Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen won his first Formula One drivers' championship as Lewis Hamilton's bid came to a dramatic end in the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Hamilton's attempt to make history by winning the title in his maiden season ended when he finished only seventh. His challenge was ended when problems with his McLaren dropped him to the back of the field early on. His team-mate Fernando Alonso's hopes were dashed as he finished third behind Raikkonen's team-mate Felipe Massa.
Finn Raikkonen, who has won two more races than anyone else this season, won the championship with 110 points, with Alonso and Hamilton tied on 109 points. Hamilton ended the season in second place on countback, with one more second-place race finish than Alonso.

Things started to go wrong for Hamilton from the start. As Massa eased into the lead from pole position, the Englishman was slow away from his second place on the grid, and was passed by Raikkonen before the first corner.
Then, as they entered the first turn, Alonso drew alongside Hamilton on the outside, claiming the inside line and third place as they went into the second part of the chicane.
Hamilton then unwisely and unnecessarily tried to re-pass his team-mate on the outside into the Subida da Lago corner at the end of the back straight. He got onto the slippery outside of the track, and slid off into the run-off area, rejoining in eighth place.

In itself, that error was not enough to end his hopes of becoming champion, but worse was soon to come.

Meanwhile, Spyker's Sakon Yamamoto crashed with Renault's Giancarlo Fisichella on the first lap, and both were forced to retire.
Kovaleinen crashed hard in the 38th lap at the third turn. He was on his feet for several minutes, but later was preventively transported to the medical center.
Two Williams mechanics received minor injuries after Kazuki Nakajima, debuting in F1, failed to hit his pit marks and ran over the mechanics.

Hamilton quickly set about regaining places, but ran into more problems on lap eight, when he slowed almost to a halt as his car slipped out of gear. He did manage to get it going again, but by then had lost more than 40 seconds, and was at the back of the field.

The 22-year-old spent the rest of the afternoon fighting through the field, desperately trying to gain enough places to stop one of his rivals beating him to the world championship.

In an attempt to ease his task, McLaren chose a radical three-stop strategy, the thinking presumably being that with a lighter car he would find it easier to overtake his rivals. The teams have to use both of two types of tyre during the race. And McLaren chose to get the slower, softer tyre out of the way early with a short second stint.
That way, he would be on the faster tyre at the end of the race when nearly all the other drivers were on the slower one.

But the strategy did not pay off.

Hamilton did get up into the points during his third stint but, once Raikkonen assumed the lead after passing Massa during the second pit-stop period, the Englishman needed to finish fifth to stay ahead of the Finn. And although he drove flat out to the end of the race he simply ran out of time.

Alonso's hold on the title he has held for two years ended in a damp squib. The Spaniard was never in contention for victory in a race that was dominated by the Ferraris.
And although he had the edge on everyone else, third place was not enough to stay ahead of Raikkonen in the standings.

Raikkonen said: "We were not in the strongest position at some points of the season but we always believed we could recover and do a better job than the others.
"Even in the hard times we stuck together and we didn't give up. Even from a long way behind we didn't give up. We worked very hard and Felipe helped too. The team has been very close together."

It was a bitter result for Hamilton, who had led the standings since May 13 and had been seeking to become the first rookie and the youngest driver to win the title.
It also heralded a miserable end to the year for McLaren, who were removed from the constructors' standings and fined US$100 million after the spy scandal involving Ferrari which is also likely to see Alonso leave the British-based team in 2008.

McLaren boss Ron Dennis said: "At difficult moments like this you just have to have a sporting attitude to the outcome. Lewis has enjoyed phenomenal reliability from his car this year. It was just a default in the gearbox which selected neutral for a period of time but then sorted itself out.
"It was so close, we needed just one car to stop. It's hard to find the right words but I think the whole team has done a great job all year and should be proud of their achievements."

2007 Championship Final Standings:
Drivers table
1. Raikkonen (WC) - 110
2. Hamilton - 109
3. Alonso - 109

Constructors table
1. Ferrari (WC) - 204
2. BMW - 101
3. Renault - 51

[via BBC Sports]

South Africa ended England's reign as world champions as they claimed the World Cup for the second time.

Three Percy Montgomery penalties to one from Jonny Wilkinson saw South Africa, who had hammered England in the group stages, lead 9-3 at the break in Paris. England went desperately close to a try through Mark Cueto soon after half-time before a penalty apiece made it 12-6. Francois Steyn extended the lead with a long-range penalty and South Africa held out to match their 1995 triumph.

