspeedway/infield road course layout in a Jaguar XKR. Gentilozzi led the opening 12 laps, trailed by Brian Simo in the Tommy Bahama Qvale Mangusta. Stu Hayner then passed both drivers on lap 13 of 44, with Simo following Hayner to remain second. Simo then passed Hayner on a restart and led the final 18 circuits. Hayner crashed out with 14 laps remaining, with Gentilozzi rebounding to challenge Simo in the closing laps.

The 36-car field included current competitors Tomy Drissi (fifth), Lou Gigliotti (sixth) and Simon Gregg (14th), plus broadcaster Chris Neville (fourth), Bob Ruman (11th) and legends John Paul Jr. (21st) and Willy T. Ribbs (26th).

SAKHIR, Bahrain – Red Bull and Max Verstappen closed out pre-season Formula One testing at the Bahrain Int’l Circuit on top of the speed charts Sunday.

Verstappen led the way with a best time of 1:28.960 ahead of AlphaTauri rookie Yuki Tsunoda, which gave the Honda engine program a one-two result on the final day of testing.

“It was another good day and we got through the whole program,” said Verstappen.
“Conditions were a bit different to day one so we had to adjust the car a bit as we went along but from our side it was very smooth, as it has been throughout the whole test. I think we can say it has been a good weekend but of course that doesn’t give you any guarantees and all teams are doing different programmes at testing. We always look into what we can improve and for sure there are still things we want to work on but I think all teams will have that. We’ll find out for sure in a couple of weeks in Q3 where we really are but in general I would say the car feels good and I’m looking forward to going racing.”

Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz was third fastest despite losing a bit of track time to a hydraulic issue. He still managed 79 laps Sunday as he prepares for his first season driving for Ferrari. Sainz had a brief on-track battle with Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen, who was fourth fastest, which saw the two touch and go off track late in the day.

Lewis Hamilton was back on track for Mercedes but spent the first hour of the test in the garage before eventually hitting the track as the sun was setting. He set the fifth fastest time of the day.

Raikkonen turned the most laps on the day, completing 165 circuits. George Russell completed 157 laps for Williams.

There is an actual island about 35 yards right of the the island green on the par-3 17th hole at TPC Sawgrass. It hosts a camera tower and some pretty flowers and, likely, some balls from amateur hacks who play the Stadium Course.

It almost got Brendon Todd's ball on Sunday.

Todd shanked his tee shot on the 17th and his ball came much closer to the little island than to the island green.

Todd went to the drop zone and managed to find dry land with his third shot, but still made a triple-bogey 6.

What would have happened if Todd's ball had landed on the island? Well, it's part of the penalty area and he technically could have played it from there ... if he could have borrowed the camera man's boat and gotten there.

Bryson DeChambeau and Lee Westwood played the fourth hole at TPC Sawgrass as part of Sunday’s final pairing at The Players Championship. Judging by their play, though, one would’ve thought they were 18-handicappers playing a $20 Nassau down the street at the local muni.

DeChambeau was just one shot off of Westwood’s lead when he cold-topped his tee shot with fairway wood. Despite reaching 152 mph ball speed, the shot traveled just 143 yards and failed to clear the hazard.

Westwood immediately followed by slicing his driver into the water.

The bizarreness, however, didn’t stop there. DeChambeau dropped on the forward tee and then shanked an iron shot way right and into the trees. “What is happening?!” he bemoaned, as his ball settled into the pine straw about 66 yards from the hole. Blocked out, DeChambeau could only advance his fourth shot about 20 yards before finally hitting a nice pitch to 7 feet and somehow saving double bogey.

Westwood got to drop closer to the hole, put his third shot on the back fringe and ended up recording bogey, his second of the round at that point.

Arsenal captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was dropped from the starting line-up for Sunday's north London derby against Tottenham Hotspur due to a "disciplinary issue," manager Mikel Arteta said.

A club spokesman said Aubameyang had committed a "breach of prematch protocol." Sources told ESPN the forward had reported late to the training ground this morning for the game.

The club refused to elaborate on the situation when contacted by ESPN for further comment but Arteta said Aubemeyang was due to play before a late unspecified breach.

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"He was going to start the game, we had a disciplinary issue, we've drawn the line, we move on," he told Sky Sports. "We keep it internal. We have a process that we have to respect for every game and that's it."

Asked whether he debated axing the 31-year-old from the squad altogether, Arteta added: "It is a decision made after evaluating everything, and who Auba is and what's he done and that's it."

Aubameyang was the subject of an internal investigation over a possible COVID-19 breach in February when footage emerged of the striker getting a tattoo.

The club confirmed to ESPN at the time that talks were planned with Aubameyang to "establish the facts" but it is unclear if this latest incident is related. Aubameyang has started six of Arsenal's seven games since the tattoo footage emerged.

Alexandre Lacazette was drafted into the starting line-up against Spurs and given the captain's armband for the match in which Arsenal are aiming to close a seven-point gap to their rivals.

Arsenal won the match 2-1 with Lacazette scoring the winner from the penalty spot and, after the match, Arteta praised Aubameyang's character.