It had been a remarkable run to the final for England, who went into the tournament woefully short of form.

They were humiliated in the group game against the Boks just over five weeks ago and although they finally found some form to reach the final, it was a bridge too far against a superior South Africa side.
The Springboks ruled the line-out through Victor Matfield, Bakkies Botha and Juan Smith, stealing seven of England's throws, and their defence was all but impeccable throughout the 80 minutes.

After Wilkinson kicked off England enjoyed the early territorial advantage but they could not make it count as they struggled to win their own throw at the line-out.
South Africa's line-out operation had been praised to the skies going into the match and they made their mark immediately, stealing England's first two throws and preventing the champions from building an early head of steam.

When England did manage to win a line-out it was deep in their own half and led to them conceding the lead after Mathew Tait slipped as he tried to run from inside his own 22.
Montgomery, the tournament's leading points scorer, knocked over the easy kick to get the scoreboard ticking over.

England hit back after 13 minutes when South Africa failed to gather a hanging kick.

Massive second row Simon Shaw secured possession and although Bryan Habana halted a sweeping England attack with a thumping tackle on Paul Sackey, South Africa infringed at the ruck.

The penalty was wide out on the right but Wilkinson guided it between the posts to level the scores.
Both sides were not afraid to use the boot to try and get field position and when Butch James kicked ahead and chased, Lewis Moody, who has struggled at times with his discipline, could not resist tripping the South Africa fly-half.
Montgomery bisected the uprights to edge the Boks back into the lead.


England upped their game and the forwards battered away to create a platform for Wilkinson to drop at goal, but his effort drifted wide.
The champions enjoyed a good spell in the middle of the half but as the break approached South Africa started to assume the upper hand.

They could have extended their lead through a penalty from Steyn, but his long-range effort drifted wide.
The inside centre is only 20 but he did not let it affect his confidence and with five minutes to go to the break he stepped past Mike Catt and beat Wilkinson and Phil Vickery to take the Boks deep into England territory.

The champions managed to halt Springbok captain John Smit a yard from the line but the Boks kept the pressure on and when England desperately infringed Montgomery stepped up to make it 9-3 at the break.

It looked as though South Africa were set to pull away but two minutes after the re-start Tait picked up a bouncing pass from scrum-half Andy Gomarsall in midfield.
The Newcastle man stepped past the on-rushing South Africa midfield and raced deep into South Africa territory before being halted just short of the line.

Gomarsall fed the ball wide and Cueto dived over in the corner, but the television match official correctly ruled he had just put a foot in touch as Danie Rossouw got across to make the tackle.

Referee Alain Rolland had been playing advantage and Wilkinson, via the woodwork, brought the gap back to three points from the resulting penalty.

A fourth Montgomery penalty took South Africa back into a six-point lead and England's chances suffered a blow as veteran full-back Jason Robinson was forced off injured.

As the half progressed England, boosted by a host of replacements, looked like they might gain the upper hand but they fell further behind when they were penalised for obstruction as Cueto ran the ball out of defence.

Steyn drilled the ball between the posts from long range and suddenly South Africa led by more than a converted try.

England were never going to give up the fight and they attacked with increasing abandon, but their inability to control their own ball at the line-out and the breakdown ultimately cost them dear.
Every time a white shirt hurled itself at South Africa it was enveloped by a tide of green as the Springboks joined Australia as two-time world champions.

England (3) 6
Pens: Wilkinson 2

South Africa (9) 15
Pens: Montgomery 4, Steyn

Lewis Hamilton has a four-point lead heading into the final race of the Formula One season, but the title race is still effectively wide open.

The Englishman's lead gives him some breathing space, and ensures that he can play the percentages as he seeks to secure the title.
But Hamilton has already said he would prefer to win the race and take the title in style - and, analysing the mathematics of the title chase, it is easy to see why.

Hamilton leads on 107 points, from his McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso on 103 and Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen on 100. The points system goes 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 from first down to eighth place.
But if drivers finish the season level on points, then a count-back system is employed, starting with comparing how many wins they have, then looking at second places and so on.

And, depending on the results, the title could even be decided on who has the most fifth places. It is that close.

Hamilton will be champion if:
- He wins or finishes second
- He finishes ahead of both his rivals
- He finishes no lower than second if Alonso wins
- He finishes no lower than fifth if Alonso is second
- He finishes no lower than fifth if Raikkonen wins
- He finishes no lower than seventh if Alonso is third and/or Raikkonen is second
- He finishes no lower than eighth if Alonso is fourth
- If Alonso if fifth or lower and Raikkonen finishes third or lower.

For Alonso to win, the Spaniard must:
- Win with Hamilton third or lower
- Finish second with Hamilton sixth or lower
- Finish third with Hamilton eighth or lower, and Raikkonen failing to win
- Finish fourth with Hamilton lower than eighth, and Raikkonen lower than second

Argentina powered to a convincing victory over France to claim third place in the Rugby World Cup on Friday.

The Pumas, the revelation of the tournament, ran in five tries to snuff out French hopes of revenge for their opening-match defeat last month.
Argentina scored through Felipe Contepomi and Omar Hasan in a fractious first half for 17-3 at the break. Further scores from Federico Aramburu, Ignacio Corleto and Contepomi heaped further embarrassment on France.
Full-back Clement Poitrenaud scored a late consolation for Bernard Laporte's side but Argentina made it six wins out of seven against the French following their 17-12 victory in the pool stages.
"If we'd scored earlier we could have done things differently. But hats off to Argentina, they've had a superb World Cup," said France manager Jo Maso. The third-place play-off is often dubbed "the match that no-one wants" but both sides came out brimming with passion.
France were bright and vibrant and willing to play far more rugby than the territory-dominated kick-fests of their last two matches. Les Bleus, with nine changes from the semi-final against England, enjoyed several promising early attacks before centre David Marty touched down, only to be called back after Aurelien Rougerie's quick line-out was deemed illegal.

Argentina, who had made five changes from their defeat by South Africa, were intent on spoiling France's farewell party and took on the hosts, toe-to-toe at times, as sporadic fighting marked the first quarter.
Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Felipe Contepomi traded kicks before the fired-up French crossed again, though this time flanker Yannick Nyanga was called back for a forward pass.


But Argentina turned up the gas on an already heated encounter when they demonstrated the effectiveness of their free-flowing rugby with two tries in four minutes. Felipe Contepomi sliced over first after good timing down the Pumas backs, before Hasan burrowed over following a piece of good fortune when the ball bounced back off the posts from Juan Martin Hernandez's drop-goal attempt. Contepomi's conversion made it 17-3 to Argentina and the Pumas did well to resist a heavy late barrage at their line.

France went close to narrowing the gap but Yannick Nyanga dropped the ball diving for the line.


But both sides went in with 14 men after France skipper Raphael Ibanez and Argentine lock Rimas Alvarez were sin-binned in a bad-tempered end to the half.

Ten minutes after the break, France found themselves further behind when Corleto broke the line and linked with Manuel Contepomi, who quickly fed the ball through the hands of Patricio Albacete, Hernandez and Alvarez before Aramburu scampered over in the right corner.
France glimpsed a moment of salvation when Argentine replacement Juan Manuel Leguizamon was sin-binned for a shoulder charge on French substitute Sebastien Chabal.

But all hope was extinguished when Horacio Agulla attacked from his own 22 and fed Corleto, who hared home from 60 yards out into the left corner.
France scored a consolation through Poitrenaud on 68 minutes and looked to be finishing strongly but Argentina refused to wilt and worked in Felipe Contepomi for a fifth try with four minutes left.
Argentina's second victory in five weeks over the Six Nations champions made their case even stronger for inclusion into one of the world's major rugby tournaments.

[via BBC Sports]

Shadow of the Day is one of my favourite songs, being one that symbolises Linkin Park’s transformation to Alternative Rock. The video is great & conveys a very powerful image (but not as great as WID), showing the full extent Joe Hahn’s directorial prowess!

Chester wakes up at 11.55 (5 Minutes to Midnight)… & goes outside to find violence, riots, police, a car is set to fire & there are gunshots everywhere! I only regret the fact that the video only showed Chester, the rest of the band didn’t appear…

Download medium-quality WMV (9.96MB) here.
Here’s Chester’s intro to the video. (6.69MB)

Here’s the Web-rip from LP.com (74.26 MB - 720x352)
http://rapidshare.com/files/63128409/lp-s.of.the.day.by.RlZoRrO.avi
http://rapidshare.com/files/62921528/shadow_of_the_day.warez-bb.asdfzxc.lp.rar
http://rapidshare.com/files/63161990/GoLeech.com.Shadow_of_the_Day.avi

(I’ll upload the HQ links when it’s available)