"He is an incredible guy and one of the most important players in the team," the Arsenal boss said. "He is our captain and these things happen.

"We have lots going on in our lives and people finding it hard with the restrictions. I will never tell anything that happens in the dressing room."

Juventus director Fabio Paratici said Cristiano Ronaldo represents the "future" of the club following rumours of a return to Real Madrid.

Ronaldo was criticised for his role in Juve's Champions League exit to FC Porto with ex-Bianconeri manager Fabio Capello having labelled his failure to block Sergio Oliveira's free kick which decided the tie "the worst." Former president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli suggested the club offload the Portugal captain at the end of the season.

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Reports after the match had suggested Ronaldo was unhappy about the result and keen on returning to Madrid.

"It makes me laugh," Paratici said to Sky Sport Italia ahead of Juve's Serie A clash with Cagliari, when asked about the criticism. "In my career, I never thought I'd hear debates about Cristiano Ronaldo.

"I grew up in a small town. In bars or the parish, I heard these discussions about [Roberto] Baggio or [Sandro] Mazzola.

"I never thought I'd hear them about Ronaldo now. He is Serie A top goal scorer. He has won the Ballon d'Or five times. It's a privilege to have him Without doubt, he represents Juventus' future."

Paratici's comments came a day after Juve boss Andrea Pirlo had defended Ronaldo's record with them, following criticism over their failure to reach the Champions League semifinals in his three seasons at the club.

Ronaldo scored a "perfect" first-half hat trick as Juve beat Cagliari 3-1. His first was a header, followed by a right-footed penalty and he completed his treble with a left foot shot from the right of the area.

It takes a lot to overshadow Virat Kohli in the middle. In Test matches, India's No. 3s have to endure the long walk back to rampant cheers not for the work they did but for the fact the captain was coming to the middle to take control. So what chance did a debutant have? Apparently a really, really good one.

Ishan Kishan, who has been talked about as a talent ever since his age-group days, but who used to have problems with knowing when to attack and when to defend, and issues with the discipline it takes to be a cricketer at the top level, walked out under lights in Ahmedabad and announced himself with a 28-ball fifty that knocked the stuffing out of England's bowling attack.

"Special mention to Ishan, the way he batted," Kohli said at the presentation. "Changed the game completely. We were one down for nothing. I tried to do what I can but then he totally took the game away from the opposition. Kept following his instinct. Quality batting on debut."

Trusting a game he honed under the strict guidance of four-time IPL champions Mumbai Indians, Kishan refused to take a backwards step, and that ensured India did not lose any momentum after an excellent bowling performance. When he finally fell for 56 off 32 balls, with five fours and four sixes, the prospect of the series-levelling up at 1-1 was merely a formality.

"When you play in the IPL with such dominance like he has, against quality bowlers, we've seen him hit international fast bowlers for big sixes," Kohli said. "He's a fearless character. He should continue to back his instincts. We had a conversation out in the middle where he understood and analysed the game very smartly. He knew he was hitting the ball well so he kept taking his chances. But he was calculated. He wasn't reckless. And that's what you want to see in youngsters. Coming in, looking composed, still backing themselves but being aware of what the situation of the game is and I think today that counterattacking innings of his and our partnership [94 runs off 54 balls] was something that the team needed and he provided that for the team."

Kohli was equally effusive about the work his bowlers had done to restrict a power-packed England batting line-up to only 164. Washington Sundar continued to show that big turn isn't necessary to pose a threat as a spinner if you have the smarts to know where the batsman hates having the ball and the control to keep nailing that spot. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, returning from a long injury lay-off in this series, was captivating at the death once more. Shardul Thakur, also shouldering the responsibility of bowling the end overs, nabbed the wickets of Eoin Morgan in the 18th over and Ben Stokes in the 20th.

"We ticked all the boxes we wanted to. Especially in the first innings with the ball. They were 100 at the end of 12 overs; 130 at the end of 15 and to give away only 34 in the last five, I think it was very smart bowing by all our bowlers. Special mention to Washi. He bowled to only one left-hander in the middle and to all right-handers, he used the big boundary really well, changed pace. But then Bhuvi, smart operator. Shardul bowled well at the end. Hardik chipped in with a few. Chahal was good today as well. All in all very very happy with our bowling effort and then with the bat as well. Convincing finish."

The return of Pandya to the bowling crease was a particularly promising sign for the team as they prepare for the T20 World Cup in October. India have been very careful with their allrounder considering his history with back injuries, the latest of which required an operation to fix. Since September 2019, Pandya has bowled only eight overs across all forms of cricket, but that may very well be about to change.

"I have to give credit to him for the fact that he's bowling at least three [overs] for us in games now," Kohli said. "He's worked really hard on his fitness and for the next six to eight months, he's promised and committed to the fact that he's going to give everything that he has and be that allrounder for us who features in all three formats probably. He's going to be a vital part of this team moving forward. He's put in a lot of work to arrive at this place. Now it's all about managing his workload and keeping him fit and ready to bowl whenever the team wants and his intent is of no doubt. He plays for the team at all times and these kinds of players are priceless."